Bill Asprey, a Stoke City stalwart and promotion winner as a player who returned for a turbulent time as manager, has died at the age of 88.
Asprey grew up in Wolverhampton and supported his local club but he was still lured to Stoke from under the nose of Stan Cullis and went on to play 341 games for the club, putting him 23rd in the list of all-time appearances.
He made his debut at 17 and was establishing himself as a first team regular in the late 1950s, going on to help Stoke win promotion to the top flight in 1963 and stay up there, as well as reach the 1964 League Cup final.
The defender was a key player in that Division Two title-winning team under Tony Waddington, an ever-present along with Don Ratcliffe and Jimmy O’Neill while stars like Jackie Mudie, Dennis Viollet, Eddie Stuart and Jimmy McIlroy saw the Potters back to the big time.
The ace in the pack was Stanley Matthews, who played in front of tough-tackling Asprey on the right wing. Asprey and fellow full-back Tony Allen once spotted him dragging his feet while walking from a pre-match meal at the North Staffs Hotel to the Victoria Ground, so Matthews took off his shoes and showed them how he had cut holes in his heels and filled them with lead to make his feet and legs feel lighter when he put his boots on.
Asprey was used at centre-half too and occasionally as an emergency forward, scoring a hat-trick against Charlton Athletic in 1961. He ended up playing in almost every position before he went on to sign for Oldham Athletic – under his old Stoke teammate McIlroy – and Port Vale – under then Sir Stan, before hanging up his boots in 1968 at the age of 32.
His coaching career started at Sheffield Wednesday and while at Coventry City, as Noel Cantwell’s assistant, he was credited with the idea behind Will Hunt and Ernie Hunt’s famous donkey kick free-kick routine against Everton in 1970. Football authorities moved quickly to ban it, due to the ball being touched twice.
He coached at West Brom and Wolves and took charge of the Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, national team, Oxford United and Syria in a much-travelled career before returning home to Stoke as Richie Barker’s assistant in early 1982.
In his first few months back, Stoke managed to avoid relegation and there were some thrilling performances in 1982/83 season in a team featuring Mark Chamberlain and Mickey Thomas, plus Sammy McIlroy and Paul Bracewell. An opening day win over Arsenal and 4-4 draw with Luton Town are still talked about by fans who saw them.
