A True Icon

With the very sad news of Stan Bowles passing, it evoked a very special memory for me.
In August 1973 I played for the RAF representative team in a behind closed doors game at RAF Uxbridge against QPR.

I was 23 at the time and even though I say it myself, a fairly useful player. However at just a year older Stan Bowles gave us a master class that day. Our defence and midfield hardly got close to him, his ball control and trickery were off the scale.

After the game he came across as a very nice person,Yet his lifestyle probably meant he was never going to have too many caps 🧢 for England. He was often in trouble for his temper and his gambling and despite this was much loved at QPR.
The QPR team that day included Terry Venables, Gerry Francis, Frank McLintock & Terry Mancini.

It was a shame that Rodney Marsh left QPR before Bowles joined as that would have been some partnership. In fact these two were probably two of the best and trickiest English footballers in the past 50 years and yet only accumulated 12 caps between them.

RIP Stan 🌹