Geoff Scott made his name as a rugged defender for Stoke, Leicester and Birmingham in the seventies and eighties when big hair ruled the world! It was also a good time to play in the Midlands as the top division was littered with clubs from the region and Star Soccer on a Sunday afternoon with Hugh Johns commentating was a staple diet for supporters during this halcyon period for the area.
Birmingham-born Scott spent the happiest period of his playing career at the Victoria Ground as
Stoke took on the cream of the country in front of supporters who are now officially the loudest in the country. Scott was forced to retire from football prematurely at the age of 26 with a double anterior cruciate ligament injury and forged a successful business career.
However, as secretary of the Stoke City Old Boys’ Association and Chief Executive of Xpro, Scott is now firmly ensconced in the world of football once more. Givemefootball’s Ian Clarkson spoke exclusively to Scott about his time at the Victoria Ground and his memories of football in the seventies and eighties.
YOU MADE A DAUNTING DEBUT FOR STOKE DIDN’T YOU?
When I made my debut I was the youngest player in Stoke’s history at the time back in 1976. We had a decent team who finished midway in the old First Division and there were players such as Peter Shilton, Dennis Smith, Terry Conroy, Mike Pejic, Alan Hudson and Jimmy Greenhoff all playing. It was a great place to make my debut as we travelled to Old Trafford to face
Manchester United!.
HOW DID THE CLUB FARE DURING THE EARLY PART OF YOUR CAREER?
The club endured mixed fortunes and were relegated the following season and I started to get a regular opportunity at left back after Mike Pejic was sold. We were promoted back to the top flight in 1979 on a really tense last day at Notts Count. We were drawing 0-0 with a couple of minutes to go and needed to win when Paul Richardson scored for us. However, I completed an overhead kick off the line in the dying moments to secure us the win and that was undoubtedly the most important clearance of my career. The fans celebrated and I can remember leaving the pitch with only my jock strap left as the supporters had taken everything else!
DID YOU ENJOY YOUR TIME IN THE POTTERIES?
I was a cult figure at Stoke with supporters and that meant a lot to me when you consider all the household and international names that were already at the club. I never wanted to leave Stoke and my ultimate aim was to follow Dennis Smith as captain of the club but it didn’t work out like that and I moved on to
Leicester. I played for other clubs after Stoke but I don’t think I really settled anywhere else like I had at the Victoria Ground. The club looked after you fantastically well and I had built up a real affinity with the supporters.
DID THAT INCLUDE OFF THE FIELD AS WELL?
There was definitely a good social scene at Stoke in those days but we knew the right time to do it. We would train like hell and play like hell but we would also party like hell when we had the opportunity. There is no truth in the rumour that we used to get knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round so that we could have a weekend in Magaluf when the fourth round came along! Seriously, there was a great bond amongst the team at Stoke and when we went out to the local pub there would always be ten or 12 players and we were all in it together.
WHO WAS THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER?
Without any shadow of doubt it was Dennis Smith. He was the ultimate professional and I still look up to him to this day. He would play with injuries and always did the utmost to make sure he could play. He would always look for reasons why he could play rather than reasons why he couldn’t. He was a great captain and a leader of men and I learned a lot from him. I once got 22 stitches above my left eye after an injury at
Southampton on the weekend but played at centre half on Wednesday, which meant I had to head the ball a few times. However, that was the sort of thing that Dennis used to do all the time so it was no big deal.
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