Talented maverick lit up 70s football

STANLEY Bowles raised his arms into the air and took the acclaim of the Loftus Road crowd.

- ANDY SIMS

It was a familiar sight throughout the 1970s, but this was August 2015 and was to be the last time Bowles graced the pitch he once ruled.

He looked in good physical shape as he was presented to the crowd on 'Stan Bowles Day, QPR's home fixture against Rotherham, but his condition had already taken its toll.

Nevertheless Don Shanks, Bowles' best friend and former Rangers team-mate who accompanied him out on to the pitch, said: "When Stan walked out at Loftus Road he knew exactly where he was, for some reason. A moment of knowing who he was."

The epitome of the 1970s football maverick, there was a time when pretty much everyone knew who Bowles was.

Born in Collyhurst on Christmas Eve 1948, Bowles began his career as an apprentice at Manchester City.

A brief stint at Bury followed before Bowles joined Fourth Division Crewe, whose manager Ernie Tagg came up with the immortal line: "If Stan could pass a betting shop like he can pass a football, he'd be a rich man."

Bowles moved up two divisions to join Carlisle and then, in September 1972, signed for QPR for a fee of £110,000.