George Eastham’s old Stoke City teammates will be at Stoke Minster today to celebrate the life of a wonderful player who changed modern football.
A memorial service is being held to honour the former England, Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke midfielder, who died in South Africa in December at the age of 88.
He is remembered at Stoke for being a key part of one of their greatest ever teams, scoring the goal which won the 1972 League Cup in the process. He was part of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad too and it was his determination that helped change the retain-and-transfer system and maximum wage and revolutionise the game in this country.
A statement from Stoke said: “Supporters who applied to attend the service via a ballot have secured their spot, however, those who make the late decision to attend will, of course, be welcome.”
Eastham made 194 league appearances for Stoke and went on to be appointed as Tony Waddington’s assistant before also serving as manager himself from March 1977 to January 1978.
The service will be hosted by the Stoke City Old Boys Association and delivered by Reverend Geoff Eze at 12.30pm. Representatives from across clubs in the Premier League and EFL are expected to be among the dignitaries, with a welcome address from Stoke’s chief operating officer Simon King.
