Stoke City's all-time leading goalscorer John Ritchie has died at the age of 65.
Ritchie had been living in a nursing home after suffering poor health for several years.
His scoring record for the Potters stood at 176 goals in 343 games during two spells with the club, from 1962 to 1966 and 1969 to 1975.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis said: "He was a top, top player. It is tragic for a person to pass away so young."
Pulis added: "Everyone here at Stoke City will remember John for what he was, a great player for this club."
Ritchie was in the Potters attack when Stoke beat Chelsea in the 1972 League Cup final at Wembley.
The Kettering-born forward's career was eventually brought to an end by a double leg fracture.
A minute's silence is likely to be held before Stoke's next game against Barnsley on Monday evening.
23 January 2007
Ron Atkinson has returned to the game after being appointed director of football at Kettering.
The Nationwide Conference North side have turned to the man who led them to double Southern League title success in the 1970s before going on to manage West Brom, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday.
Club chairman Imraan Ladak - whose decision to appoint Paul Gascoigne last season ended in acrimony after 39 days - today confirmed the 67-year-old will join the Rockingham Road club until the end of the season to oversee football matters.
In April 2004 Atkinson resigned as a television pundit after making racist comments about then Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly live on air.
He has had brief but unsuccessful spells back in the game at Swindon and Peterborough since then.
Atkinson admitted he was surprised to be approached about the position but insisted it was an easy decision to make.
He said: "If you had said this a week ago I would have said you were potty. He (Ladak) asked me if I would be interested in helping the club to promotion. It's a place I have always had an affection for. They've slipped down a bit over the last few years but hopefully they can get back where they belong."
On his role alongside manager Morell Maison he added: "For the first week I will just be observing but then if I see things that I think could be improved, I will make those points."
