THE Bournemouth football fraternity is in mourning after the passing of Spurs great and former England international Johnny Brooks.
Father of Cherries favourite Shaun Brooks and grandfather of Poole Town assistant Callum Brooks, Johnny died at a care home in Bournemouth on Tuesday aged 84.
Having started out at Reading, Brooks shot to prominence with 51 goals in 179 appearances at White Hart Lane and gained three caps for England, scoring twice while playing alongside some true greats of the beautiful game.
He opened the scoring in front of more than 93,000 people in a 3-1 win over Wales in the British Championships at Wembley in a side that featured Tom Finney, Johnny Haynes and Stanley Matthews in November 1956.
Brooks also netted in a 3-0 friendly win over Yugoslavia two weeks later and made what was his final England appearance in the 5-2 World Cup preliminary win over Denmark at Molineux, Wolverhampton.
He moved on to Chelsea and enjoyed a fruitful spell with Brentford before finishing his professional career with Crystal Palace.
Brooks moved to the area during the late 90s and frequented the local football circuit at all levels.
He was honorary vice president of Bournemouth Poppies when son Shaun was in charge at Victoria Park.
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