Sparkey, remember Ron Stitfall from my time spent hanging around Ninian Park daily in the close season. Tappy was a real character and always had time to sign autographs. I can remember him clattering into the Esbjerg giant goalie in a cup tie, and going down like a sack of ****e. It was so obviously fake that it was funny. Miss his sort! It's strange that your memory is a bit iffy pal, 'cos you're a lot older than me! Derek "Tappy" Tapscott Joining the "Bluebirds" for a fee of £10,000, Tapscott made his debut in a 4–1 win over Grimsby Town. The team, managed by his former Barry Town manager Bill Jones, won promotion back to the First Division in 1960 with Tapscott forming an effective partnership with his former Arsenal team mate Brian Walsh. Tapscott still holds the club record for most goals scored in a single game with six scored during a 16-0 win over Knighton Town in the Welsh Cup. Tapscott was also part of the Cardiff side that played in the club's first ever European competition when they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, including scoring the winning goal against Sporting Clube de Portugal in the second round. He played his final game for Cardiff on 6 February 1965 in a 2–0 defeat to Northampton Town as injury kept him out of the side for the remainder of the 1964–65 season and at the end of the season he was released.
I remember a lot of the old city players, Steve Gammon, Trevor Edwards, Graham Coldrick, Dick Scott, and I was going to mention a blond strapping defender from the day Trevor Peck. I don''t think he quite made it as a regular, so I did a bit of research and found he sadly died last year. Now I'm no prophet of doom but I must have missed this, so in case anyone else is unaware of his passing read on: Kettering Town’s stars during the football club’s late 1960s and 1970s heyday has died after a short illness. Trevor Peck, who made 286 appearances for the Poppies between October 1968 and May 1974, died earlier this month at the age of 75. Central defender Peck, originally from Llanelli in west Wales, was one of 10 children. He played for Cardiff City and Worcester City before moving to Kettering, playing for the Poppies under the managerial tenures of Steve Gammon and Ron Atkinson. His daughter Suzanne said: “You couldn’t walk through town without someone stopping my dad and saying hello. “Even walking through town with my dad last month there must have been at least 10 people who recognised him. “Most Poppies fans would say that was the golden age of the club.” Peck was among the former players invited back to the club to celebrate Cardiff City’s promotion to the Premier League last year. Suzanne added: “Dad was very proud to be Welsh. Although we lived in England for a long time his heart belonged in Wales. “He stood up for what he believed in. He would always be vocal if he thought something was unjust or unfair.”
