Peter Dobing

[westgatelakes]

I never realised what a great scorer of goals Peter Dobing was until checking Wikipedia.

Between 1956 and 1973, he scored 231 goals from 676 games for Blackburn, Man City & Stoke, an average of 13.5 each season, most of which were in the old first division.

How we could do with some of that now !

[crowey]

....... and his famous pipe smoking

[JoeinOz]

Apparently he suffers awful agorophobia now.

[spitthedog]

He was a class act, but amazed by his scoring record because when I saw him he hardly ever moved from the centre circle. I think most of those goals must have come from 25/30 yards. He couldn't half belt a football mind!

He was a great passer of the ball, and renowned for some crunching tackles too. Knew how look after himself. I think he must have played up front in his earlier career.

Have very vivid memories of him leaning up against the bar in the old social club with his beloved pipe and a well earned pint after a home game.

[nott1]

He was a great player for us in a good team. An inside forward (attacking midfielder?) who had a great shot on him!

[stokienorthants]

Wonderful player I remember him scoring a hat trick when we beat Leeds 3-2 in the 67/68 season we were fighting relegation at the time and written off by the so called experts of the day. Funny how nothing changes.

[raythesailor]

Those were the days and what a team we had.

The day of the infamous semi final v Arsenal at Hillsbough he was injured and I saw him having a pint with his pipe before the game and wished him well.

I hope my memory is serving me OK.

[emmbrook1956]

Great inside forward. Enjoyed watching him and the likes of Roy Vernon. For a number of years we were fighting off relegation and I always remember a nerve tingling game in pouring rain at Craven Cottage and Dobing and Vernon scored if memory serves me. They were a great pair. Think it was something like 1968. We won 2-0 and it meant so much in our fight for survival.

[Deleted]

I saw those two as well. Didn't they call Vernon, twinkle toes?

[hoofmagic]

Oh the good days eh.

[emmbrook1956]

Yes they did. It was a long time ago. In the 60's it felt like we were fighting relegation on a regular basis. I remember us losing 4-0 at Burnley and I think it was Banks who made a couple of mistakes. When Banksy began to make mistakes I thought relegation was inevitable.

[podolipotter]

Peter Dobing was a great volleyer of the ball and scored some cracking thunderbolts for Stoke. Glad to hear that he is still plodding on.

[Dallas Cowboy]

Peter Dobing was always my favourite player. He edged it over Hudson because of his goal scoring. As many have commented, some of his goals were brilliant. Stoke fans of my generation will never forget that hat-trick against Leeds United that kept us from relegation. Nearly 50 years on, I can still remember them. The first, a chip shot from an acute angle at the edge of the penalty box was unbelievable.

When he scored, there was no sliding across the turf on his knees, sucking his thumb or cradling an imaginary baby. He just trotted back to the centre circle with a few handshakes from the likes of Harry Burrows, John Ritchie, et al. And he was quite handy with his fists when the need arose. None of the Arnautovic gobbing off and pointing a finger at an offender. Dobing would simply deck the person who had wronged him, usually when the referee wasn't looking. And there was no retrospective disciplinary action back then. Happy days!

[Lakeland Potter]

Sept 6, 2017 13:12:22 GMT crowey said:

....... and his famous pipe smoking

They key to his success was that he always asked one of Stoke's back room staff to fill, tamp down and light his pipe and draw a few puffs of smoke so it was perfectly ready for him to smoke a bowlful during half time. A lesser man would have spent half of the half time break trying to get the pipe lit and drawing properly. That's a measure of his attention to detail.

Seriously, he was one of my favourite players and easy to see why he made such a good captain. His sister-in-law Gina, who was married to his brother (Brian?) was one of my staff at the Min of Ag Fish and Food in Crewe in the late 60s.

[stroller]

Aye Aye Aye Aye
Banks is better than Yashin
Dobing is better than Eusabio
And (insert name here) are in for a thrashin'

[geekenny]

Sept 6, 2017 14:05:05 GMT raythesailor said:

Those were the days and what a team we had.

The day of the infamous semi final v Arsenal at Hillsbough he was injured and I saw him having a pint with his pipe before the game and wished him well.

I hope my memory is serving me OK.

Broke his leg early season. Don't think he played again that season.
The big team shock at Sheffield in that first semi was Skeels replacing Marsh.
Dobing was playing really well before that unfortunate incident.
Seemed to have a broken leg every couple months those days.

[raythesailor]

Sept 6, 2017 17:47:57 GMT geekenny said:

Sept 6, 2017 14:05:05 GMT raythesailor said:

Those were the days and what a team we had.

The day of the infamous semi final v Arsenal at Hillsbough he was injured and I saw him having a pint with his pipe before the game and wished him well.

I hope my memory is serving me OK.

Broke his leg early season. Don't think he played again that season.
The big team shock at Sheffield in that first semi was Skeels replacing Marsh.
Dobing was playing really well before that unfortunate incident.
Seemed to have a broken leg every couple months those days.

Thanks for that. I had it in my mind that it was a long time injury.

we should have won that day, and I don't think I will ever really get over it..

[Deleted]

"When Dobing plays well, Stoke play well' was one of my dad's favourite sayings from when I was too young to know what the hell he was on about.

[geekenny]

Sept 6, 2017 17:51:21 GMT raythesailor said:

Sept 6, 2017 17:47:57 GMT geekenny said:

Broke his leg early season. Don't think he played again that season.
The big team shock at Sheffield in that first semi was Skeels replacing Marsh.
Dobing was playing really well before that unfortunate incident.
Seemed to have a broken leg every couple months those days.

Thanks for that. I had it in my mind that it was a long time injury.

we should have won that day, and I don't think I will ever really get over it..

Haha..
Yes..I was 17 at the time and it's deeply affected me 😁😁
I actually cried in the car on the way back home with my dad and uncle.
It all started so brilliantly.
The massed band...the sunshine.. the all- white strip...

[mrcoke]

Sept 6, 2017 17:27:34 GMT stroller said:

Aye Aye Aye Aye
Banks is better than Yashin
Dobing is better than Eusabio
And (insert name here) are in for a thrashin'

Remember singing that at the Boothen end and other places I won't mention on here after too much ........

One of Peter's finest hours is 40 years ago on 7th October a month away. We were losing 3-0 at West Ham at half-time, at Dobing and Burrows both got a brace in the second half for us to win.

A few weeks later I went to another great 4-3 victory at Molineux.

67-68 was quite a season. We were doing alright and then, like the last couple of seasons, things imploded around March with a run of results that threatened relegation. Then Peter came to the rescue with his Leeds hat-trick and other goals towards the end of that season which saved our bacon. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967%E2%80%9368_Stoke_City_F.C._season

Lots of fans were calling for Waddington to be sacked in 67 and 68, but he started to turn things around in 69 and created a great side. Hence the reason I am a lot more loyal and supportive of Hughes  than many people. I have seen a good man pilloried in the past but win through in the end when given the chance to do his thing; I'm sure PC thinks the same.

[raythesailor]

Sept 6, 2017 18:22:58 GMT geekenny said:

Sept 6, 2017 17:51:21 GMT raythesailor said:

Thanks for that. I had it in my mind that it was a long time injury.

we should have won that day, and I don't think I will ever really get over it..

Haha..
Yes..I was 17 at the time and it's deeply affected me 😁😁
I actually cried in the car on the way back home with my dad and uncle.
It all started so brilliantly.
The massed band...the sunshine.. the all- white strip...

You could have written that and signed my name at the bottom.

I went with my dad and we must be about the same age.

😀😃

[Staying up for Grandadstokey]

I am quite surprised at the flowing praise for Dobing on this thread ,maybe people are looking at the past through rose tinted glasses , because I distinctly remember that Peter was most definitely a "Marmite" type of player amongst the Stoke fans of the day. It seemed to me that fans either adored Dobing or detested him, a common criticism of those was that he was an idle sod, I remember that in one game the ball was running towards the by line at the Boothen end and Dobing stopped running and allowed the ball to go out of play ,for which he received dogs abuse from the Boothen end. In my opinion , there wasn't a cat in hells chance he would have got to the ball, but Stokies always have loved a player who would chase lost causes.
Personally I thought he was a very good player , my only criticism of him being that sometimes he would "go missing " against so called lesser opposition.

[chesterfieldstokie]

One of the best players I have seen at Stoke, many of the crowd didnt like him because he didnt chase lost causes. Could beat players at ease and score from anywhere.

[mrcoke]

Sept 6, 2017 19:05:59 GMT Staying up for Grandadstokey said:

I am quite surprised at the flowing praise for Dobing on this thread ,maybe people are looking at the past through rose tinted glasses , because I distinctly remember that Peter was most definitely a "Marmite" type of player amongst the Stoke fans of the day. It seemed to me that fans either adored Dobing or detested him, a common criticism of those was that he was an idle sod, I remember that in one game the ball was running towards the by line at the Boothen end and Dobing stopped running and allowed the ball to go out of play ,for which he received dogs abuse from the Boothen end. In my opinion , there wasn't a cat in hells chance he would have got to the ball, but Stokies always have loved a player who would chase lost causes.
Personally I thought he was a very good player , my only criticism of him being that sometimes he would "go missing " against so called lesser opposition.

You are quite right. He had a lot of critics.

In many ways a lot of people's attitude to him was similar to Arni. You knew he was a very talented player, but sometimes he just couldn't be bothered, which got people's goat.

I remember one occasion he flashed a "V" at the Boothen End when he got jeered for not chasing a ball.

For all his faults, he had a tremendous accurate shot with very little back lift, just perfect timing.

[bigjohnritchie]

Sept 6, 2017 19:05:59 GMT Staying up for Grandadstokey said:

I am quite surprised at the flowing praise for Dobing on this thread ,maybe people are looking at the past through rose tinted glasses , because I distinctly remember that Peter was most definitely a "Marmite" type of player amongst the Stoke fans of the day. It seemed to me that fans either adored Dobing or detested him, a common criticism of those was that he was an idle sod, I remember that in one game the ball was running towards the by line at the Boothen end and Dobing stopped running and allowed the ball to go out of play ,for which he received dogs abuse from the Boothen end. In my opinion , there wasn't a cat in hells chance he would have got to the ball, but Stokies always have loved a player who would chase lost causes.
Personally I thought he was a very good player , my only criticism of him being that sometimes he would "go missing " against so called lesser opposition.

I liked him , but he was a bit of an enigma.
My obiding memories are ;
him coming off the pitch at half time with spotless white shorts when everyone else's were black with mud.
Him " moaning" at a player for passing the ball about 2 yards in front of him , meaning that he would have to run into space, when he wanted it played to feet.
As I say he was a character who personified Stoke at that time. Frustrating but a character.

[tcdobinghoff]

Sept 6, 2017 19:48:03 GMT chesterfieldstokie said:

One of the best players I have seen at Stoke, many of the crowd didnt like him because he didnt chase lost causes. Could beat players at ease and score from anywhere.

You are right - he didn't waste energy and many didn't like that but I loved him , my favourite player of all time. Never did the simple thing, when he got it wrong it was spectacular. I saw him hit the corner flag with a penalty once ! But when he got it right he was genius.

[chesterfieldstokie]

Sept 6, 2017 19:56:42 GMT bigjohnritchie said:

Sept 6, 2017 19:05:59 GMT Staying up for Grandadstokey said:

I am quite surprised at the flowing praise for Dobing on this thread ,maybe people are looking at the past through rose tinted glasses , because I distinctly remember that Peter was most definitely a "Marmite" type of player amongst the Stoke fans of the day. It seemed to me that fans either adored Dobing or detested him, a common criticism of those was that he was an idle sod, I remember that in one game the ball was running towards the by line at the Boothen end and Dobing stopped running and allowed the ball to go out of play ,for which he received dogs abuse from the Boothen end. In my opinion , there wasn't a cat in hells chance he would have got to the ball, but Stokies always have loved a player who would chase lost causes.
Personally I thought he was a very good player , my only criticism of him being that sometimes he would "go missing " against so called lesser opposition.

I liked him , but he was a bit of an enigma.
My obiding memories are ;
him coming off the pitch at half time with spotless white shorts when everyone else's were black with mud.
Him " moaning" at a player for passing the ball about 2 yards in front of him , meaning that he would have to run into space, when he wanted it played to feet.
As I say he was a character who personified Stoke at that time. Frustrating but a character.

Matthews always came off with white shorts,
Matthews told the Leader 'pass to my feet son and I will beat my marker'.

[4evastoke]

He was friends of my later dad who later worked for Peter and big John Ritchie ate their pottery in longton I believe he does indeed suffer from agoraphobia a true stokie legend.

[johnnypotter]

My memories of Peter Dobing are of a very gifted footballer and scored goals regularly. The aspect of him not chasing lost causes can be argued. I would say that he was an intelligent player, who knew when to use his energy and not run around like a headless chicken like so many do.
In later years he has become reclusive and does not attend reunions with his former squad. My only hope is that he is happy in his mind doing his own thing.

[brinsleymaclagan]

That match against Leeds when Dobing scored a hat-trick was my first Stoke match! I remember my dad coming home from work and my mum suggesting he took me. We went on the Boothen End and I still remember walking up the steps and suddenly seeing the floodlit pitch-it took my breath away!
Dobing immediately became my favourite player and the next match I went to was the 2-1 win against Liverpool, Conroy and Mahoney scoring the goals.
I remember one bloke on the Stoke End (his name was Pete I think) couldn't stand him, and was forever shouting "get that Dobing off!