| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gerard Anthony Francis Conroy | ||
| Date of birth | October 2, 1946 | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Republic of Ireland | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder, Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Home Farm | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1965–1967 | Glentoran | 24 | (17) |
| 1967–1979 | Stoke City | 271 | (49) |
| 1967 | → Cleveland Stokers (guest) | ? | (0) |
| 1979 | Bulova SA | ||
| 1980–1981 | Crewe Alexandra | 37 | (5) |
| 1981–1982 | Waterford | ? | (0) |
| 1982–1983 | Limerick United | ? | (0) |
| Total | 332 | (61) | |
| National team | |||
| 1969-1976 | Republic of Ireland | 26 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Terry Conroy (born 2 October 1946 in Dublin) is a former professional footballer, who spent most of his career with Stoke City.
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He joined the Potters from the Irish club, Glentoran for £10,000 in March 1967. He went on to make 333 Cup and League appearances for Stoke, scoring 66 goals. He won a League Cup winners medal in 1972 when he starred and scored in Stoke's 2–1 victory over Chelsea. Conroy was a firm fans favourite at Victoria Ground with his ability create something out of nothing as well as his distinctive appearance of pale skin and bright ginger hair and sideburns.
"This red-haired ghost impressed me at Anfield where he was bundled over the touchline by a massive Liverpool defender. Terry got up took the return pass and after battling down the wing he flicked the ball past Tommy Lawrence with the out side of his boot.That is flair"—Daily Express journalist Derek Potter.[1]
Capped by the Republic of Ireland 26 times, he left the Victoria Ground for the Hong Kong club Bulova on a free transfer in 1979 having spent 12 years with the Potters. He returned to England in 1980 to play for Crewe Alexandra, scoring five goals in 37 League appearances. He signed for Waterford United in September 1981. After a spell out of the game he signed for Limerick in November 1982.
After doing PA work at the Britannia Stadium, he made his exit to Stoke during the half time of the West Bromwich Albion match on 22 November 2008 to loud applause. He was appointed welfare officer for the Football Association of Ireland on the 28th of November.[2] January 2009, he pledged continuing support as patron of charity funds at Staffordshire based Castle Comfort Stairlifts as well as being on the voting panel of the group's Carer of the Year award. He returned to Stoke as a matchday host in 2010. In March 2011 Conroy fell seriously ill with a suspected vascular aneurism.[3][4]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Stoke City | 1967–68 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| 1968–69 | 31 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 9 | |
| 1969–70 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 2 | |
| 1970–71 | 34 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 14 | |
| 1971–72 | 27 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 11 | |
| 1972–73 | 33 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 39 | 5 | |
| 1973–74 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1974–75 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 13 | |
| 1975–76 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 5 | |
| 1976–77 | 36 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 6 | |
| 1977–78 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 1978–79 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Career Total | 271 | 49 | 26 | 12 | 25 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 326 | 67 | |