“But even those were dwarfed by the numbers at Meir, Longton and Fenton,” wrote the Sentinel’s Peter Hewitt. “In between there were thousands and thousands more.

“And the big welcome was yet to come. At Stoke, streets were crammed with singing masses and they erupted into an overture of ecstasy at the sight of their heroes. People were everywhere, striving for a look at the team. They were on walls, window ledges, balconies, trees and even rooftops. Nearly 200 managed to get a pigeon’s eye view from the top of the town hall. Others had clambered to the top of the MEB tower.”

The microphone was passed around. Jimmy Greenhoff sparked an avalanche of laughter when he said he couldn’t talk because he had a bad shoulder. Gordon Banks told everyone he loved them. Mike Bernard – who had become a dad for the second time that day too – put the trophy on Greenhoff’s head and the players led the town on a rendition of We’ll Be With You.

There was panic when someone during the ensuing evening noticed that the base of the trophy was missing. It was eventually found and Stoke’s first and still only major silverware was locked up for the night in a police cell, presumably until the city sobered up. It remained under police security for most of the time until it was paraded before the next weekend’s home game against Sheffield United – attendance, 31,667.