Jim Storrie

Born: March 31, 1940; Died: November 13, 2014.

JIM Storrie, who has died after a short illness aged 74, is one of the forgotten men of Don Revie's highly-successful Leeds United teams of the 1960s and 1970s.

Known to the Elland Road fans as Diamond Jim, Storrie's goals played a major role in returning United to the English top-flight, but, after being injured in the run-up to the 1965 FA Cup Final, he faded out of the picture.

Born In Kirkintilloch, Storrie began his career with junior side Kilsyth Rangers, from where he went into senior football with Airdrie, in December, 1957. He was introduced into the first team at the end of that season, making his debut against Albion Rovers in a Lanarkshire Cup tie on April 7, then his League debut, in a 3-1 loss to Third Lanark, at Cathkin, nine days later.

He made 89 appearances for the Diamonds over the next four years, scoring goals at a rate of better than one every second game and that prowess saw him, in June, 1962, transferred to Leeds United for £15,650. Revie saw Storrie, who had explosive pace over ten yards, as the ideal second striker to run onto knock-downs from the great John Charles, who was returning to the club from Juventus.

Initially, Storrie was unimpressed by the chance to join Leeds, but, told they had signed Bobby Collins and Charles, he relented when Revie turned up at his work at a switchgear firm to sign him. Charles failed to recapture his former excellence, but, this worked well for Storrie, who became United's main striker, notching 67 goals in 156 appearances, during his five years with the club.

He settled quickly in the considerable Scots colony at the club, opening his goal-scoring account with the winner in his debut against Stoke City, in August, 1962; the first of his 25 goals that season.

Leeds won promotion the following season, but, Storrie played little part. Injury and loss of form limited him to 15 games, in which he scored a mere three goals.

Back in the top flight, Storrie was a key man for the club, top-scoring with 16 goals in 37 league games, plus a couple in a cup run which ended in Wembley defeat at the hands of Bill Shankly's Liverpool.

Storrie played in that game, having hidden the fact that he was carrying an injury from Revie. He was to gradually drift out of the picture as Revie rebuilt.

He received his solitary Scotland call, at the end of the 1965-66 season, when he was named in an experimental squad which then Scotland boss John Prentice put together for matches against Portugal and Brazil. He was, not, however, to feature in either game, an oversight by Prentice which caused a rift between the SFA and Leeds.

The following season, although he scored 13 goals, he was mainly used out-of-position, on the right wing, and, in February, 1967, he returned to Scotland after Aberdeen boss Eddie Turnbull paid £13,500 for him.

He had been in an Airdrie side, beaten 4-0 by Celtic in a Hampden cup semi-final in 1961. Six years later, he was back at the national stadium, to again face the Hoops, this time in the final. Again, the day ended in disappointment, as Celtic won 2-0.

He was Aberdeen's leading scorer the following season, when he was dropped in November and he was soon on his way back to Yorkshire, as Tommy Docherty signed him for Rotherham for £7,000.

There was a great cup run that first season, before Docherty left. Storrie stayed, scoring 19 goals in 79 starts, before, in 1969, he was sold to Portsmouth, where he scored 13 goals in 43 games over three seasons, plus a "goal" which wasn't - he fired a great shot past Peter Shilton in a game at Leicester, but the ball came back off the stanchion and into play and, in spite of Shilton telling the official: "It was a goal", the referee refused to call it.

At the end of the 1972 season, having been freed, Storrie again came north, to a position as a player-coach with St Mirren. He then briefly returned to Hampshire, to play and manage Waterlooville, before finally coming back to Scotland, as St Johnstone manager, towards the end of the 1975-76 season. He spent just over a year with the Perth club, before resigning.

There was a chance to take his career full circle, with a spell as a coach back at Airdrie, his final job in football. He took a job at a sports centre in Cumbernauld. He remained there for 14 years, before moving on to Stirling University, where he worked until his formal retirement.

When compared with the likes of Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles or Eddie Gray, Jim Storrie cannot be termed one of Leeds' greatest player, although what he lacked in skill and style he more than made up for in application and work rate. Remembering him, older Leeds fans talk of a man who would miss 10 or 15 "sitters", when "Diamond Jim" became "that pillock from Kirkintilloch"; then, he would produce, seemingly out of nowhere, an amazing winner.

Not that he didn't have skills of his own. Like Denis Law, the five-foot-nine inch Storrie was deadly in the air, having an ability, which he shared with Law, to "hang" in the air. He was also an early exponent of the currently fashionable Rabona kick. And, it should not be forgotten that Revie, Turnbull and Docherty were managers who knew a good player when they saw and bought one.

Storrie was predeceased, six months ago, by Nancy, his wife of 53 years, He is survived by son Joe, daughters Ann and Jane, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Nancy's father, Tony Weldon, like his son-in-law had played for Airdrie before a peripatetic career in England. While Joe, after one game with Forfar Athletic, decided his future lay in teaching.