Stan Bowles: The maverick who played football like Lionel Messi with a pint in his hand

Stan Bowles was a football hero who really shone at Loftus Road. In the 1970s, he was famous for his skills and for being a bit of a cheeky player. But in August 2015, he said goodbye to the pitch he loved so much.

Sadly, Bowles has passed away at 75 years old. He had been fighting Alzheimer's disease for a long time. On 'Stan Bowles Day', when QPR played Rotherham, he looked strong as he waved to the fans, even though he was very ill.

Don Shanks, who was Stan's best mate and played with him at QPR, said to the Guardian: «When Stan walked out at Loftus Road he knew exactly where he was, for some reason. A moment of knowing who he was.»

Bowles was like the cool rebel of 1970s football. Almost everyone knew about him back then. He was born in Manchester on Christmas Eve in 1948 and started playing football with Manchester City. After that, he played for Bury and then Crewe.

His manager at Crewe said something funny about Bowles: «If Stan could pass a betting shop like he can pass a football, he'd be a rich man.»

He then moved to Carlisle and in September 1972, he joined QPR for £110,000. Over a seven-year period, Bowles played 315 league games for Rangers and scored 97 goals.

But those numbers don't fully capture Bowles' skill. Imagine Lionel Messi playing with a cigarette in one hand, a lager top in the other and a copy of the Racing Post sticking out of his back pocket.

Bowles, often seen in an oversized kit, would effortlessly dribble past unsuspecting full-backs with his quick feet and long hair. His signature move was to cut inside on his right foot and speed past a right-back before driving the ball into the near post.

However, as Tagg pointed out, Bowles was as familiar with the pubs and betting shops around Loftus Road as