Stoke City’s last visit to the top flight nearly didn’t happen. The club, finishing strongly in the Second Division in the spring of 1979, needed a draw at Notts County on the final day to secure promotion. Well, that was the plan. With 10 minutes remaining and the score 0-0, news reached Meadow Lane that promotion rivals Sunderland had taken the lead against Wrexham. Stoke now had to win.

“We knew we had to do something when the manager Alan Durban went a strange colour on the touchline and started jumping up and down,” recalls defender Denis Smith.

Paul Richardson remembers it well. “Suddenly, everyone was being thrown into the County penalty area,” he says. “Then, with a couple of minutes remaining, someone picked up the ball on the halfway line and I made a beeline for the penalty area. I threw myself at the ball when it came in and luckily, it ended up in the back of the net.

“We were cutting it fine. There were about 15,000 of our fans on the open terracing behind the goal. You’d have thought we’d won the World Cup, not promotion to the First Division.”

Stoke triumphed 1-0 and were promoted along with Crystal Palace, who were champions, and Brighton & Hove Albion. Durban says: “It’s funny because I felt a bit deflated at the end and didn’t really want a drink. I think it was because it was such a sense of relief as we had been up at the top all season.”

The team’s success did not surprise Smith. “We weren’t pretty but we were effective,” he says. “We honestly believed that we belonged in the top division. Usually they gave us a club tie for winning promotion but this time we went to Majorca for a week. It was brilliant.”

Stoke’s stay in the top division lasted six seasons until relegation in 1985. They had to wait 23 years before rejoining the big boys this season. Smith, one of the pillars of a team built from the back, has recently published a book on his career. “I was with my grandchil-dren watching England play Brazil and after mentioning that I’d played at Wembley and against Pele they didn’t believe me. So I thought that if they didn’t know what I had done then perhaps I should get it down in writing.”

1 Mike Doyle A central defender signed from Manchester City, Doyle spent three-and-a-half seasons at Stoke. He won five England caps and played for Bolton and Rochdale. He sold insurance to young players, was a salesman for Slazenger selling golf equipment and has now retired

2 Wally Gould A winger for Sheffield United, York and Brighton, he was first-team coach at Stoke until March 1982. Retired, he lives in Stoke

3 Alan Durban A goal-scoring midfielder, he enjoyed success at Derby County where he played more than 400 games and helped the club win the First Division title in 1972. Durban also played 27 times for Wales. He was manager of Shrewsbury before taking over at Stoke in 1978. He was in charge of the Potters for three years and was then manager at Cardiff and coach at Sunderland. He returned to Stoke as caretaker manager for five games in 1998. He lives in Telford and scouts for Fulham

4 Mike Allen The club physiotherapist left Stoke for Crewe in 1984. He had his own practice in Burslem and, now retired, lives in Stoke 5 Tony Lacey A midfielder who played four league games for Stoke in the 1960s, he coached at Stoke and Wolves. Now recruitment chief at the Wolves youth academy

6 Paul Randall His 33 goals in 52 league games for Bristol Rovers persuaded the Potters to sign him in December 1978. Randall was unable to match this scoring prowess for Stoke and Rovers fans contributed most of the £50,000 to take him back in 1981. He is first-team coach at Wells City and works at a pharmacy in Glastonbury

7 Adrian Heath An 18-year-old Stoke-born striker trying to break into the first team, Heath went on to play for Everton and Manchester City. He was player-manager of Burnley and manager of Sheffield United. Now manager of newly formed Austin Aztex in the United States, a club that has links with Stoke

8 Alan Dodd A Stoke-born central defender who had two spells at the club, playing in 374 league games. He was also at Port Vale and Cork City. He played in Sweden, too, and was a player-coach at Rochester. Living in Stoke, he is a property developer and restorer

9 Roger Jones After long stints between the goal-posts at Bournemouth and Blackburn plus a season at Newcastle, Jones joined Stoke where he played in 101 league matches. Was goalkeeping coach under Denis Smith at Sunderland and is now the kitman at Swindon

10 Loek Ursem The Amsterdam-born winger joined Stoke from AZ67 Alkmaar and played 40 league games in four seasons. After being loaned to Sunderland, he returned to Holland in 1983 where he finished his playing career. Now retired

11 Viv Busby A well-travelled striker, he arrived from Norwich and scored 10 goals in 50 league games during a three-year spell. He finished his career at York City where he was manager. He was in charge of the youth academy at Gretna and is assistant manager at Workington

12 Paul Richardson A hard-working midfielder, he played 200 matches for Nottingham Forest before becoming a casualty in Brian Clough’s clearout. He spent four seasons with Stoke and is a British Telecom engineer in Oxford

13 Sammy Irvine A Glasgow-born midfielder, he started at Shrewsbury and moved to Stoke in 1978. His career ended two years later at the age of 24 after a car crash. He was a publican, insurance salesman and a laboratory technician. He has been a groundsman since 1995

14 Garth Crooks An apprentice for his hometown club, the striker spent four years at Stoke. His 48 goals in 125 league games earned him a move to Tottenham and further success, winning two FA Cups and the Uefa Cup. He also played for Manchester United, West Brom and Charlton and was chairman of the PFA. He is now a journalist for the BBC

15 Denis Smith They bred them hard in those days and Stoke’s central defender spent 16 years at the club. He played in 407 league games and finished his career at York where he became manager. He was also in charge at Sunderland, Bristol City, Oxford, West Brom and Wrexham. Works on radio and as a match delegate

16 Brendan O'Callaghan The striker was Durban’s first signing, acquired from Doncaster for £30,000. He scored 44 league goals in 265 outings. He lives in Staffordshire and is a fund-raiser for the charity, Save The Children

17 Geoff Scott The full-back played for seven league clubs but had his longest spell at his first after signing apprentice forms with Stoke. He played in 78 league matches in three seasons before moving to Leicester. Now manager of a telecoms company

Just One of Seven: The Story of Football’s Real Hardman by Denis Smith is published by Know The Score Books, £17.99. ESPN Classic, Sky channel 442, will show Stoke v Liverpool in 1976 at 1.55pm today