Stan Bowles started out at Manchester City, before moving on to Bury, Crewe and Carlisle, but it was down the road at QPR where he made his name, appearing over 250 times in the league alone during a seven-year spell that cemented his status as a Loftus Road legend.

An ill-fated spell under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest saw Bowles – by this a five-time England international - come back to London to join Leyton Orient in 1980 and, the next year, Brentford.

He featured heavily under Fred Callaghan throughout the 1981/82 and 1982/83 campaigns - making up one third of an enviable midfield trio alongside Terry Hurlock and Chris Kamara – but opted to retire in the summer of 1983 after the Bees finished 18 points short of automatic promotion.

Having famously lived on Braemar Road during his time in TW8, in February 1983, it was Bowles’ wife Jane who raised the alarm when the stand caught fire, which undoubtedly saved the life of groundsman Alec Banks, who lived within the stand.

Whether or not it was as a direct result of Bowles’ departure, Brentford struggled throughout 1983/84, leading to his decision to come back out of retirement to play on a non-contract basis from December onwards.

His return was brief and, in a flash, Bowles was gone again, along with Callaghan, who was replaced by Frank McLintock a week later. This time his retirement was permanent and he departed Griffin Park having played 95 games and scored 17 goals.

We asked his Brentford team-mates, those who knew him best, to share their memories of the great man.

Bob Booker

“Stan was just priceless and he’s a legend at Brentford in my book.

“I always remembered him from when I was younger. I used to watch him on the Wembley five-a-sides at Wembley Arena and, when he was there with QPR, he used to run the show. That was right up his street because it was a short pitch, very technical and there wasn’t a lot of tackling. I was in awe of watching Stan well before he came to Brentford.

“He had a wand of a left foot. Let’s face it, Stan wasn’t quick or brave and he wouldn’t mind me saying that, but you couldn’t get him off the ball – and if you did, you’d have to foul him.

“I was just a young whippersnapper when he came to Brentford. When I was lucky enough to play in the team with him, I remember playing at right-back and he used to play slightly wide in front of me, not as a winger, but as a right-sided player because he could cut in on his left foot. It was an easy job for me because I knew that, if I had the ball, I had to give it to Stan!

“If I bypassed him and went for a short pass to someone else, he used to give me a b****cking! He needed the ball to operate at his level. He wasn’t going to run back and tackle, he’d have a sprint here and there. We classed players like him as luxury players as you were essentially playing with 10 men, but if he was on form, you were playing with 12. You can’t coach people to play the way he did.

“He loved to listen to banter at the hotel or in the dressing room and throw in the odd one-liner, which was usually very dry and very humorous – and you knew it was usually going to touch a nerve. He wasn’t one for arguing or getting into a row at half-time; he would speak his piece, but it wouldn’t be aggressive. He was a very intelligent person, but also very laid back.

“He was always very well dressed with a shirt and tie and a nice Crombie coat. He always had an aura about him and the dressing room looked up to him as a special player.

“But he never spoke about playing for England or anything like that. He was one of those players who just loved playing football. He set his standards very high, which was in his DNA and I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

Chris Kamara

“I like a bet on the horses and Stan was famous for that, so we’d often go for a pint and a bet. Fred took us to Bisham Abbey, over by Marlow, for training once. Stan was the most generous man in the world – if he won!

“We were there for three days and he won on the first day, so he gave me a bit of the money back that he owed me. I went into an antique shop nearby and bought a rocking chair. The reason why I went and bought it was because I knew we had two days left and if Stan knew I still had that money, he’d have come back for it! We’ve still got that rocking chair and it always reminds me of Stan.”

Gary Roberts

“Stan was a magician with the ball. It’s no secret he didn’t like training. When he first joined, he asked if I drove. I did, so he said that if I drove him about, he’d introduce me to people in London who would let me into all the clubs and bars I wanted to go in up in the West End. After training, we’d go to one dog track, then down to the bookies and possibly down to a card game – it was unbelievable! He was funny and a generous man both on and off the pitch.”

Danis Salman

“I loved Stan. He was one of those people who was never a bother to anybody. He always used to sit and talk to me because I was only a young lad. The first time I actually met him was at QPR. He used to pat me on the head and, a few years later, I was playing with him.

“He used to play on the right-hand side and, if I played right-back, I would do all of his running for him! If he did give the ball away, I would always get back and chase it and he was grateful for that.

“I was hyper before games and Stan would tell me to slow down. He’d be sat in the dressing room, not even changed, with 10 minutes to go! He’d have his legs crossed, with a cup of tea, reading Sporting Life! He was always a very calming influence and I got on very well with him.”

Pat Kruse

“He was a Jack the lad! We got to the ground one Saturday and he came in with a tip for all of us. It was running around 3.30pm and he asked if anyone wanted to put any money on. Five or six of us put a tenner on and he went down to the bookmakers just down the road from the Princess Royal.

"The game kicked off and, at half three, we all looked across to the touchline to see if it had won or not – and it did! We were almost celebrating on the pitch. He was a really nice bloke and just the same as anybody else.”

Jim McNichol

“Stan was awesome when he came to us. He was past his peak, but still on a different planet to the rest of us. I’d have loved to have played with him at his best.

“He played in front of me, on the right side of midfield, a lot of the time and he never touched the ball with his right foot. He was like a snooker player with the way he passed the ball. He was just incredible.

“With the midfield of Stan, Terry Hurlock and Chris Kamara, I’m surprised we didn’t win more often because that was just fantastic.”