With his flaming ginger hair, Irishman Terry Conroy is one of the most iconic Stoke City players ever. Known affectionately by fans as "White Legs" he was the scorer and supplier of 2 of the most important goals in Potters history.
When Terry Conroy headed Stoke City's first goal in the 1972 league cup final against Chelsea - he achieved a dream he'd had as a young boy. "My aspiration as a kid was to become a professional footballer, play in England, play for my country and score the winning goal at Wembley", he said. "I got the last part wrong because I scored the first goal at Wembley but I made the winner though!"
Conroy joined the Potters from the Irish club, Glentoran F.C. for 10 thousand pounds in March 1967, but if it hadn't been for a spell of bad weather he could've been heading to London. "Fulham had made an offer but had to get parental permission for me to sign because I was under 21. I said to my dad I wanted to get the cup replay (for Glentoran) out of the way before signing, but when I got to Belfast for the match it was snowed off. I then had to catch the train home to Dublin, and told Fulham I would decide in the next 24 hours, but I was still undecided." That was when Stoke made their move - Manager Tony Waddington shared that train ride back to Dublin with him. Waddo convinced me Stoke was the place for me, and I've never regretted the decision."
He went on to make 333 Cup and League appearances for Stoke, scoring 66 goals. He was also capped by the Republic of Ireland 26 times.
He now works in the commercial department at Stoke City, and is the UK welfare officer for all Irish players who play in England and Scotland. His role is to look after youngsters who come over and take academy scholarships. "I know what it's like. I came to Stoke at 20 - I was in digs for 2 years and was very homesick. If I wanted to ring home I had to go out and find a phone box, make sure I had the right change. Youngsters don't have those problems now because of mobile phones and the internet but it can still be difficult. I'm there to help them and make sure they settle in and enjoy their football."
Adapted and abridged from BBC
Say whether the following sentences are True or False. Give evidence from the text.
a. Terry Conroy decided to sign with Stoke City when he was travelling on a train to Dublin.
b. The first two years in Stoke were comfortable and easy for Terry Conroy.
Answer these questions using your own words. Do not copy from the text.
a. Why hadn't Conroy signed for Fulham yet when Stoke City made their move?
b. Explain in your own words the job Terry Conroy has nowadays.
Find a synonym in the text for the following words:
a. representative (paragraph 1):
b. dearly (paragraph 1):
c. duty (paragraph 5):
d. grants (paragraph 5):
Turn into Reported Speech:
-"I got the last part wrong because I only scored the first goal at Wembley", Terry Conroy said.
Turn into Active:
-He was capped by the Republic of Ireland 26 times.
Fill in the blank spaces:
-When Conroy played for Glentoran, he used to travel _________ Dublin ________ Belfast ______train.
-Conroy played finally for Stoke City, although he _____________ (receive) an offer from Fulham before.
-Terry Conroy was ____________ (famous) ____________ other football players.
