Mike Pejic

Michael Pejic (born 25 January 1950) is a former England international footballer who played in the English Football League for Stoke City, Everton and Aston Villa.

Pejic started his career with Stoke City under the management of Tony Waddington.

Pejic was born in Chesterton in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Wednesday, 25 January 1950, and supported Stoke City from an early age.

His father, a Serbian immigrant miner from Yugoslavia, took him to watch the matches at the Victoria Ground.

In his teenage years Pejic was playing for Newcastle-under-Lyme schools as a left-winger and signed professional forms with Stoke in 1967, where manager Tony Waddington took the decision to convert him into a left-back.

After two years in the reserves he made his debut against West Ham United at Upton Park, helping Stoke keep a clean sheet against World Cup winner Geoff Hurst.

He took over from the disappointing Alex Elder and established himself in the first team.

Pejic was a strong athlete with a sweet left foot and was compactly built at 5 ft 7in.

Pejic was a 'hard player' and was a strong tackler who enjoyed letting his opposing winger know he was around with a scything tackle.

He was a fitness fanatic who, unlike many of his Stoke teammates had another job outside of football, as he kept a farm near Leek.

He became a regular in the Stoke squad in 1969–70 and the early seasons in the 1970s.

He became an important player in Stoke's successful early 1970s side, helping the club win the League Cup in 1972.

A left-back, he was renowned for being a tough player and was prone to being sent off, and on one occasion was suspended for five matches.

During two seasons, 1970–71 and 1971–72, Pejic played in over 100 senior matches.

Stoke enjoyed a successful period, reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup twice and winning their first major trophy – the League Cup – in 1972.

He played the whole ninety minutes of the final, as the "Potters" beat Chelsea 2–1 at Wembley thanks to goals from Terry Conroy and George Eastham.

He earned a call up to the England national side in 1974, playing in four matches, but lost his place to Liverpool's Alec Lindsay.

During his time at Stoke Pejic was prone to being sent off and was once suspended for five matches by the FA.

Alf Ramsey handed him his full England debut in a friendly against Portugal in Lisbon on 3 April 1974; the game finished 0–0.

After appearances against Wales and Northern Ireland, he won his fourth and final cap on 18 May 1974, in a 2–0 defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park that left England to share the 1973–74 British Home Championship.

Ramsey's successor, Joe Mercer, dropped him in favour of Alec Lindsay.

He broke his leg in February 1975, and in his absence City's genuine First Division title challenge fell away.

He broke his leg in February 1975, and injuries to three other key players caused Stoke's bid for the First Division title in 1974–75 to fall away to a fifth-place finish.

In January 1976, the Butler Street stand roof at the Victoria Ground collapsed after a powerful storm gripped the area.

To cover the costs the club had to sell their most valuable players and Pejic joined Everton for £135,000.

Under the stewardship of Gordon Lee, the "Toffees" finished in ninth place in 1976–77.

They also reached the League Cup final, but lost to Aston Villa at Old Trafford without Pejic in the team.

He was sold to Everton for a £135,000 fee in February 1977, where he played three seasons before joining Aston Villa in 1979.

He did though play 46 games in the 1977–78 season, as Everton finished third in the league.

At Goodison Park, Pejic again suffered a broken leg this time against Leeds United in December 1978, and was limited to 26 appearances in the 1978–79 season.

He was replaced by John Bailey at Everton and he joined Ron Saunders's Aston Villa in September 1979.

But injuries again took their toll and he was limited to 12 appearances in the 1979–80 season before he decided to retire at Villa Park in May 1980 after being sidelined with a pelvic injury.

The months of injuries and early retirement left him suffering from depression.

Pejic won eight caps for the England under-23 team.

He retired due to injury in 1980.

Pejic took charge at North West Counties League side Leek Town, and led the "Blues" to a ninth-place finish in 1984–85.

His stay at Harrison Park was brief, as he resigned to take over as manager of Northwich Victoria.

He took the "Vics" to a 16th-place finish in the Alliance Premier League in 1985–86.

He later managed Leek Town, Northwich Victoria, Chester City, and Malaysian side Selangor FA, and also coached Port Vale from 1986 to 1992.

In the late 2000s he coached at Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town.