Six Foot Two

'BIG JIM' HOLTON was a cult hero for Manchester United and Scotland during the heady early 1970s. Although he had the terrace anthem 'Six Foot Two, Eyes of Blue' bestowed on him by fans of both club and country, his eyes were the deepest brown and it is debatable whether indeed he was even 6 feet 2 inches tall.Dismissed by critics as a 'human grappling hook' and a 'hammer thrower', his class eventually shone as he played akey role in taking Scotland to the 1974 World Cup, scoring in the decisive qualifying game against Czechoslovakia at a raucous Hampden Park, before becoming a folk hero in West Germany among the Tartan Army.After a meteoric United career, Injury and misfortune led him to move on to Sunderland before helping Coventry stave off relegation. A career in the US alongside Pele and Beckenbauer also beckoned before he retired to successfully run several pubs in Coventry. Jim always kept himself fit, which made it all the more shocking when he died of a heart attack while out jogging in 1993. He was just 42 years old.

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