FORMER England international and Spurs player, Johnny Brooks, has died at the age of 84.

Born in Reading, he joined his hometown football club at the age of 17, first as an amateur before signing the semi-pro forms less than two months later. He completed his two years of national service with the Army Catering Corps in Aldershot, where he also represented their football team.

Johnny represented the Royals, formerly known as the Biscuitmen, across 49 appearances and scored six goals.

He transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in February 1953, where he made 179 appearances and scored 51 goals, during which time he gained international recognition starting from his first game for England in November 1956. He was the first every Reading-born player to represent England and scored a debut goal in the 3-1 victory during a British Home Championship clash with Wales at Wembley.

Johnny also scored during his second England appearance later the same month in a 3-0 win against Yugoslavia and then made his final appearance of the country in a 5-2 World Cup qualifying triumph against Denmark, in December.

Following six seasons with Spurs, he moved to Chelsea in 1959 before transferring to Brentford two years later where he helped the club to win the Division Four title in 1962/63, which was the first silverware of his playing career.

He spent the rest of his full-time playing career with Crystal Palace before heading over to represent Toronto City.

On his return to the UK, he combined playing part-time non-League football with Stevenage while working as a messenger at the Stock Exchange in London.

Johnny later played briefly with Cambridge and served as Knebworth Town’s player-manager. Even after retiring, he would still lace up his boots to feature in friendly and charity matches. He also played in the final match to be hosted at Elm Park, which was a veterans' tournament in September 1998, by which time he had moved to live in Bournemouth.

His family followed in his footballing footsteps, with his son, Shaun, going on to play for Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient and AFC Bournemouth, while his grandson, Callum, is assistant manager at Poole Town.

Johnny died on Tuesday, June 7, after being diagnosed with dementia. His funeral will be held on Wednesday, June 22 at Bournemouth Crematorium.