It’s the summer of 1980 and Adrian Heath is in good company. The 19-year-old forward had made his professional debut for his boyhood club, Stoke City, in the 1979-80 campaign. More will be asked of him in the coming season after starting striker Garth Crooks was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £650,000. Heath stays with Crooks at his new home in London for a visit that includes a dinner with one of his new teammates: midfielder Osvaldo Ardiles.
Entering the third season of a decade-long tenure with Tottenham, Ardiles is held in high esteem after helping Argentina win the 1978 World Cup on home soil. The trio heads back to Ardiles’ place, where he asks Heath if he’s seen a midfielder of a similar age and physical stature: a teenager who had missed that ‘78 World Cup roster named Diego Maradona.
“Ozzie said to me, ‘Have you ever heard of this guy called Maradona?’” Heath recalled. “I said no, so he…
