LEEDS hatchet-man Johnny Giles was asked by The Guardian who was the hardest player he had ever played against and Giles said, “Peter Storey of Arsenal and England.”
After Cologne midfielder Wolfgang Overath played against Arsenal he said, “I thought the hardest I had ever been tackled was by Nobby Stiles, but then I was tackled by Peter Storey.”
Some footballers, like Charlie George and Dennis Bergkamp, would not play if they have a minor injury, while true warriors, like Storey, always wanted to play even if the club doctor explicitly said they should not.
Arsenal physio Fred Street once confirmed that legend to me. It was true : Fred would go round the dressing room asking the players how they felt physically. “Right lads – any aches, pains, strains, bruises? Peter? Any broken bones ?”
However, reality is never as simple as newspapers would have us believe. Peter Storey was a very two-footed footballer who rarely wasted a ball, and Bobby Moore said that the football public would be amazed if they knew how highly regarded Storey was within the professional game.
Frank McLintock pointed out that Storey had a longer international career than any other player in the 1971 double-winning team.
Basically. Peter Storey was a one-club man who played a few games for Fulham.When he left Arsenal, his life started to fall apart. He retired from football in 1977 and says that between 1978 and 1982 his life was a nightmare. Sentenced to three years in prison in 1980, Peter now lives in France with his fourth wife.
Naturally, he still loves Arsenal and he is still in touch with Charlie George , Bob McNab, John Radford and David Court. His two sons are season-ticket holders.