Astle was the hero in the 1968 FA Cup final

The most memorable of which came in Albion's 1968 FA Cup final win over Everton.

With the game in extra-time, Astle unleashed a ferocious left foot shot from 20-yards to hand the underdogs a 1-0 victory.

The goal not only secured his status as a West Brom great, but also guaranteed him a place in FA Cup folklore as he became the first player to have scored in every round of the competition in one season.

Two years later, the striker bagged himself another milestone when he became the first player to have scored in both League and FA Cup finals.

Although this time the Baggies were defeated by Manchester City.

There was more to his game than just goalscoring though, as Astle is ranked as one of the greatest header's of a ball there has ever been.

The year 1970 was probably the pinnacle of his career, and it was a significant achievement to be in England's squad for the World Cup that year.

Although England were not able to retain their title, the squad for that tournament is considered by many pundits to be better than that which emerged victorious in 1966.

In total, Astle played five times for England without scoring a goal.

Frank Skinner shows his reverence for Astle

Unfortunately, after 1970 Astle's career was dogged by injury and problems with his knees meant he was forced to end his stint at the Hawthorns in 1974.

Coming from an era when a footballer's yearly income would not match the weekly wage of today's stars, Astle was forced to pursue an alternative career.

He successfully ran a window cleaning business, before coming back into the public eye in the 1990's with a tongue-in-cheek singing slot on the Fantasy Football television programme.

And just to set the record straight on that 1970 World Cup miss, it was to prove meaningless.

England went out in the quarter-finals after losing 3-2 to West Germany, while Brazil went on to win the title for a record third time.