Storton's finest hour came with his goal for Chester against Leeds in 1974

Former Liverpool and Chester defender Trevor Storton has died, aged 61, after a long battle with cancer.

Yorkshireman Storton, signed by Bill Shankly from Tranmere, was part of the Reds' Uefa Cup-winning squad in 1973.

He moved in 1974 to Chester, where he clocked up 468 games in 10 years and had a brief stint as caretaker-manager.

He then joined Oswestry Town as player-manager before three years at Telford under brother Stan, and later led Bradford Park Avenue for seven years.

He left Bradford to work under Neil Aspin at Harrogate Town and then FC Halifax, where he was assistant manager.

Yorkshire-born Storton started his career alongside brother Stan at Prenton Park in 1967, playing 100 times for Tranmere over five years before Liverpool came calling.

He was never able to establish himself as a regular at Anfield, kept out of the team by Larry Lloyd and Emlyn Hughes.

But his involvement with Liverpool's 1973 Uefa Cup run was enough to earn him a winner's medal.

His stint at Chester made the modest, unassuming, immensely popular Storton a legend at the club, his league appearance record of 396 games proving the third-best in the club's history.

In his first season, in 1974/75, he helped Chester win promotion from the Fourth Division, as well as enjoying a dream run to the semi-finals of the League Cup, Storton scoring in the 3-0 fourth round win over reigning league champions Leeds united.

"Trevor Storton was a legend in the true sense of the word," his former team-mate, keeper Grenville Millington told the Chester Leader. "He was a person you didn't mess with.

"When I got into the Chester team Trevor was an experienced player - but he was always experienced, even when he was young.

"I always felt safe as a goalkeeper with Trevor in front of me in defence."

After 10 years at Sealand Road, Storton was trusted with the caretaker-manager's position at Chester, but quit in 1984 when the board went over his head in signing loan players.

I always felt safe as a goalkeeper with Trevor Storton in front of me in defence Former Chester goalkeeper Grenville Millington

Storton was quickly back in football as player-manager at Oswestry Town, then in the Northern Premier League.

He also followed his brother's lead by setting up a window-cleaning business in his home town, Keighley.

After leaving Oswestry, he answered a call from Stan to play under him at Telford, with whom he won an FA Trophy winner's medal in 1989.

After a year-long stint in Lancashire with Chorley, he then worked with a number of sides back in his native Yorkshire, most notably at Bradford Park Avenue.

Over a seven-year stretch, he helped revive the former Football League club's fortunes - including leading them to an FA Cup first round tie against Bristol City in 2003.

"Quite simply we wouldn't be anywhere near where we are as a club at the moment without Trevor Storton," Bradford director Kevin Hainsworth told the Bradford Telegraph & Argus.

"He got us promoted to and then established at the level we are at.

"And that was back in the day when we didn't have the same resources that we have now. It's clear that a lot of it is down to one man, Trevor Storton."

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