PUBLISHED
22:42 16 July 2012
By Stoke City Football Club
To mark the ten-year anniversary of the Club's move into the Britannia Stadium, the Club ran a series of online polls in August 2007 to determine who supporters thought deserved the accolades of "Best Player", "Best Match" and "Best Goal" from that first decade.
BEST GOAL AWARD
In third place for the Best Goal Award was Dave Brammer's 30-yard strike against Luton Town in August 2005.
Coming in at second place was Andy Griffin's screamer against Coventry City in November 2006, a goal broadcast live in front of the Sky TV cameras.
And in first place, Peter Hoekstra's left footed strike against Reading in December 2003. It was the second goal of his wonderful hat-trick that day, in what was a superb performance by the Dutchman.
Results
1st - Peter Hoekstra vs Reading (2nd of 3), Dec 2003 - 28%
2nd - Andy Griffin vs Coventry City, Nov 2006 - 24%
3rd - Dave Brammer vs Luton Town, Aug 2005 - 17%
BEST GAME AWARD
The Best Game Award was equally close and there was a tie for second and third place.
That was between the wonderful 5-0 rout over Norwich City in 2006 and the 3-2 defeat of Ipswich Town in 2004, where Ade Akinbiyi's late goal sent the Potters top of the Coca-Cola Championship table.
The winner of the Best Game of the decade though is the aforementioned 3-0 win over Reading. Peter Hoekstra's hat-trick performance was enough for the supporters to vote the game into the record books.
Results
1st - City vs Reading, won 3-0, Dec 2003 - 17%
Joint 2nd - City vs Ipswich Town, won 3-2, Sep 2004 - 13%
Joint 2nd - City vs Norwich City, won 5-0, Oct 2006 - 13%
BEST PLAYER AWARD
In third place was goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, the former Everton stopper who made the number one spot for many years after taking over from Dutch veteran Ed de Goey.
Voted into second place was Peter Thorne, the fans' favourite who bagged 80 goals in his four-year spell with the Potters.
But voted as the Best Player for the decade is none other than Peter Hoekstra!
Part of the Netherlands team at UEFA Euro 96, the former Dutch international was signed by Gudjon Thordarson in the summer of 2001 and went on to make a total of 88 appearances in all competitions, scoring 12 goals.
His silky footwork and classy play dazzled both the fans and opposition full backs alike. Had it not been for an ankle injury sustained against Halifax Town in the FA Cup, something that Hoekstra never fully recovered from, then the maestro would have gone to clock up far more appearances in the red and white stripes.
Results
1st - Peter Hoekstra - 48%
2nd - Peter Thorne - 17%
3rd - Steve Simonsen - 7%