Stoke City: Shock 2001 transfer was catalyst for eventual Premier League breakthrough - View | OneFootball

Peter Hoekstra was a surprise signing for the Potters and became a cult hero in his short spell at the club

Younger football fans will mostly remember Stoke City as a Premier League team under the guidance of Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes but the Potters did not get there by chance after so many years lounging around the lower leagues in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Stoke were relegated to the Third Division of English football for only the second time in the club's history in 1990 and bounced between there and the second tier for the next few years before they went down once again to the third tier in 1998, and then lost out in the play-offs for two consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2001.

Something special was needed to fire the Potters back up, and it was the shock signing of former Netherlands and Ajax winger Peter Hoekstra in July 2001 that set Gudjon Thordason's side on course back to the second tier, which in turn eventually saw them go on to reach the Premier League not long after.

Hoekstra fuelled Stoke's success during his time at the club, and beyond, with some star turns that saw him achieve cult-hero status at the Britannia Stadium before his early retirement in 2004.

Hoekstra was a cut above while with Stoke

The two previous play-off losses meant that the pressure was on the Icelandic board and boss Gudjon Thordason in 2001 to finally achieve promotion that season, and they went big in the transfer window as Hoekstra came in alongside the likes of Sergei Shtaniuk, Peter Handyside, Neil Cutler and Jurgen Vandeurzen.

The years leading up to Hoekstra's arrival were a real low point in the Potters' history, and so his signing was understandably viewed as a massive coup for the club given he had played in the Eredivisie for ten years with PSV, Ajax, and FC Groningen, and had gone to Euro 1996 with the Netherlands just five years earlier.

Hoekstra made an immediate impact in the Potteries, with his talent clear to see as he became Thordason's talisman and wowed Stoke supporters with his impressive dribbling skills, ball control and ability to take on, and beat, his full-back with ease from the wide left.

His susceptibility to injuries had been a hallmark of his career in the years leading up to his Stoke move though, and he found himself missing for the crucial promotion run-in as the Potters finally sealed promotion, via the play-offs, in his absence, and he finished his debut season in English football with three goals in 28 appearances.

Tony Pulis was soon appointed by the Potters after Thordason's post-season sacking and Steve Cotterill's failure, and the second tier may have been a step-up in quality, but it was little trouble for Hoekstra as he impressed once again with more stand-out performances, including a winner against Preston North End and a brace that included a stunning 30-yard drive in a huge March victory over Watford as Stoke avoided the drop by just four points.

The 2003/04 campaign brought about more consolidation in the Second Division under Pulis, and the Dutchman once again more than played his part with four goals in 27 appearances throughout the campaign.

His final season also brought about his crowning moment in a Stoke shirt, as he netted a brilliant hat-trick in a 3-0 home win over Reading in an individual performance that is still heralded to this day as one of the finest ever by a Potters player.

Hoekstra was forced into retirement at just 31 years old due to persistent injuries in May 2004, in what was an unfortunate turn of events as he surely could have continued to star for Stoke for a good few years to come.

He was officially lauded four years after his departure in 2008, as he was named as the best Stoke player to play in the first ten years at the Britannia Stadium, clearly proving just how loved he was by all at the club for his performances throughout his three years in the Potteries.

Hoekstra set Stoke on their way to the Premier League

Hoekstra was the catalyst to success while he was with the Potters and the steps forward that the club took while he was starring every week were imperative to their accomplishments that followed in the years after his departure.

Stoke went from strength to strength in the early 2000s thanks, in part, to the Dutchman's impressive performances in the third and second tier, and without him there for the three years that he was, it is tough to imagine the club going on to be so successful in subsequent seasons.

The two campaigns that followed his departure saw the Potters achieve respectable 12th and 13th-placed finishes under Pulis and new boss Johan Boskamp, with the Welshman then put back in charge in 2006 as Stoke came eighth, then eventually returned to the top flight of English football for the first time in 23 years after finishing as Championship runners-up in 2007/08.

The Dutchman has since spoken about his affection for the Stoke fans, and boss Pulis, who each treated him so well in his final years as a player while adding that he never truly expected the club to reach the promised land of the Premier League.

"The thing with Pulis is that even if some people say his football is negative at times, he was very positive as a man – especially towards his players," he told Duck Magazine in 2020.

"He knew how to build team spirit. It would be easy to underestimate him. His tactics were simple but very effective and it was his strengths that helped Stoke to eventually survive.

"In a way, his direct style suited me because as a forward, you knew the ball was coming forward to you quickly. You didn’t have to be patient. My movement off the ball was good so it matched the style well at times.

"In one way, yes (he was surprised that Stoke established themselves in the Premier League), because they didn’t have lots of special players compared with other teams.

"A lot of teams hated it to play against Stoke and that was great for me to see. I was proud for the club, because I always tell the people in Holland how great the Stoke crowd can be."

It was that against-all-odds attitude that helped the Potters survive in the top-flight for ten years before relegation to the Championship in 2018, and the birth of Pulis' managerial affinity to Stoke was built upon a foundation of Hoekstra's genius while Stoke were still trying to prove themselves in the second-tier.

The Dutchman is one of Stoke's first modern-day cult heroes, and even though many have since followed, he will always be remembered for his brilliance and the sheer level of skill he brought that had been lacking at the club for so long before his arrival.