JOHNNY Brooks, the first Reading FC player to play for England, has died at the age of 84.

Brooks was born in Reading and is regarded as one of the most gifted players to have played for the club.

The inside-forward was one of the first players produced by Ted Drake's youth plan, making his debut in April 1950.

He scored six times in 49 appearances, but would have played many more games had his spell with the club not been interrupted by National Service.

Brooks cut his teeth as an amateur with local teams including Mount Pleasant Youth, Coley Boys and Castle Street Institute.

He once scored 19 goals in a match for Castle Street in a mammoth 44-1 win against Suttons in a Reading Minor Cup tie in 1945.

He joined Royals in 1949 aged 17, initially as an amateur, and made his Reading debut during his two years with the Army Catering Corps in Aldershot.

He also represented the Army football team and played for the Football Association against Cambridge University.

But as soon as he pulled on a Reading shirt it became clear they would struggle to keep him, and he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1953 for £3,000, with Dennis Uphill and Harry Robshaw moving the other way.

Brooks developed into the complete player at White Hart Lane, adding a regular flow of goals to his other talents, earning international recognition with England.

He became the first Reading-born player to represent his country when he scored on his debut in a 3-1 win against Wales in November 1956.

He gained another two caps in the weeks that followed and scored against as England beat Yugoslavia 3-0 and then triumphed 5-2 against Denmark in a World Cup qualifier.

But he was never picked by England again and Brooks moved to Chelsea in 1959 in exchange for Les Allen.

He went on to play for a number of other clubs including Brentford, Crystal Palace, Toronto City, Stevenage and Cambridge City.

He also played at Elm Park one more time after representing a veteran's team at the age of 66 in the last game at the club's former home in 1998.

Brooks spent his retirement years in Bournemouth, but he was a regular guest at Reading FC Former Players' Association events and retained close ties with the town.

Brooks passed away last week after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.