He was a striker feared by every defence in the country - and Notts County soon realised they had a legend in the making.
Jeff Astle had joined the Magpies when he was 17 after his talent was recognised by local scouts.
Having put pen to paper in 1959, Eastwood-born Astle was a classic centre forward and was taken under the wing of then Notts manager and great Tommy Lawton.
There was no better man to learn from given Lawton was described as one of England's finest number nines.
Under his tutelage, Astle became a forward who was brilliant with his back to goal, possessed a ferocious shot and had formidable aerial ability.
It was not long before that quality began to light up Meadow Lane where he went on to score 31 goals in 103 appearances.
And on this day in 1964, West Brom paid Notts £25,000 for the striker's services in a move that would lead Astle to become one of the most revered players in their history.
During Astle's time at the Hawthorns, the Baggies ascended from Division Four to the top flight of Division One and in the 1967-68 season he completed a remarkable feat.
He scored the only goal in the FA Cup final victory over Everton which maintained his record of scoring in every round of the competition.
He is only one of seven players to have done so.
England honours then followed as, on the back of a terrific season in the 1969-70 campaign which saw him finish top scorer in Division One, he made the England squad for the World Cup finals in Mexico.
Such was his standing at West Brom, "ASTLE IS THE KING" appeared in large white letters on the brickwork of Primrose Bridge, in the heart of the Black Country.
Due to repeated injuries, Astle eventually left West Brom in 1974 having scored 137 goals in 292 games.
He would later be voted as one of their 16 greatest ever players.
Astle sadly died in 2002, aged 59.
He will be remembered as the first British professional footballer confirmed to have
died from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
It is a progressive, degenerative brain disease found in individuals (usually athletes) with a history of head injury, often as a result of multiple concussions.
In Astle's case, it was the repeated, low level brain trauma believed to have been caused from the repeated heading of footballs.
His family set-up a foundation in 2015 to raise awareness of brain injuries in sport.
