THE Destroying Angel Steve Bloomer made an appearance in his hometown of Cradley recently - a giant picture of the legendary Derby Country and England striker was paraded in the town.

Steve Bloomer was born in Cradley in 1874 and went on to be the second highest ever scorer in the top flight and his name is still sang at Derby County games.

For Cradley Day football mad twins David and Paul Mortimer got permission for the 40 inch portrait photograph by WW Winter of Derby from the 1900s.

The picture, worth over £5,000, had not left Derby before but The Rams gave permission for the prized picture to be displayed in Cradley.

Dubbed England's first football superstar Steve Bloomer was born in Bridge Street, to Caleb Bloomer the Blacksmith, and moved with his family to Derby aged five.

He scored an incredible 23 goals in 28 appearances for England and a plaque in his memory is on Bridge Street opposite to where he lived as a child.

Paul Mortimer said: "The large and exclusive Bloomer artifact from the Derby County collection is not on public display and is very rare and valuable.

"We had to 'sign it out' and prove our public liability insurance in order to bring it to Cradley."

He added: "A Derby County Museum my finally be in the offing at our stadium and this will be a prize exhibit - but at the moment we are the only people entrusted with it for the enjoyment of other fans and the good folk of Cradley.

"The club has also recently started decorating the stadium concourses with player murals, and a huge image of Bloomer now exists on the wall."

Cradley filmmaker Harry Bloomer said: "Steve Bloomer will always be a legend in Cradley and we were delighted Derby County FC allowed the picture to come to the town."

Bloomer was the leading Rams scorer for 14 consecutive seasons, scored 17 hat-tricks in the league and was the first ever goalscorer at West Bromwich Albion's Hawthorns ground.