[2] Whilst there he played for Bootle Schoolboys, and during this spell he transferred from centre forward to full back, the position he would make his own for the rest of his career.
[3] Nicknamed 'Yogi' during his time with the Sandgrounders thanks to his ultra-short crewcut, Griffiths played 97 consecutive games, racking up 117 appearances and one goal[1] before receiving a cartilage injury at Rochdale in March 1963 that all but ended his professional career aged just 23.
[3] After taking over football for Ainsdale St John's boys' club in Southport, in the mid 1960s Trevor Hitchen asked Griffiths to manage Formby.
Griffiths picked himself as a player for the first few years at Formby, including playing a match in goal,[4] but the habit waned as he aged and the strength of his squad increased.
He appointed as his assistant a man starting out on his managerial career, Dave Jones, who would go on to be boss of Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday.
In November 1987 the duo left Haig Avenue, taking up identical roles in October 1988 at Mossley, who were then bottom of the Northern Premier League.
The season finished on what was to prove to be Griffiths' high point at Morecambe, winning the two-legged final of the League Presidents Cup, beating Stalybridge Celtic 3–2 on aggregate.