HEARTFELT tributes have been paid to a legendary Johnstone Burgh manager who has died at the age of 88.

Jimmy Blackburn led the Keanie Park men to the 1964 Scottish Junior Cup, with many fans hailing him as the club’s most successful boss.

Burgh also won the West of Scotland Cup and the Central League Championship under him and he formed the team that went on to lift the Junior Cup for a second time in 1968.

Mr Blackburn was born and bred in Kilbarchan before he moved to the Cochrane Castle area of Johnstone with his wife Margaret.

When he retired, he moved to Newton Stewart, in Dumfries and Galloway, where he died after suffering with illness for several weeks.

Mr Blackburn – a dad-of-two, stepdad-of-two, grandad-of-four and great-grandad-of-three – was known to his friends at Burgh as ‘Blacky’.

John Rock, Johnstone Burgh president, told The Gazette: “I’ve known Jimmy since I was a wee boy. We used to call him Blacky and he had a tremendous influence on Burgh.

“He was very football-orientated. It was his life and so were Burgh. He was manager from around 1957 to 1966. He picked the team, he found players, he did the lot. We didn’t have anyone like that before him.

“Whenever you mention Johnstone Burgh, you think of Jimmy. His name is synonymous with the club.

“He will be sorely missed.”

Mr Blackburn worked for a refrigeration company before running a fruit and veg van, which is how he got to know many Johnstone residents.

He then became a casino doorman for many years and later worked for Mail Marketing, in Glasgow.

His stepdaughter Allyson English, 52, said football was his number one passion but his interests didn’t end there.

She added: “He talked about football all the time to my kids and he used to tell them all about the stars he had met.

“He told me he met Matt Busby once when he was going to Manchester.

“He also really loved his golf and, for some reason, he had a real fascination with the Mafia. We would always get him DVDs and films about them and he loved the likes of The Godfather and Goodfellas.

“He was larger than life and a real character. What you saw was what you got and I think that appealed to a lot of people. You couldn’t help but love him.”