Football obituaries

The funeral of football boss Keith Alexander takes place today.Alexander died having been taken ill following his Macclesfield side’s game at Notts County on March 2.Along with MK Dons boss Paul Ince, Alexander was one of only two black managers in the…

Scottish footballer Willie MacFarlane has died at the age of 79.He made his debut for Hibs in 1953 and for the next five years played at full back in a team that contained frontline known as the ‘Famous Five’.In later life he returned to Hibs as ma…

Macclesfield manager Keith Alexander, who died yesterday, was about to be asked to join the board of the League Managers’ Association, according to its chief executive Richard Bevan.He planned to ask Keith but he died, at the age of 53, after arriving …

Remembering the politician Michael Foot, two main images come to my mind – from when I was a child growing up in Thatcher’s Britain.Of course, we recall his well-publicised appearance at the Cenotaph in a ‘donkey jacket’ (pictured right) and the disast…

One of football’s nice guys, Macclesfield manager Keith Alexander, had died suddenly aged 53.He got home from a night match at Notts County after attending hospital earlier in the day.A statement from the club said: “It is our sad duty to report that K…

Charges have been dropped against a football supporter over the death of a fellow Blackburn Rovers fan last month.Rovers fan John Taylor died from head injuries after reportedly being hit by a bin during the half-time interval of his team’s Premier Lea…

Two football clubs are reflecting on the passing of great players today.Charlie Crowe, who died on Saturday (27 Feb), was the last surviving member of the side that brought the FA Cup back to Newcastle in 1951.He was a local lad and spent 12 years on N…

Fans of two football teams were remembering the career of former Hibernian and Leicester City football player Bobby Smith today.He died aged 56 on 22 February, 2010.Both clubs saw him turn out in their colours almost 200 times, and among his achievemen…

Footballers and fans in Derbyshire staged a one-minute silence in honour of a local soldier killed while fighting in Afghanistan.In memory of Lance Sergeant Dave Greenhalgh, from Ilkeston, who died after his vehicle set off a roadside bomb, a minute’…

Chelsea players and fans of today paid their respects to former terrace favourite Petar Borota with a minute’s applause at their FA Cup tie with Cardiff on Saturday (pictured).Eccentric goalkeeper Borota passed away on Friday aged just 56.He played f…

Football fans were today mourning former Everton and Aston Villa player Brian Godfrey, who later managed Exeter City to their highest ever league position.He joined Villa from Preston in 1967, captaining them in the 1971 FA Cup final against Spurs (pic…

A row has broken out over a pair of boots claimed to have been worn by Stanley Matthews.Auctioneers Bonhams are in dispute with the National Football Museum in Preston over the boots which are being sold as the ones he wore in the 1953 FA Cup Final –…

Bobby Dougan, best known for playing at centre-half for Hearts and Kilmarnock in the 1940s and ’50s, has died aged 83.He was a one-time Scottish international and also played three times for the Scottish Football League.Read more about Bobby Dougan

A Blackburn Rovers support injured at an away game in Stoke has died in hospital.Thirty-year-old John Taylor suffered head injuries after an incident in the concourse of the away end of the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.A 25-year-old man from Preston a…

Birmingham City Football Club are in mourning today after hearing the news of Gil Merrick’s passing at the age of 88.He was an England international with 23 caps and made a record 551 appearances for the Blues between 1940 and 1960.As well as being a…

The families of the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy are to be the first to see secret documents relating to the 96 deaths.The football fans perished in the Leppings Lane End of Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield at the FA Cup semi-final between…

Former Liverpool players have been among those to pay tribute to a Grimsby woman known as ‘Ann of Anfield’.Ann North acquired the nickname because of her passion for Liverpool Football Club – she saw all seven European Cup Finals and missed only 20 g…

Family and friends were due at the funeral today of former Manchester United player Albert Scanlon.Scanlon, who died on 22 December, 2009, was a member of the ‘Busby Babes’ Manchester United and a survivor of the Munich Air Disaster.The ceremony was du…

The widow of Scunthorpe United legend Jack Brownsword has welcomed the idea to make a permanent tribute to the Irons legend at the club’s Glanford Park ground.Queenie Brownsword, 75, said she has taken comfort from the fact that Jack’s memory will li…

As the opening match kicked off last night in the Africa Cup of Nation, the Togo team were heading for the airport and home following the terrorist attack on their bus on Friday which killed three men and injured several more.In the tournament’s openin…