Jim Ross

Jim Ross, who has died at the age of 76, was a professional footballer, football coach to hundreds of youngsters and a talented musician and singer.

He was one of seven children and during his early years lived in the Cowcaddens area of Glasgow before the family moved to Possil when he was 10. It was there, in the back courts and streets, he honed his talent for football, which was to dominate his life. At 5ft 6in tall he had the physique and legs of the typical tanner ba' player and had prominent bow legs. The Dundee midfielder Jim McAlister, whom Ross coached when he was a boy, said in his tribute that Ross was the only player he had come across who could be nutmegged with his legs shut. Ross joked that had his legs been straight, he would have been 6ft 2in.

As a talented youngster he began to attract the attention of the footballing fraternity. When he was 11 he was spotted by a Wolverhampton Wanderer's scout while he was on a school holiday at South Park Home on Bute. The plan was to take this promising youngster south to Wolverhampton but his mother was having none of it.

He continued to develop his footballing talent and was soon playing for Possil YM, quickly followed by junior team Kilbirnie Ladeside. He was a member of the Kilbirnie team that won the Land O' Burns trophy – all this while serving his time as an apprentice electrician.

He had spells as a senior player with Partick Thistle and Ayr United. Both teams in those days were in the top flight of Scottish football. He also attracted the attention of Rangers and Celtic but a serious groin injury prevented him from going on to greater things. During his national service, served in the Army, he played with and against the likes of Duncan Edwards (who was killed in the 1958 Munich disaster) and Bobby Charlton.

After his playing career in Scotland he turned to another of his great loves: music and singing. He was a devotee of Hank Snow and Neil Diamond and, together with his great friend Kenny Grummitt, formed a band called Manhattan. They played in the style of Ross's musical heroes and were popular in pubs and clubs in Glasgow and beyond.

In the 1970s, Ross, his wife Margaret (they married in 1966) and their two daughters moved to Bute where the young Jim had spent many happy holidays as a child. He worked for a time as a forester with Bute Estate but football was never far from his mind and he began organising charity football matches to raise funds for Southpark Home at Ascog. This was a facility run by the City of Glasgow for city children who otherwise might not have had the chance to have a holiday (it was on such a trip that he was spotted by the Wolves scout). His skill as an organiser and prowess as a football coach were noted and he was soon appointed as a youth leader and football coach by the local authority.

Ross did this job for the next 33 years, coaching hundreds of children, boys and girls, in the finer points of the beautiful game. Many of his charges went on to play football at various levels but the two jewels in his coaching crown were Jim McAlister and Jane Ross (no relation). McAlister is now a midfielder with Dundee; Jane Ross is playing professional football in Sweden with Vittsjo LFC after a successful career with Glasgow City LFC. She recently earned her 50th cap for Scotland.

While it is easy to identify those two successful individuals, what is much more difficult to quantify is the force for good that he was in the lives of so many other young people. He instilled in his charges the need for respect and discipline in all they did in life, not just sport.

During his coaching career on Bute he was recognised by Argyll and Bute Council and the Rotary Club of Rothesay, both presenting him with community service awards. Last year he was also awarded the BEM for his services and commitment to the people of Bute, particularly the youngsters. Typical of the man, he chose the local surroundings of Rothesay Castle for his investiture last Septembe, rather than the grandeur of Buckingham Palace or Holyrood Palace, with his family and close friends in attendance.

He was a practical, practising Christian who abhorred bigotry and sectarianism. His take on this was "we are all heading for the same terminus, we are just on different buses". The community on Bute and beyond is diminished by his passing.

He is survived by his loving wife and best friend Margaret, daughters Fiona and Jaquie and two grandchildren Evie and Kames. He is also survived by two sisters and a brother