Robert McIntyre

Died: June 11, 2015

BOB McIntyre, who has died aged 84, was as much of a legend around Ayr United's Somerset Park as Ally MacLeod, Stevie Nicol or Alan McInally.

For 21-years, Papa Mac as he was known to the club's young players, was a familiar background figure, advising, encouraging and occasionally scolding players, He was a great example of the many unsung heroes who keep Scottish football going.

He was an adopted Honest Man - a Glaswegian, as a juvenile centre forward with Shettleston Violet, he was "capped" by the Scottish Juvenile FA. He was good enough to play three trials with Celtic, although the full-time call to Parkhead never came.

He was then a shipyard worker, a calling he returned to on completing his national service with the Royal Air Force. He married Nan in 1955 and nine years later, having quit the yards to join the Provident finance company, he relocated to Ayr, where he worked as manager of Provident's local office, before switching to work with Wallacetown Engineering, where he spent his Monday to Friday working life until his formal retirement.

The football talent of son Stephen would be his passport into his Saturday job in senior football. He followed his son's youth career and when Ayr Boswell, with whom Stephen were then playing, inaugurated the Ayr International Football Tournament in 1977, Bob McIntyre was one of the volunteers who made it work – lining pitches, putting up the nets, and helping make the visiting clubs feel at home.

He began to follow Stephen around as he found his feet in the Ayr United reserves, from 1984, en-route to a regular first-team place. When United boss George Caldwell noticed the father's dedication, he invited him to travel on the team bus, which left him ideally placed to become reserve team general factotum, when long-serving Willie Wallace retired.

From there, he became kit man, travelling with the first team and watching games from his stance beside the dug-out.

Over the years thereafter, managers and players came and went, but Bob McIntyre was a constant presence, as kit man, occasional physio, or simply gopher. He became the soul of the club. He gave total dedication to the Honest Men, for little reward, but, on those rare occasions when United had something to celebrate, Bob McIntyre, usually wearing his trademark club T-shirt, was always there at the heart of the party.

He was hugely popular with the players and the fans. A fitness fanatic, he was often used as a sounding board by Ally MacLeod. The legendary United and Scotland boss always felt, if an injured player could match Bob McIntyre's personal fitness regime – which included running sessions around Somerset Park and up and down the terraces – that player was fit for action.

Such was his stature at the club, when he eventually stood down in 2006, after a 21-year association, he was awarded a well-attended testimonial dinner. Mind you, he did not so much stop working for United, he took a step back, as he remained a United supporter right up to the end and was always willing to lend a hand when required.

He is survived by Nan, his wife of 61 years and their children, Stephen, Andrew, Patricia, Christine and Linda and by his nine grand-children and two great-grand-children.

MATT VALLANCE