Former Everton stalwart Terry Darracott has died at the age of 71.
Darracott joined his boyhood club as an apprentice and made a total of 178 appearances during a 12-year spell at Goodison Park before leaving in 1979.
Spells with Tulsa Roughnecks in the United States and Wrexham followed before the left-back moved into coaching and started again with the Blues.
He served in both Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey’s backroom staff from the mid to late 1980s, being promoted to assistant manager by the latter in 1987.
After leaving Goodison a second time, Darracott held roles at Manchester City and Blackburn, where he helped their 1995 Premier League-winning setup.
The Edge Hill native continued his career by joining Wrexham as assistant to Dean Saunders before a longstanding hip problem ended that spell in 2009.
Darracott’s final years were spent in more observing football roles, first as a European scout for Bolton Wanderers and finally a video analyst for Hull City.
Everton chairman Bill Kenwright led the tributes to the ex-full-back following news of his passing on Wednesday morning.
He said: “Terry was a fearsome defender, who cared passionately about Everton and was so proud to play for the club.
“You could see in him an authentic ‘they-shall-not-pass’ attitude, he would gladly put his body on the line for Everton and was a footballer with the heart of a lion.
“Terry was still the same, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and driven man – with that familiar fondness for a joke – when he came back to Goodison to work with Howard and he cared deeply about our club.
“He was a staunch, blue-blooded Evertonian and we will miss him enormously.”