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Mourners attend funeral of Celtic "legend" Burns

20/05/2008

The funeral of Tommy Burns, who died last Thursday from skin cancer at the age of 51, is taking place in Glasgow today.

Mourners gathered at St Mary's Church in the Calton area of the city from around 11:00 BST this morning to pay their respects to the Celtic legend.

The former player and manager enjoyed a lifelong association with the Bhoys, first as a boyhood supporter before joining as a player and later as a manager and coach.

He made more than 350 league appearances for the club, scoring 52 goals, and won six Scottish titles and five Scottish Cups among other personal awards and team prizes between 1975 and 1989.

Burns also won eight international caps for Scotland and, after retiring, returned to the club as a manager in 1994.

He won the Scottish Cup during a period of overwhelming dominance for Rangers in the mid-1990s, and later returned as a coach under managers Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan.

Last week Celtic chairman John Reid described the news of Burns' death as "devastating", adding he "was a man of true integrity and dignity".

"Tommy is someone who was loved by so many of us," he told the club's official website.

"As a Celtic player, manager and coach, Tommy served Celtic with distinction and true professionalism.

"He was a true gentleman and someone who had the ability to connect and engage with anyone he met."

Current manager Gordon Strachan, who was instrumental in reintroducing Burns to the coaching staff at Parkhead, said: "Of all the signings I've made, the most important thing I did when I came to Celtic was bring Tommy into the coaching team.

"Through his intelligence, common sense and humour he made me understand what Glasgow was all about. Without him, I would have gone off my head. Tommy kept me sane at times."

Strachan said it was "a privilege to be in his company every day" and said the loss of such a "legendary man" had hit him hard.

"I came to Celtic three years ago and it's been a fantastic journey," he explained.

"But the best part of it is being able to call Tommy Burns a friend for the last three years.

"No disrespect to the football, but being Tommy's mate for three years has been the best part of coming to this club."

Arguably the highest praise for the man came from one of the more unlikely sources, after Celtic's bitter rivals Rangers announced they had cancelled plans for a Uefa Cup homecoming procession after hearing of Burns' death.

A statement from the Ibrox club said officials had deemed a celebratory event for the team "wholly inappropriate".

Celtic also called off their player of the year event at the Hilton hotel in Glasgow on Sunday, choosing instead to rearrange it for Wednesday July 16th.