Talented footballer 'who had an eye for goal' dies at age of 39

Former Tipton Town striker Brendan Pugh had a trial at current Championship club Watford but did not want to leave the area where he made his name as a prolific goalscorer with blistering pace.

Mr Pugh – who met Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen while on holiday in Dubai and posed for this photo with the star – died at home on Tuesday following a long illness and his wife led today's tributes, which have also poured in from the footballing fraternity.

Father-of-two Mr Pugh, who lived with his family in Hope Road, Tipton, started as a youth at Halesowen Town, and during his playing career has been at Willenhall, Stourbridge, Oldbury, Darlaston, Tividale, Toll End, and Tipton Town. His wife Nicola, 36, said: "Apparently he was very fast, and all I ever heard was how fantastic he was, and that he had an eye for goal."

West Bromwich Albion season ticket holder Mr Pugh, who ran the Rising Sun pub in Tipton for eight years alongside his career as an electrician, would follow the Baggies across the country with his friends and two boys Danny, 17, and Reece, aged 13.

At his funeral tomorrow he will be carried in a blue and white striped coffin with the club's crest on, and all of the flowers will be blue and white or yellow and green - the colours of his favourite away kit.

His support and playing career all meant that his wife's life was filled with football – a passion she did not share. She said: "Once he wanted Match of the Day on, and I told him if he didn't turn it off I was going to cut the plug off.

"He didn't switch it off so I cut it off - being an electrician, he just rewired the plug and carried on watching. The club was his pride and joy, it was everything."

She added: "It didn't matter who you spoke to, I've never heard a bad word."

John Cross, president and chairman at Tipton Town, where Mr Pugh remains one of their highest-ever scorers with more than 120 goals, said: "It was sad hearing the news that he had passed away the other day.

"He was a brilliant footballer and very outgoing. He was the life and soul of the party."