Walsall legend Albert McPherson dies, aged 87

The former central defender - who enjoyed a long coaching career at West Brom - was one of the heroes of the Saddlers' back-to-back promotions in 1960 and 1961 under Bill Moore.

A club statement today read: "The thoughts of everyone here at Walsall FC are with his family and friends at this sad time. May he rest in peace."

McPherson started his senior career with Bury in June 1949, spending three seasons at Gigg Lane without making a first-team breakthrough.

He played part-time football for Stalybridge Celtic from August 1952 before joining Walsall in May 1954.

McPherson remained at Fellows Park for a decade during which he made 367 senior appearances.

Major Frank Buckley signed him for Walsall and he made his senior debut came against Brighton in October 1954.

After eventually leaving Walsall in 1964, he became trainer-coach at West Bromwich Albion, a position he held with the first-team, the reserves and also the youth team right up until the mid-1980s.

He was handed the Walsall FC Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 and also has an Executive Box at Banks's Stadium named after him.

Football is a game full of unsung heroes, those who toil in the background so that on a Saturday, the centre-forward can take all the credit.

One such was Albert McPherson, who passed away on Sunday 11th January.

Born in Salford, a lifetime in football initially brought him to Walsall. Playing at centre-half, McPherson became a rock and a leader, skippering the Saddlers trough back to back promotion from Fourth Division to Second in 1959/60 and 1960/61.

If you like omens, Albert pitched up in the West Midlands in 1954, settling in at Fellows Park in the very year that the Albion's celestial "Team of the Century" were a whisker away from the 20th century's first double.

A decade later, after 351 games for Walsall, Albert hung up his boots and went into a life of coaching, moving to The Hawthorns and taking up the role of trainer / coach under Jimmy Hagan.

Albert worked with the first team for a couple of seasons, seeing us win the League Cup in 1966 and reach the final the following season, but before long, he found his true vocation, working in youth and reserve team football, bringing the youngsters through the system and into the senior game.

The number of young Throstles who passed through the McPherson finishing school with flying colours was legion. Try these for size: Alistair Robertson, Len Cantello, Bryan Robson, John Trewick, Derek Statham, Remi Moses, Martyn Bennett.

His success, according to Tony Brown, was all down to a simple formula.

"Albert was a football man, through and through, steeped in the game, he watched it, talked about it all the time.

"He was old school, he made sure you knew what you needed to do, he was very clear in his instructions.

"He was a lovely fella to talk to, but you knew where you stood with him as well. He didn't mess around, he would tell you off if he wasn't happy.

"I remember training with him under Jimmy Hagan back in the '60s, but then I trained with him again at the end of my career here in 1981, when Ronnie Allen took me out of the first team squad and I went to train with the kids.

"Watching him at first hand, you could see why he was so good with the youngsters because they hung on his every word, they worked hard and he instilled real discipline in them.

"I think you can tell just how good he was when you look at Albion's record of bringing players through. Look at all those players that emerged in the '70s and '80s. Then, after he left in 1984, what homegrown players have we brought through in the last 30 years up until the last couple of years? I think that is testimony to how good Albert was."

An unsung hero perhaps, but an Albion legend undoubtedly.