Ex-Wolves and Albion star dies
Wolves and West Bromwich Albion were today united in mourning for former player David Burnside, who has died of a heart attack.
The 69-year-old collapsed in his native Bristol on Saturday. He leaves a wife, Muriel, and two sons.
The inside forward, who was famed as a brilliant ball-juggler, started his career with Albion in 1957, making 127 appearances and scoring 39 goals, before playing for Southampton and Crystal Palace. He left Palace to join Wolves in 1966 and helped the Molineux club win promotion to the First Division in 1967 during a 40-game stint.
He also played for Plymouth, Bristol City and Colchester before retiring in 1971 and taking up coaching – a career that included a spell at the FA's centre of excellence at Lilleshall, Shropshire.
Last week Mr Burnside announced plans to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the UK Independence Party.
Former Albion team-mate Graham Williams said: "He was my closest mate at Albion. We used to go everywhere together so it came as a horrible shock when I heard the news.
"We met up just a few weeks ago at The Hawthorns for the Sir Bobby Robson tribute and he had so many plans for the future and looked so well.
"As a player the things he could do with a ball were unbelievable. He and Bobby Robson used to live opposite the ground as teenagers and David would leave the house with a tennis ball and keep it in the air all the way around the ground to the dressing rooms."
Mr Burnside becomes the second member of the Wolves' 1967 promotion team to pass away in two months following the death of full-back Bobby Thomson.
