Bertie Black

[football2011]

When did the 1965 title winning Killie great Bertie Black pass away, there's no sign of his date of death or obituaries anywhere online so it's likely his demise would have been sometime ago now.

[ScottishFA]

He died on 24 April 1984 in Cumnock, aged just 49. First of the championship team to pass away.

[Rob R]

I got his autograph outside Ibrox after a one all draw in their championship winning season , as we stepped out from behind the team bus he pulled me back by the collar of my jacket as I was oblivious to the fact of a passing car whilst talking to him . for that I was forever grateful. RIP Bertie .

[Snuff]

Bertie truly was a very nice guy. I used to deliver his Sunday papers and he and Andy Kerr were the reasons I started following Kilmarnock.

His was one of the first obituaries I ever wrote, his early death stunned everyone locally, where he was very popular, as the proprietor of a sports shop.

He was always a part-timer, since he had a very good job in the civil service, indeed, during Killie's great run at the top of the table in the early 1960s, he was voted as the Civil Service Sportsman of the Year.

Never got a cap, but, playing for the Scottish League, against the Italian League, at Hampden, was surely as good, if not better, than some of the cheap caps which have been handed out lately.