Kilmarnock pay tribute to title-winning legend David Sneddon

Kilmarnock Football Club has paid tribute to former player and manager David Sneddon who has died at the age of 84.

Sneddon scored the opening goal of the game on the day the Ayrshire side won their first and only league title in 1965.

Making his professional debut for Dundee as an 18-year-old in 1954 the striker spent five years at Dens Park before moving to Preston North End in the English top flight.

But it was on his return to Scotland to sign for Killie when he really made his name by becoming a legendary figure at the club and played in part in a famous European victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Despite the German side leading 3-0 from the first leg, Sneddon and his team-mates overturned the deficit by winning 5-1 in Scotland.

He spent five years at Rugby Park as a player, making over 100 league appearances, before finishing his career at Raith Rovers and a short spell at Hurlford.

He then returned to Kilmarnock to manage the club between 1977 and 1981- winning the Caledonian Cup, a short-lived cross-border tournament played in Glasgow, in 1979.

The club paid tribute in a statement released on Thursday: “A wonderful ambassador for Kilmarnock FC, David remained a friendly face around Rugby Park on a matchday where his laughter, kindness and stories from bygone years lit up any room he was in.

“As we mourn the loss of an ultimate Killie legend, the thoughts of everyone at the club are with David’s family at this difficult time.

“We will pay tribute by holding a minute’s silence before our Boxing Day match with Livingston.”