The name Jimmy O’Rourke was mythical at Easter Road when I first signed on at the club.
You can’t help but notice the pictures of the legends which adorn the walls, the history of the club is all around the stadium and he was up there with the greatest of them all. A Turnbull Tornado, scorer of the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup against Celtic and for over four decades the youngest player to pull on the shirt.
It was a pleasure to get to know him personally and he’d forgive me for recounting a funny story as part of a tribute to his passing earlier this week aged 76 years old. I had the pleasure of getting to know him over the years, he would come into training occasionally and attend games so it would be a chance to pick a fellow striker’s brains. He’d watch training and pass on a few tips, was generous with his time and as a kid I’d be starstruck and in awe of a charismatic man who had achieved so much as a player.
