Fans' sad farewell to legend Burns

A fan lays a Rangers top at the shrine outside Celtic Park

By Brian Ponsonby Glasgow and the West reporter, BBC Scotland news website

For football fans in Glasgow, the clouds above the city have rarely been blacker.

Rangers fans were left in despair following their team's defeat to Russian club, Zenit St Petersburg, in Wednesday's Uefa Cup final.

But that has been followed by the sad news that Celtic legend, Tommy Burns, has died at the age of 51.

By mid-morning on Thursday, Celtic supporters began gathering outside the club's stadium to lay tributes to the former player and manager.

Among them were Rangers fans, some having just returned from Manchester.

Slowly, a shrine of green and white punctuated by the colours of other clubs, began to grow.

'Great man'

One of the fans who added his tribute to Burns was 22-year-old Stephen Barnett from Germiston.

"He was a great man and he deserves all the respect he's going to get," he said.

"He ended the trophy-drought in 1995 and brought Celtic back to what they are - the best club in Scotland."

Although he was still feeling the effects of his team's disappointing loss in Manchester, he said it was important to remember Tommy Burns.

"He was a great ambassador for Scottish football and it's days like this that you've got to forget the Celtic and Rangers divide and do what's right.

"He's done a great job for Scottish football and for Celtic and today football takes a backseat."

Two Celtic fans from the Gorbals area, Peter Deans and Jacqueline Paton, also felt compelled to make their way to the stadium.

'Emotional day'

Peter said the whole of Scottish football had lost someone "very precious".

"It's very nice to see some of the Teddy Bears (Rangers) stuff there. That's very touching," he said.

"That's what it should come down to, just football and nothing else."

Peter said Burns would be remembered for the "way he conducted himself".

"Not just in football but in life. He was a great family man and never said a bad word about anybody. Everyone liked him."

Jacqueline added: "I was a bit upset this morning and it's a very emotional day for everybody. He's going to be sadly missed."

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