JIM MONTGOMERY: "It's a very sad day indeed. I have known him since he first signed for the club and he was just a wonderful man. A gentleman who would do anything for anybody.

"We had not seen each other for quite a while because of his travels all over the world – but whenever he came back he kept in touch. It's a great loss."

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DENNIS TUEART: "I was privileged to be Ian's teammate and room-mate at Sunderland.

"He was always the creative player in that fabulous team and he perked-up enough to have a brief conversation with me last Thursday morning. I told him I was speaking on behalf of the rest of the lads when I said we would always be thinking of him."

DAVE WATSON: "It was a great time for the club and for the players and the cup final was the cream on the top of that.

"Ian was a calming influence in midfield. You knew if you gave it to Ian, he wouldn't give it away. He was a good passer of the ball, had good control, everything you would expect from a Scottish footballer.

"It is a sad day."

BILLY HUGHES: "He was just a special friend. Ian and I were very, very close. If you look at the video, we have all got, when he scored the goal, the first thing he said was: 'Where's Hughesy?'

"He wasn't just a good player, he was a very good player and he turned out to be a good manager.

"Ian used to talk about football all the time. He was a lovely man."

MICKY HORSWILL: "He is an all-time great.

"He was the most professional in the team.

"He was always going to be a manager. He was always talking about how we played the Saturday before, how we could make the midfield better, how we could work together."

RITCHIE PITT: "He was one of the most gentle people I have ever met. A real gentleman, on and off the pitch. In fact I can't ever remember him getting booked.

"As a team-mate, he was a real fighter, he never let his head go down, always made himself available and never shirked a tackle. It is no surprise to the people that knew Ian that he fought this cancer so bravely."

DICK MALONE: "As a person, he was very warm. Everyone who knew Ian, instantly liked him, that was his personality.

"In his life, he was a very positive guy and in football, he never gave up, even through his injuries and the operation after the car crash, he was determined to get through it and he did.

"Ian never gave up –that should be his epitaph."

RON GUTHRIE: "Porter would do anything for you, he was a great lad. Porter was as strong as a horse, he never stopped running for 90 minutes and the way he came back after his car crash shows that. It was typical of the man.

"One thing that sums up Porter was when he won the Golden Boot after the cup final. He said he wished he could cut it up into 12 different pieces for the lads."

DAVID YOUNG: "Ian was an enthusiastic person, full of life, vigour and passion.

"I remember him smacking that volley in and running around the pitch – unbelievable. He was a great guy to play with.

"Passionate about football and he had a great career to go with that."