Tributes have been made for the late Ron Mollatt, who died last week from liver cancer.

The funeral for the former York City player and York RI stalwart takes place tomorrow at St Edward the Confessor Church in Dringhouses. He had died last Tuesday at St Leonard's Hospice in York, aged 68.

As well as playing for City, Leeds United and Bradford City, Mollatt was well-known in non-League circles with Bridlington Trinity, Tadcaster Albion and, most notably, York RI.

He was RI manager from 1982 to '89, leading them to the North Riding County Cup in 1984, the Northern Counties East League division one title in 1988 and the League Cup in the same year, beating Nestl Rowntree 2-1 in a memorable final at Bootham Crescent. He was also president of RI at the time of his death, having been elected in 1996.

Goalkeeper at RI between 1980 and '87 was Neil Sanderson, who became great friends with Mollatt. He said: "People tend to come out with cliches when people die, but Ron was a genuinely lovely fellow.

"He was an honest, straight-talking, thoroughly decent man. If more people were like him and had his honesty and integrity then the world would be a better place."

Friend and former team-mate Barrie Tait said: "I was a boy at York City when he came to York and I played with him when we were at Bradford. He was always a good, hard-working player.

"He was also a really nice man and a good friend. It would have been his birthday next month. It is a sad, sad loss."

Updated: 11:59 Tuesday, January 23, 2001