MG knew Ron from his previous spell at the club when he was youth team manager and assistant manager under Dave Penney, and he said; “I was very lucky to meet him on many occasions after first team matches, and we always had a chat about the game. He always gave me a warm welcome, and had something to say about the game.

“What a great achievement it was for him to play over 500 games for the club, it’s not the sort of thing that you hear about in the modern game with players moving around so often. He remained fiercely loyal to Darlington Football Club, and was a valuable part in many of its greatest moments in the 50s and 60s.

“The likes of Ron are few and far between now, and that’s why he is held in the highest regard by everyone.”

Ron’s 1966 promotion-winning team mate John Peverell has also paid tribute.

“He was a great bloke, and a great player. He and Brian Henderson looked after me when I started in the team, and I owe them a lot. Ron wasn’t that tall, but he could get up to head balls really well. I couldn’t have wished for a better centre half to play alongside me.

“Both Ron and I were part timers at the club, and once he took me to Easington Colliery to show me where he worked. It’s incredible now to think that somebody who played in the Football League worked down a pit five days per week then played football on Saturdays. He finished as a miner when John Neasham sorted him a job out at his garage.”

There will be a minute’s silence for Ron ahead of Tuesday night’s home game with Workington, and there will be a tribute to him in Saturday's programme for the game against Mickleover.