FORMER Wanderers manager Jimmy McIlroy has died at the age of 86.

A hugely popular striker in his playing days for Glentoran, the majority of McIlroy’s career was spent at Burnley where he stayed for 13 years, making close to 500 appearances and scoring 131 goals, a stay that was only ended when he was sold to Stoke in 1963.

At Stoke he struck up an effective partnership with Stanley Matthews and helped the Potters gain promotion to the First Division.

The title-winning-McIlroy is regarded by many Clarets fans as the club’s greatest ever player and a stand at Turf Moor still bears his name.

As his playing career wound down McIlroy had a couple of years as Oldham Athletic’s player-manager before returning to Stoke to take a position as assistant to manager Tony Waddington.

The Northern Ireland international, who scored 10 goals in 55 matches for his country and helped the team reach the World Cup quarter-finals in 1958, also served as number two to Nat Lofthouse at Burnden Park.

McIlroy took the reins at Wanderers for a brief period in 1970, when Lofthouse departed, but he too exited the club after just two games following a row over the selling of players.