They said: “The footballer, the friend, the family man we all knew was forged in Ashington – during a happy childhood with the parents and three brothers he always loved dearly.
“As they whiled away hours kicking a ball around Hirst Park, Grandad could never have imagined how remarkable his life would go on to be.
“And on that famous day in July 1966, as the final whistle blew on English football’s most historic moment, he dropped to his knees, head in hands.
“Many have often wondered what he was thinking – was it pure elation? Was it the gravity of the achievement?
“Was it relief that the hopes of a nation had been realised? Well he always told us he was just bloody knackered.”
They added: “We’ve been overwhelmed with kind messages from Ireland – one that really stuck out said Grandad ‘did the near-impossible and transcended politics – some called him the English Irishman, but why reference the divides and mountains he so affably rose above? Simply, he was both a man and the man’.