Obituary: Pat Quinn, part of Motherwell FC's legendary Ancell Babes side, dies aged 84

A mercurial, intelligent inside forward, Quinn was one of the club’s famous Ancell Babes – the great side managed by Bobby Ancell – and made 251 appearances for the club between 1955 and 1962, scoring 119 goals.

He was a star man in the side, and would receive international recognition through four Scotland caps during his time at Fir Park.

The inside forward and fellow legend Ian St John formed a talented, if diminutive, Ancell Babes front five made up by Billy Hunter, Sammy Reid and Andy Weir.

As St John later described them in his autobiography, The Saint: “Five little wizard boys all in a row”.

Although he always wanted to play for Celtic – he was rejected for being too small – Fir Park is where Quinn made his name and he is rightly regarded as a Motherwell legend.

St John, for one, was often in awe of his slightly older team-mate.

“Pat Quinn….was the quintessential Scottish inside forward – small, tough and creative,” he wrote in his autobiography.

“He won a few caps for Scotland but it always seemed to me that he was worth more.

“He was hugely popular in the dressing room, no doubt for several reasons but the overwhelming one was that he was the only one of us to own a car.

“It was a big old Ford Zephyr into which most of the team crowded from time to time.

“How was it that a young professional footballer afforded the extraordinary luxury of a car? His father was a bookie.

“Quinn set the tone of our team with his intelligence.

“On Quinn’s best days it must have appeared that we were operating at the end of his string.”

Our thoughts are with Pat’s family and friends at this time.