ONE of west Cornwall football's most celebrated goalscorers of the last 30 years passed away at his Helston home last week.

Tributes have been paid to Andy Trathen, aged 50, who suffered a heart attack on Wednesday evening after returning home from watching Porthleven first XI play their second team in a pre-season warm-up match.

Porthleven boss Kev Richards said: "He was second only to Mark Rapsey as the best goalscorer I've ever played against. He was a brute of a centre forward, a real handful. He would play hard but we'd always buy each other a drink after the game.

"He was one of the nicest guys you could meet off the field and the more I got to know him, the more I liked him. We watched many games together and we'd talk about football so much that we'd quite often miss what we were supposed to be watching."

Trathen played many seasons at Pendeen Rovers in the Jolly's Combination League, having started out with their under-14s team in the early 1980s. He later left there for Penzance, but he also made appearances for Helston, Porthleven, Penryn and Falmouth, as well as managing Mullion.

Andy's father Reggie, who was a goalkeeper for Pendeen and Penzance, died from a similar illness in his early 50s.

Pendeen hosted a friendly against Porthleven Reserves on Saturday and fittingly, Andy's son Ryan scored the equalising goal from the penalty spot for the Fishermen. A minute's applause was observed in memory of Andy before the game.

There was also a minute's silence before Falmouth Town's match with Newquay, as well as at the President's Cup match between Mullion and Porthleven's first team.

Pendeen president David Trezise, who has been involved with the club for 60 years, said: "He had a knack of getting a goal when the game was tight. He was a first class goalscorer."

More recently Trathen helped Phil Kellow manage Falmouth Athletic, before later teaming up with him again at Penzance and Porthleven.

Phil said: "He was a Cornish legend. He was a top footballer, a big, strong character who was full of beans on and off the pitch. He was a shining light, a true football man who would do anything for you. There's a big star glowing up in the sky now."

Details of Andy's funeral will be released this week.