Former Tottenham dies : Sammy Winston was a player-turned-firefighter

Win­ston played for a num­ber of teams in the Eng­lish Pre­mier League before end­ing his career in 2009.

The foot­ball world took to social media to mourn the news of his death.

Ley­ton Ori­ent said: “The club is sad­dened to learn of the pass­ing of for­mer play­er Sam­my Win­ston, aged 44.

“All at Ori­ent extend our deep­est con­do­lences to Sam­my’s fam­i­ly and friends at this sad time.”

One fan said: “A true gen­tle­man and a real hero who joined the fire depart­ment after playing.

He was still play­ing char­i­ty match­es for a team of Arse­nal leg­ends, includ­ing for­mer Ori­ent team­mate Joe Bak­er. RIP Sam­my. RIP Sammy.

“RIP Sam­my, my con­do­lences to his fam­i­ly and friends,” he added.

“I was dev­as­tat­ed. He was always smil­ing and fun,” he said.