Swindon Town are mourning the loss of club legend Andy Rowland after he died aged 69 last night.

The striker made more than 300 appearances for the club across eight seasons at the County Ground.

Joining Town from Bury in 1978, he would go on to be part of the side that won Division Four under Lou Macari in 1985/86, even dropping into defence to help the team following the arrival of Jimmy Quinn.

His 98 goals for the club put him seventh in the all-time list of Swindon's top goal scorers and following his retirement he would go on to become a coach at the club as well.

A statement on the Swindon Town website announcing the news said: "The thoughts of everyone at Swindon Town Football Club are with Andy’s family and friends at this incredibly sad time."

In 2013, almost 250 people turned out to The County Ground to raise around £5,000 for the much-beloved striker after he had spent time in hospital as they looked to provide support to the player that had created such happiness for them.

Speaking after the event, his wife Julie said: “Andy was there and really enjoyed meeting so many old faces from the past. We really appreciate the huge level of support people have shown.”

Tributes to the icon of the club poured in on social media, with fans writing about their memories of him, with many saying that he was a key part of them falling in love with the football club, and there were some especially fond memories of his partnership with Alan Mayes, with the pair having played together for five seasons across two different spells.

Rich Harris wrote on X: "That’s very sad. Great servant to STFC over many years, and got to see him every so often and he was always friendly. Brought a picture of him, Kammy [Chris Kamara] and Alan Mayes, from one of the town calendars for him when he was in the Plough which he didn't know was in and was touched by."

Matthew Kilford added: "Andy lived not far from me and a couple of times we would be walking the same way home. He was happy and open to talking about STFC. I also was happy to let him know when new footage of the Wolves cup game was uploaded on YouTube and he was genuinely thankful. Genuine STFC legend."