FORMER AFC Bournemouth and Poole Town player, John O'Rourke, has died at the age of 71.

Born in Northampton, John grew up in London with his brother, Ken. He met his wife, Deidre, when she was 16 and they were married four years later before welcoming a son, Johnathan, and a daughter, Justine.

Initially a youngster at Arsenal, he moved on to Chelsea and then Luton Town in December 1963, where he topped the Hatters’ goalscoring charts in three consecutive seasons.

He joined Middlesbrough in July 1966 for £20,000 and netted twice on his debut at Colchester United, going on to score 30 goals to help the club to win promotion from the old Division Three in the 1966-67 season.

This included a hat-trick in the crucial final match of the season, a 4-1 victory over Oxford United, which earned him a place in the club's hall of fame.

In February 1968, he moved to Ipswich Town for £30,000 and helped the club clinch the Division Two title that season.

He was sold to Coventry City for £80,000 the following year. Here he became a key figure as the Sky Blues qualified for the Fairs Cup in 1969-70.

From there he joined QPR for £70,000 in October 1971, featuring in the 1972-73 promotion campaign, before moving to AFC Bournemouth for £35,000 in January 1974.

He scored four goals in 22 league outings with the Cherries before heading to Poole Town in October 1975.

He went on to have a spell overseas with Johannesburg-based outfit Rangers before returning to Dorset to play for Weymouth, Dorchester Town and Poole once again.

Following his retirement from football, John took part in two London Marathons without any training and ran Lakewood News in Highcliffe for 35 years with his wife. At one stage, he had also been employed to work part-time in security at Bournemouth Airport.

He loved his daily walks on the beach, offering him a chance to chat and share his good sense of humour with other Bournemouth residents and fellow football fans, as well as playing golf.

John died on July 7 and his family will be holding a private funeral with donations going to Macmillan Caring Locally, which is based in Christchurch.