Readers of the North West Evening Mail from around the world have been in touch with the paper to express their sadness at the death of footballing great Emlyn Hughes.

The player, best known for his success at Liverpool FC, was born in Barrow and is regarded as one of the town’s finest sons.

Coverage on the Mail’s website drew messages of condolence from Canada, America, the UK and Europe, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Australia.

The paper printed a selection of memories and messages over two pages last week.

It began its coverage on Tuesday, the day Emlyn’s death was announced, with a front page lead, a page three item and the back page all devoted to the news, which was broken to many locals by the newspaper billboards.

The news came through as a tip-off at 10am, in good time for the Mail’s off-stone time of 10.40am.

Editor Steve Brauner said: “People were quite shocked. I don’t think many people realised how ill he was.

“After his operation last year people thought he was making a miraculous recovery.

“But he had become increasingly ill and some of the national press pictured him looking very ill recently, pictures we chose not to publish.”

Wednesday’s paper included a pre-prepared eight-page pull-out on the local hero, with pictures, memories, first-hand stories from the Mail’s staff, and statistics on Emlyn’s career. There was also a front page interview with his mother – the only interview she gave, in which the possibility of naming a park after Emlyn was discussed.

Steve said: “He came back quite regularly to the town, and when someone met him they never forgot him.

“He was quite simply the biggest personality to come from here and it was important to give him this coverage – no one would have expected anything less.”

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