A regional newspaper columnist and former chief football writer has died aged 70.

Tributes have been paid to Ron Scott, left, whose last column appeared in the Sunday Post the day after his death.

Ron spent almost 50 years working for the Dundee-based Post’s publisher DC Thomson, before retiring in 2012.

He was retained as a columnist after his retirement, and his final piece for the Post was published on Sunday, the day after a short illness claimed his life, with the express wishes of his family.

Former colleagues and the wider sporting world have offered tributes to Ron.

Football commentator Archie Macpherson said: “I am deeply saddened to hear of the sudden death of a dear old friend Ron Scott.

“I was privileged to have his hugely enjoyable company in different parts of the world as we pursued the Scottish football dream and at the same time made substantial investments in the Scotch whisky industry.

“He was simply good to be around when, as too often, fate was dealing Scottish football a bad hand.

“Humour was instilled in his personality in a way which infected all of us. I’ll miss his companionship and banter. My thoughts are now with his family.”

Football clubs including Dundee FC, Dundee United and Hamilton Academical have also posted messaged of condolence on their social media channels, along with the Professional Footballers’ Association Scotland.

The PFA Scotland posted on its official Twitter account: “A man respected and trusted by footballers past and present. Fantastic company, always greeted you with a smile on his face.

“Without fail he would have any company laughing within minutes with his never-ending football stories. RIP Ron, thoughts with his family.”

Ron is survived by his wife Wendy, daughter Susan, son-in-law Gordon and his brother Bruce.