Former Man Utd footballer and film star Bobby Power dies aged 40 as tributes pour in on social media

Tributes on social media are pouring in for former Manchester United academy footballer Bobby Power who has died aged 40. The dad-of-three had played for the highly esteemed Red Devils youth team in the 1990s, and spent years as a personal trainer in Manchester.

Away from sport, Power also had a career in the film industry and featured as ‘Gorgeous’ Gordon Burley in the cult classic football film There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble back in 2000. The cast featured distinguished names such as Robert Caryle and Ray Winstone and was shot in Manchester City’s former stadium Maine Road.

Power was described by his daughters as a ‘social butterfly’ and this was showcased on his social media as he shared his love for fitness and the outdoors to over 23,000 followers. Tributes are now pouring in for Bobby, who tragically died in February. One of his heartbroken daughters, Kaitlyn Eadsforth, said: "He was really outgoing. Literally anywhere he went, he would talk to anyone. "He was like a social butterfly, in any room that he went in. "If he wasn't at the gym he was climbing mountains. He loved helping other people. "That's what he was all about really - helping people physically and mentally."

Power died following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He started to fear something was wrong when climbing a mountain as he began to lose his appetite and his skin started to turn yellow.

His mother Estrella Barry explained: “If he wasn’t at the gym he would be climbing mountains. He loved helping other people. That’s what he was all about really, helping people physically and mentally. “He spent the rest of his life trying to find a cure. He wanted to live for his girls. He did everything he could.”

A Just Giving page has since been started by friend Leigh Sarsfield, who is running a 100-mile ultramarathon in an effort to raise money for the workers in a hospice in Oldham who helped to try and save Power’s life.