JEREL Ifil has paid an affectionate tribute to former Town manager Andy King as the first man to show faith in his career, following the latter’s death after a heart attack on Wednesday.

King, who passed away aged just 58, signed Ifil, nicknamed ‘The Beast’ four times for Swindon.

Ifil was a young pro at Watford with limited first team experience, but King saw enough in him to take him on loan three times and eventually sign the defender for £70,000.

For Ifil, Swindon Town would go on to be the stage where he enjoyed some of the best years of his career and ultimately led to a move to the Scottish Premier League with Aberdeen.

For that chance Ifil is forever grateful to King and, in light of his passing, paid tribute to his former boss.

“I was a young pro and Andy was the first person to buy me and put that faith in me,” said Ifil.

“He took me on loan and then saw enough to put faith in me to buy me. The way I see it is he was the first person in my career to show faith in me.

“We had our ups and downs, but you are always thankful for how people bring you forward.

“Everyone in life has a purpose to play in making you what you are as a person to this point and without Andy I wouldn’t get to be where I am now.

“I’m just very thankful there was one person there who said ‘I’m going to buy him’.

“The things that I remember are a very passionate guy, also someone that liked to have a laugh, which is what I liked about him. You could always see the passion and he was always willing to try and help me. You can’t really take away from that.

“My thoughts are with his family at the moment. To lose someone is never easy.

“His memory, whether from his football career or his managerial career, will stay in people’s minds.”