Football legend Kevin Beattie remained forever proud of his Carlisle roots, says one of the men who knew him best.

Author Rob Finch, who worked with Beattie on his autobiography, says the great defender never forgot his formative years in the city.

"He loved Carlisle," Finch told The Cumberland News . "You could tell he was really proud of his roots up there.

"One of his regrets, in fact, was that he never played for Carlisle United. He got involved a bit on the coaching side under Roddy Collins but he would have loved to have played for them."

Tributes have continued to pour in from across the football world after Botcherby boy Beattie's death from a suspected heart attack last Sunday aged 64.

A campaign has started for a statue of Beattie in Ipswich, where he is regarded as the Portman Road club's greatest ever player and with whom he won the 1978 FA Cup.

Finch, whose 2007 book The Greatest Footballer England Never Had charted Beattie's turbulent on and off-field life, added: "He was a very happy-go-lucky guy.

"I don't think he was ever really aware of how good a footballer he'd been. He had that Gazza-esque childlike innocence - not hardbitten, but genuine.

"He was very trusting, maybe overly trusting in some ways. It's maybe why guys like that don't hang onto their money, have investments and so on - in that era of football they didn't have as many people around them, or that culture, to protect them.

"That probably contributed to his injuries, because there were definitely times he played when he shouldn't have played. It was that wanting to please people, to not let anyone down. That was at the heart of Kevin."

Beattie was famously described by Sir Bobby Robson as the best English player he ever worked with, while former England stars such as Terry Butcher and Gary Lineker have paid tribute to the Cumbrian this week.

Finch, meanwhile, said another proud moment was when a campaign to see Beattie awarded a belated UEFA Cup winner's medal was successful.

Injury had ruled him out of the 1981 final when the Suffolk club defeated AZ Alkmaar, but a petition led to the medal being presented at the 2008 final in Manchester.

"UEFA put us up in a hotel and we travelled on a coach with [then UEFA president] Michel Platini," Finch said.

"They were speaking about that campaign, when Platini played for St Etienne, who were one of the favourites, but Ipswich and Kevin beat then 7-2 on aggregate.

"Alex Ferguson was there, Denis Law and Trevor Brooking - real icons, but they saw Kevin as an equal in footballing terms."

Beattie's family this week released a statement saying they were "humbled" by all the messages they have received since his death.