Tributes have been paid to multitalented athlete Delwyn Trott who passed away at the age of 84.

While he competed across a range of sports, Trott is best known for his exploits on the football pitch as a prolific striker and founding member of Devonshire Colts who also enjoyed the honour of representing the national team.

“I met him when he came to Howard Academy and he was one of the founding members of the Devonshire Colts,” former club player, coach and president Donald Dane recalled. “He was a key player and was our first centre forward and even played with the national team.

“He was very a quiet person, extremely observant and said basically what he felt about the situation.”

Colts folded in 1959 after several key players including Trott went overseas to attend school but returned six years later, with Trott playing a role in the revival.

“In 1965 we started the Devonshire Colts and Del was involved,” Dane added.

“When we came into the league we always had to start in the Second Division. We played in the Second Division and Del played a bit until I think he got hurt then decided he was not going to worry with it any more.

“He tended to just stay away from the Colts, got married and started a family so he didn’t play an important part in the rejuvenation of the Colts.”

Among the many youngsters Trott inspired was future West Ham striker Clyde Best.

“I remember being a young fellow on the sideline watching him play,” Best said. “He played for Devonshire Colts and was a very good player. A good touch, very quick off the ball, two good feet and could score goals.

“Devonshire Colts had some very good players and he was probably one of the older ones on the team.

“He had fantastic technique and I would always remember him because he wasn’t the biggest or tallest of fellows but he had a good touch and was very fast.

“It was nice to have people like that for us young guys because we were able to emulate what we saw them doing. He was in that era where we had loads of good players and all those guys were a treat to watch.

“I am always thankful for the players that came before me because if it wasn’t for them there would be no me.”

Trott made a comeback after spending some time away from the game, playing with Young Men’s Social Club and Police.

“He played for Social Club when I was there,” Herman Smith, the former club winger, recalled.

“He came out of Howard Academy and a lot of those guys left there and went Devonshire Colts. Then he played a couple of seasons with Social Club and Police after that.

“He was a very good sportsman and a real good striker. His clothes never got dirty, that’s how neat he was, and he was a very humble and nice guy.”

Trott also made a name for himself playing cricket for Bailey’s Bay.

He came up through the club’s junior ranks before breaking into their senior team.

The middle order batter was a member of the Bay team that beat Flatts in the only two-innings Eastern Counties match played at Flatts Field in the late 1950s.

“He was a part of that winning team and I think he might have been a colt in that game,” said Smith, who also played for Bay as an all-rounder.

“Del was a batsman who came in mostly around 5 or 6. He was also a really good fielder who fielded anywhere in the covers or gully.”

Delwyn Trott is the father of former Bay, Somerset Cup Match and Bermuda cricketers Mark and Roger Trott.