Tributes continued to pour in for late Somerset Trojans and Montreal Olympics midfielder Richard (Dirt) Simmons yesterday.

During the late 1960s and 70s Simmons delighted thousands of fans with his uncanny football skills and accurate shooting abilities.

Yesterday former players Randy Horton, Gary Darrell and Larry Hunt paid homage to their late team mate and feared rival.

Horton played alongside Simmons at Somerset and then against the late player, Darrell and another local footballer, Sam Nusum, during a playing stint at the New York Cosmos in the early 1970s.

?I recall playing with Richard at Somerset when we were referred to then as Silvercity. I also recall playing against him in the North American Soccer League (NASL) when he played for Montreal Olympics for maybe one or two seasons,? said Horton.

?Dirt struck me as one of the best passers and shooters of the ball. I haven?t seen too many people who could volley a ball with the kind of accuracy that Dirt had. He was tough, a 100 percent team player and you could always call on him when the chips were down.

?But it?s really sad because Dirt was a young man. I spent probably about half-an-hour with him in the hospital the Wednesday before he died and we talked about football. He bragged about how great he was and how he made me the player that I was. We had a lovely laugh together and talked about his beloved Chelsea.

?We had a great time together that day and it was the last time I saw him alive. It?s certainly sad and my condolences go out to his family. But for me Richard goes down as one of the best players I?ve ever been on the field with.?

Another player with fond memories was Darrell who played against Simmons during his days with Devonshire Colts and then alongside the late player in Montreal.

Darrell also played against Simmons during the 1968 FA Cup Final which Trojans won 3-2 at BAA Field.

?My memories of playing with Devonshire Colts against Richard are not so pleasant because he always seemed to pop up and hurt us whenever we thought we had things under control,? the former national coach told .

?I don?t know what competition it was but I remember we were playing against Somerset down at Wellington Oval and Richard apparently got caught on the other side of the bridge which was open. But he later showed up at the ground and came on the field and scored a tremendous volley to win the game for Somerset. I will never forget that.?

In 1972 Darrell joined up with Simmons at Montreal.

?When I went to Montreal, Richard was already there playing under Graham Adams,? he continued. ?Richard, Sam Nusum and Mustafa Abbi (former Hotels International player) were there and midway through the season they were in need of another player and so they gave me a call and I went up and played the remainder of the season with them.

?So Richard and I played together for two years at Montreal and that?s when I discovered just how versatile he was. I actually recall him playing full-back for us over a period of time. He was always prepared to play anywhere to help the team out. He always wanted to do what was best for the team.?

Montreal disbanded after the 1973 season.

?The team folded and I was picked up by Washington and Sam went to New York Cosmos,? Darrell added. ?I remember the coach of the Dallas team actually came to Bermuda to try and persuade Richard to come back and play, but he declined. He just decided against going back to the US to play.?

Instead, Simmons returned home to rejoin cousin Larry Hunt at Silvercity.

Hunt?s mother Cecily Goodchild and Simmons? late mother Pearl Simmons were sisters.

Hunt said: ?As far as I am concerned Dirt was one of the most naturally talented footballers I ever played with . . . and that?s going all the way back to Whale Bay and Death Valley times. When I was 16-years-old I decided to go to Somerset and at the time Dirt wasn?t playing junior ball and so he hopped on my bike and I guess the rest is history.

?We sat on the bench for a couple of years but once Somerset reached the FA Cup final (1968) Dirt came on and set up the winning goal for Clyde Best and from there never once looked back.?