TRIBUTES have been paid to one of Saints’ most passionate supporters, who passed away earlier today.

Mike O’Callaghan – nicknamed Jim Steele after his likeness to Saints’ 1976 FA Cup final hero - had followed the club since the early 1970s and was a former chairman of the Southampton Independent Supporters Association.

Mike was diagnosed with a brain tumour earlier this year and had been receiving care at a BUPA nursing home only a few hundred metres from Saints’ former Dell home.

Saints fan Nick Illingsworth said: “I knew Jim for 37 years and he was a passionate Saints supporter at both The Dell and St Mary’s.

“He was a larger than life character and he lived his life to the full.”

Mike, who was in his late 50s, leaves behind partner Gina and a daughter Becky, from a previous relationship.

Fellow Saints fans have joined in the tributes to Mike, with Carl Maffey posting on the Daily Echo's Facebook page "R.I.P Jim was a pleasure to have known you. You may be gone but will never be forgotten".

Andrew Muspratt said: "Another saint in heaven", while on Twitter Robert Smith suggested a tribute on the big screen before the next Saints match, at home to Stoke City next weekend.

Several fans have already put forward the idea of a minute's silence, while Daily Echo reader SW11_Saint wrote on our website: "RIP Jim. Nice guy and true Saint."