SHE was a remarkable person who put family and her beloved Southampton Football Club first.

Saints fan, long-standing Marks & Spencer employee, badminton player, walker, keen historian and avid reader Jill Sherbourne has passed away at the age of 84.

An only child, she grew up in Bugle Street and attended St John’s Primary School and St Anne’s School.

The family moved in 1958 to Malwood Avenue in Lordswood where Jill lived for the rest of her life, making friends and caring for neighbours.

She worked for McCarrahers Solicitors and Elliotts before joining Marks & Spencer in the High Street where she worked on the shop floor of the Women’s Department for 27 years until her retirement.

Jill rarely missed a Saints home match and would work her busy social diary out around the fixture list. She attended her first match with her father in 1947 and was a season ticket holder in the West Stand at The Dell and Kingsland Stand at St Mary’s Stadium.

On behalf of her family, Jill's Godson said: “She was clever, fiercely loyal and family orientated. Jill was an incredibly kind and generous person who was always thinking of others. She was a rare spirit, a really remarkable person who was a big part of our lives.”