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The Jamaica football community is again mourning the loss of a stalwart of the sport after former national and Cavalier standout defender, Delroy 'Mutty' Scott, passed away in his sleep in Florida on Sunday, after ailing with diabetes for some time. He was 71.

Scott, considered one of the best defenders produced by Jamaica, was most dependable and reliable during the 1960s and early 1970s. He was also very successful as a coach. He took over the reins from club founder Leighton Duncan after he retired from the Cavalier leadership. He also led Tivoli Gardens Comprehensive High to Manning and Walker Cup glory in the 1970s.

Cavalier chairman, Rudolph Speid, remembers Scott as an outstanding defender and demanding coach.

"Delroy 'Mutty' Scott was a Cavalier player from the club's inception. He was captain and later coach after Duncan's passing.

"He contributed for years to the club and Jamaica both as player, coach and mentor. When I started playing for Cavalier he was coach and he made a lot of sacrifices to ensure the team was able to keep on functioning. As a player, he was uncompromising, tough and fit as a fiddle but was remarkably skillful enough to play as a midfielder, as he had more skills than the regular defenders in those days," he said.

"As a coach he was very tough, uncompromising, he demanded a lot from his players. 'Mutty' Scott did not like to lose, he played with his heart on his sleeves at all times," Speid recalled.

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OUTSTANDING DEFENDER

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Frank Brown, Scott's national teammate and captain during the 1960s, echoed Speid's sentiments.

"The person I know was very friendly, he was a person who seeks advice and suggestion, a very good coach. Mutty was one of the outstanding defenders of that time. We played together for a few years before he went to America. After he came back, he took over Cavalier, when Duncan was ill. He also went to Tivoli High and won Manning Cup, before he moved back to the United States, where he was coaching," Brown said.

Brown described Scott as an idol and a 'great' man.

"A lot of the tactical moves that I took as a coach, it's 'Mutty' I got them from. When I won my first Manning Cup, it was he who gave my team their team talk. It was coming from a coach that had won it already. A great centre half, a great man," he stated.