Jim Leishman has led the Dunfermline tributes following the tragic death of former player Sol Bamba.
It was announced on Saturday evening that Bamba had passed away, aged just 39.
The ex-Hibernian, Leicester City, Leeds United and Cardiff City defender was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021.
He initially overcame the illness and returned to action to play for Middlesbrough before retiring and going into coaching with Cardiff.
The French-Ivorian was working as technical director for Turkish side Adanaspor when sadly – in the words of wife Chloe – he ‘finally succumbed’.
Bamba was a raw 21-year-old when he arrived at Dunfermline as a trialist in summer 2006.
Having learned his trade previously at PSG, he was snapped up by the Pars after making a quick impression with his athleticism, pace and strength.
However, it will be as much for his qualities off the pitch that Bamba will be warmly remembered by so many, including the man responsible for bringing him to British football almost two decades ago.
“Sol came over to Dunfermline from Paris Saint-Germain for a trial,” said Leishman, who was in his second spell as manager of the Fifers.
“He played against West Brom and did really, really well up against John Hartson, who had just joined them from Celtic.
‘He was an awfy boy!’
“As a player, he had good pace, a good touch and he was so strong. He wasn’t a bad player!
“Sol was still young but we gave him an opportunity – and he took it with both hands before going off to Hibs and then down south.
“He didn’t speak much English when he came over but I had a pal who was French-speaking, so if there were any problems he would communicate through him.
“But there weren’t many problems with big Sol.
“He had the best smile I’ve ever seen. You can see that in all the photos of him – he was an awfy boy!
“You would be getting on to him and then he would smile at you, and that was that. He was one of my favourites.”
Leishman added to Courier Sport: “He appreciated being given the chance Dunfermline gave him and once he got on his road, to Hibs and Leicester and Turkey, he played for some big clubs.
“He made such a big impression wherever he went. The Dunfermline fans loved him but he wasn’t with us long enough. The club was having a hard time and they needed the money so he went to Hibs.”
“He’d been ill off and on for a while now, I kept in touch with him and I knew he was having problems, and I just feel for his wife and his children.
‘Too much illness for too long’
“I saw him the last time he was up in Scotland and he was just such a loveable big character.
“I heard the news a couple of hours after he had passed away. We thought he was getting on top of it, but no. It was too much illness for too long a time.”
Bamba impressed playing in the Scottish Premier League for Dunfermline and helped the team to reach the 2007 Scottish Cup final.
He turned in a man-of-the-match performance at Hampden but was on the losing side in the narrow 1-0 defeat to Celtic.
By then the Pars had already been relegated and, after a year in the second-tier, he went on to join Hibs in August 2008.
That move came only a few days after he had played for the Ivory Coast at the Olympics in Beijing and the imposing stopper would also go on to represent his country at the finals of the World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations.
“Sol was a good player, a very good player,” added Leishman. “He was mixing with boys like Didier Drogba and Kolo and Yaya Touré with the Ivory Coast.
“And how many players could say they played in the Olympic Games? And at World Cup finals? What an honour that is.
“The reaction there’s been since he passed away, from all the clubs he played for and all the fans of the clubs he played for, and everyone else in football, tells its own story.
“It’s just so sad and he’ll be greatly missed by so many.”
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