Tributes to legendary fan Sinky

Lifelong Jambo Sinclair "Sinky" Pentland, 48, planned his funeral and ticked every box of a self-compiled "bucket list" before passing away at Marie Curie hospice on Sunday.

The former postman, whose legendary antics led fellow supporters to compose his own terrace anthem, was visited by a slew of Hearts players and staff in his final weeks. He even celebrated his 48th birthday last month in the hospice with scores of friends.

In a further testament to Sinky's popularity, messages of condolence have swamped Hearts fans' website Jambos Kickback, with a thread in his honour attracting 77,802 views and 851 comments in less than a week. Among the tributes are tales of quick-fire one-liners, naked high-jinx and ill-fated foreign excursions following his beloved team.

Close friend Callum Anderson held a bedside vigil in Sinky's final hours and told how the illness failed to break his spirit.

"Every Hearts supporter has a Sinky story and it's hard to read the Kickback website without crying like a baby," said Mr Anderson.

"He never lost his battle with cancer because no-one should have enjoyed being in a hospice as much as he did. He laughed in the face of the illness.

"In fact he is possibly the first patient in Marie Curie to be warned about getting an ASBO because he had an average of 18 visitors a day."

No-one had imagined that a sore back the postman had suffered for months was actually cancer of the spine.

But knowing his condition was terminal, Sinky devised a to-do list which included celebrating his birthday, meeting Hearts players and watching his team beat Hibs.

"He had so many targets to keep him going but he must've known the bad weather was coming and checked out," joked Mr Anderson. "There was no-one like Sinky. He was one in a million."

A maroon-themed funeral is being held in Mortonhall Crematorium on Monday at 3.15pm.

A Hearts spokesperson said: "The death of Sinky has been felt by everyone at Tynecastle. Our condolences go to his family at this sad time."

Mr Pentland's ashes will be scattered at Tynecastle.