Figures from Hibs' past and present line up to praise MacFarlane's legacy

• Picture: TSPL

Turning out alongside the likes of Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond in his heyday, he was one of the stalwart defenders lauded for the part they played in allowing the Famous Five to flourish. He later returned to the club as a manager, replacing Bob Shankly, and is credited with assembling much of the team which went on to earn the moniker "Turnbull's Tornadoes".

"Willie played a massive, massive part in the history of this club," said current Hibs manager John Hughes. "And when we heard the news we just shook our heads because too many have been taken from us recently. But all we can do is, hopefully, reward them with some success and make sure that there are more achievements to go down in the club's history alongside theirs.

"I met him a few times and he was a great guy and my thoughts are with his family and those who knew him because I know he will be sadly missed."

Born in Leith on 17 March, 1930, he was a team-mate of Tommy Younger at Hutcheson Vale and played for Tranent before Hugh Shaw signed him up for Hibernian in 1949.

He was part of the Hibs squad which travelled to Brazil in 1953 to play in three games in the Maracana stadium against Vasco da Gama, Botafogo and Fluminense, and he went on to play in the team which became the first British side to compete in Europe, during the 1955/56 season, progressing to the semi-finals of the European Cup before eventually losing out to French side Stade Reims.

"He was a resolute full-back, a well-built lad and even when he was younger he was always strong," said former team-mate Tommy Preston, who had also pitted wits against the man nicknamed 'Packy' during their days in youth football.

"He was such an important defender because others trusted him and they could go and play their game and he was also great from free-kicks and could hit a great deadball."

In total MacFarlane made 97 appearances for the Easter Road side and scored three goals for the club before he moved to Raith Rovers in 1958, where he played 47 games and scored a solitary goal, and then on to Morton in 1960, where he played half-a-dozen first-team matches before hanging up his boots.

It was while at the Greenock club that he was attracted to the world of management by the charismatic and innovative Hal Stewart and after he retired from playing in 1961 he honed his skills in the Borders before stepping up to Stirling Albion, where he worked part-time, supplementing his income with a job as a plant transport manager.

It was there that he first signed Erich Schaedler and when MacFarlane took up a full-time role at Hibs in 1969, his first signing was the man who would go on to become a huge cult hero at the club, buying him for 7,000.

Helping build the side which would ultimately become known as 'Turnbull's Tornadoes', he showed he had a good eye for a player, and also he moved John Brownlie from central defence and turned him into one of the finest attacking full-backs.

Having sold Peter Marinello to Arsenal for a British record fee of 125,000, he bought Johnny Graham from Falkirk for 17,500. Graham scored a hat-trick in his first game. He also signed Arthur Duncan, who went on to set the record for most league appearances for Hibs.

"He was one of the most enthusiastic managers you could work with," said former player John Fraser, who was member of MacFarlane's coaching staff. "He was the life and soul of a party and always upbeat. He was one of those managers who wanted to be one of the boys and because he got on well with the players he got the best out of them."

At the helm during the 1969-70 and 1970-71 seasons, he started with six consecutive wins in the league, and Hibs qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup under his guidance, but he was sacked ahead of a tie with Liverpool, when he refused to bow to chairman Tom Hart's demands regarding team selection.

After leaving Hibs, he had a spell as manager of Meadowbank Thistle between 1978 and 1980, when Scottish football's newest senior club was trying to find its feet in the Second Division, before making way for Terry Christie to take over. But in subsequent years he returned to Easter Road as a supporter and was an active member of the Hibernian Former Players' Association.

"He was a smashing guy," said Preston. "But he should have been a karaoke singer. He fancied himself as a Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin.

"I remember when we were on tour in Prague, playing Sparta, in 1954, it was my first trip abroad with the team and because it was still behind the Iron Curtain there was only one place we could go to have a drink other than the hotel.

"We were there every night and every time the band took a break, he would get up. He always wanted to sing and even recently he would love to get up and give a song if someone let him."