Swansea City mourns the passing of Jimmy Rimmer

Swansea City mourns the passing of the club’s former player, coach and manager Jimmy Rimmer at the age of 78.

An outstanding goalkeeper, Rimmer had two spells with the Swans. He joined on loan from Manchester United in 1973, and returned to the club in 1983.

After hanging up his gloves, Rimmer went on to work as goalkeeping coach at the Vetch, and also had two spells in caretaker charge of Swansea City.

Born in Southport, Swansea would become home for Rimmer and beyond his direct involvement with the first team he remained a regular attendee at fixtures for a number of years.

Rimmer joined Manchester United as a schoolboy and would spend 11 years in total at Old Trafford, and was a European Cup winner with the club in 1968.

After his loan spell with Swansea, he went on to join Arsenal in 1974 and Aston Villa in 1977. In 1976 he won an England cap when he played in a friendly against Italy.

His six years at Villa Park coincided with a golden period in the club's history. Rimmer was an ever-present in their top-flight league title success of 1981 and he won a second European Cup as he started their final success over Bayern Munich in 1982.

Upon leaving Villa he returned to Swansea and spent three seasons at the Vetch prior to stints with Maltese club Hamrun Spartans and Luton Town.

Rimmer moved into coaching following his retirement from playing, and served as Swans goalkeeping coach for a number of years.

He twice stepped in to take the managerial reins in a caretaker capacity between 1995 and 1996 following the respective departures of Bobby Smith and Kevin Cullis.

Rimmer went on to coach in China and Canada before retiring to Gorseinon.

Jimmy was a much-loved figure, with a deep knowledge and love of the game. He was one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation, but was a humble, quiet man who was deeply respected by all who knew him.

We send our sincerest condolences to his family and friends at this sad time, and we will remember Jimmy alongside fellow members of the Swansea family we have sadly lost ahead of our game against Sheffield United on August 22.