ALBION legend Mark Lawrenson has told of his shock at the death of Ray Wilkins just 16 days after they shared a Brighton stage.

Wilkins, the former England captain, died yesterday after suffering a heart attack at the weekend. He was 61.

He appeared alongside Lawrenson, Peter Shilton and ex-Seagulls star Jimmy Case at a football nostalgia event at the Theatre Royal on March 19.

The world of football yesterday paid tribute to Wilkins, who starred for clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United and Milan and was elder brother of Dean, the former Albion player, coach and first team manager.

Lawrenson told The Argus: “It’s like a vacuum when you hear something like that.

“He seemed all right from the night we did with Jimmy Case and Shilts.

“He was full of fun, full of life. He had done some other event the previous evening and all was fine.

“We took him out afterwards and his son as waiting take him to where he lived in Cobham, near the training ground.

“It’s a shock, especially when just a couple weeks ago he looked fine – having coffee, chatting, Then – wow!”

Wilkins scored one of the greatest goals in FA Cup finals history with a curler past Graham Moseley when United and Albion drew 2-2 at Wembley in 1983.

Lawrenson added: “He was a good player. He broke into the Chelsea team when he was very young and was two-footed, great vision, would take the ball under extreme pressure and not give it away.

“He wasn’t the quickest but you have only got to look at the clubs he played for – Chelsea, Man United, Milan, Paris St-Germain, Rangers.

“He was a funny lad. He was a real character, a bit of fun, a sense of humour and you need that playing at that level.”

Wilkins dropped into the lower divisions in his later years and was attacked by a fan when playing for Leyton Orient at the Goldstone.

As well as a coaching career, he was also popular as a television pundit, one of his major roles coming alongside Peter Brackley on Channel 4’s coverage of Serie A.

Brackley, from Brighton, told The Argus: “Although not unexpected, I was so sad to hear the terrible news of my old sparring partner.

“Ironically, it was only this week that Ray appeared in a pre-recorded interview on BT Sport’s documentary tribute programme to that ground-breaking show, which had a very large following in its peak years - and hearing Ray, a former AC Milan player, speak so warmly of our commentaries together brought back so many fond memories.

“Presenters and production team alike loved working with Ray, such a warm and friendly guy, who would breeze into the studios with a cheery “afternoon troops!” greeting, and then entertain the TV audience with his so-informed but always enthusiastic commentary style.

“People still remind me to this day of the banter he and I used to share.

“To his frustration, I always refused to acknowledge he scored for Man Utd against the Albion in the 1983 Cup Final replay, or, indeed, that there even WAS a replay.

“There was plenty more ribbing for him to endure. ‘Ray spent all morning doing his hair and then left the flipping thing at home,’, was the kind of jocular remark I used to make, while he would sigh and reply in that understated way of his - ‘You really are a very unpleasant young man, you know’.

“All in fun, of course, and although listening to him on the BT programme while knowing he was seriously ill was difficult for all of us who knew him, I was very moved to hear him say how much pleasure our commentaries together had given him all those years ago.

“I’m so proud to have known one of football’s true icons. A charming man, wonderful player and outstanding analyst, he was right up there with the best of them.”

Albion, Crawley and many of Sussex’s non-league clubs expressed their sympathies to the Wilkins family via social media yesterday.