‘A true spartan til the end’: Tributes paid as ex-Manchester United player Bobby Power dies aged 40 after cancer battle

12 March 2024, 12:37 | Updated: 12 March 2024, 12:40

Former Manchester United academy player Bobby Power has died aged 40 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

His family announced the news in a statement, as they wrote: "It’s with a broken heart I’m writing this, my dad Bobby passed away peacefully this morning surrounded by all his family.

"We are all so proud of him, the bravest, strongest man we have and will ever meet, a true Spartan till the end. He has left a massive impact on every single person he has ever met and we will never ever forget him, love you forever dad rest in paradise our hero."

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after he began to feel unusually tired while climbing a mountain. He later went on to develop a loss of appetite alongside yellowed eyes and skin.

Tributes have since poured in for the father-of-three after he died in February, as one of his daughters, Kaitlyn Eadsforth, praised him for his love of “helping people”.

She said: "He was really outgoing. Literally anywhere he went, he would talk to anyone. He was like a social butterfly, in any room that he went in.

"If he wasn't at the gym he was climbing mountains. He loved helping other people.

"That's what he was all about really - helping people physically and mentally."

After his diagnosis, Bobby was moved into Dr Kershaw's Hospice in Oldham where his appearance significantly changed.

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A post shared by BOBBY POWER (@100.percent.or.nothing)

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His mum, Estrella Barry, said he spent the remainder of his days fighting to find a cure so he could “live for his girls”.

She said: “He spent the rest of his life trying to find a cure. He wanted to live for his girls. He did everything he could.

"He thought he was going in to get strong so he could get chemotherapy in Liverpool.

"But unfortunately that's the last place he went."

Bobby married his wife Jemma Power-Bliss on Valentine’s Day in the same hospice surrounded by friends and family.

His mum continued: "He couldn't walk or anything. He was like a little skeleton. It was what he wanted, but a few weeks later he died.

"He has inspired so many people because he was just such an active person."

He is survived by daughters Loren, 20, Kaitlyn, 19 and Heidi, 12.

The former Manchester United player also previously starred as ‘Gorgeous’ Gordon Burley in the football film There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble.

He spent years as a personal trainer in Manchester and gained an online following after began documenting his love of fitness and the outdoors online.