Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has described Bill Foulkes as "a really nice man and a great servant to the club".

It was confirmed earlier today that the 81-year-old, who made 688 appearances for the club, had passed away during the early hours of this morning.

"He was a really nice man and a great servant to the club, too. When I first came in as manager, Bill was managing in Norway and he used to bring players over to training at the Cliff. He came to training quite a lot and I got to know him well through that. He was such a nice, quiet man to know," Ferguson told the club's official website.

"The story of his life was absolutely incredible and he's assured of his place in our history by his appearances and by the way he performed, particularly in the aftermath of the Munich air disaster.

"Having gone through that, how he and Harry Gregg managed to perform a couple of weeks later, leading those young lads out against Sheffield Wednesday – and winning the game - was absolutely incredible."

Foulkes won four league titles during his 18-year stint at Old Trafford, as well as one European Cup and one FA Cup.