Local soccer officials and fans have reacted with shock to the news of the suicide of Glasgow Rangers youth coach John Chalmers.

Chalmers, who was found hanging in a wood near his Glasgow home on Wednesday, brought under-17 sides from the Scottish champions to the Island three times to compete in the International Youth Tournament, the first time four years ago.

Bill Storrie, chairman of the Bermuda section of the Rangers Supporters Club, who was instrumental in getting Rangers to participate in the tournament, was contacted by the club's commercial manager with the tragic news on Thursday morning.

A stunned Storrie said that only a few days ago he had been speaking with Chalmers about plans for the tournament next year.

"We were trying to book up the tournament and I made contact with Ibrox. John was definitely interested and I asked him if he had any ideas to upgrade the tournament and he said he would come back to me on that.

"Obviously he won't be doing that now.'' Storrie, who has contacts with the club from the chairman down, added: "I was very touched that Rangers gave me a call. They wanted me to hear it from them.'' The Bermuda Football Association's Jon Beard also responded with disbelief, saying the Association would be sending their condolences to Rangers and the coach's family.

"We are shocked and stunned because John was a good friend of the Association, a lively and outgoing character,'' said Beard. "We don't know all of the details about his suicide but we are obviously very upset and we feel for his family.

"He brought the Glasgow Rangers junior team here three times. We worked mainly with him -- all of the arrangements were done through him.

"He has always been very supportive of what we were doing here in the Island and always prepared to talk about coaching. He was a great organiser and the kids had so much respect for him.

"He had a wealth of knowledge, which he was always willing to share.'' Chalmers, who was 49, had been at Rangers for 15 years after coaching spells with Southampton, Ipswich -- under new Newcastle and ex-England boss Bobby Robson -- and Motherwell.

He turned to coaching after his playing career as a midfielder with Scottish League team St Mirren was brought to a premature end by injury.

Married with a daughter and two sons, one of whom is believed to be on the books of Everton, he was thought to have been suffering from depression, according to reports in Scottish newspapers.

He last brought the Rangers team to Bermuda in the summer of 1998, when his talented charges, some of them as young as 14, recovered from an initial defeat to win the tournament, which also included the host nation, Barbados and the US.

Later that year, he hosted seven Bermuda youngsters who were given the opportunity to train with the Rangers youth team in Glasgow.

"He was always very, very keen on Bermuda football,'' Storrie recalled. "I remember once at the end of the game he was shaking hands with all the Bermuda team rather than his own. That summed up his style.

"I expect we will continue to have discussions about getting Rangers back over here next year, but it's a bit early to say. I don't think anyone will be thinking about that in Glasgow right now.''