“Silver City” has lost a bit of sparkle with the death of former Somerset Trojans midfielder Jerrylynn Simons.

Simons passed away on Monday from an apparent heart attack at age 71, leaving family, friends and former team-mates to mourn the loss of one of Somerset’s most charismatic sons.

He broke into the Trojans senior team amid the club’s most glorious era in the late 1960s, which saw them achieve the coveted Triple Crown — comprising league, FA Cup and Friendship Trophy — three consecutive seasons, thus evoking the sobriquet “Silver City”.

Simons also enjoyed success during a stint with Vasco towards the end of his career, winning both the FA Cup and Dudley Eve Trophy during the 1980-81 campaign.

Larry “Muscles” Hunt, the former Somerset defender, described Simons as a good all-round individual who “lived life to the fullest”.

Hunt said: “Jerry was certainly one of a kind. He was always a fun-loving guy to be around and I had a lot of great memories with him.

“He was just a great person overall and a great family man. He always made sure his family came first and then did what he had to do after that.

“Jerry was always the life of the party and lived life to the fullest. If you wanted to have some fun, you just went to Jerry’s.”

While Simons was a gregarious individual beyond the touchlines, he was the opposite on the pitch — a no-nonsense tackler who played the game hard and gave as good as he got.

“He was a very aggressive, hard man,” said Hunt, whose late team-mate was godfather to his son, Musceo.

“He and I were ripped from the same cloth, I guess. Anytime somebody had to be taken care of, we took care of them.”

Gladwin Lambert, the former Somerset winger now best known for his feats as a sailor, added: “Jerrylynn was a very good tactical player. He was very aggressive and was never afraid to go in a tackle.

“The four years I played at Somerset, I played along with Jerrylynn in the team. We were mates and used to also hang out a bit to different parties.

“We also went abroad to Costa Rica together and played in the Concacaf tournament [Concacaf Club Championship] there for Somerset. That was the first overseas trip for both of us.

“He kept a laughing spirit in the team and got along with everybody. Everybody liked Jerrylynn, who is definitely going to be missed.”

Simons also had an interest in sailing.

“A lot of people don’t know about it, but he sailed with me for at least a season in Comets,” Lambert said.

“He always came over to the West End Sailboat Club and would bring up how he was my crew in the Comet when I first started out in my wooden boat.”

Charlie Marshall, a St George’s Cup Match legend but former goalkeeper in his earlier youth, also spoke fondly of Simons’s humorous nature.

“Jerrylynn was the funniest team-mates I ever played with,” said Marshall, who was a team-mate when the pair were at Vasco.

“Whenever the team was down, he always had some type of humorous spirit to lift the guys up.

“We had some good times with him and whenever you saw him you were definitely guaranteed to get a good laugh.

“He was very talented in football and even though we supported different Cup Match teams, he always greeted each other with respect.”