Former Preston North End and Manchester United striker Alex Dawson has died aged 80

Nicknamed the 'Black Prince', Dawson was a powerful centre-forward with a hugely impressive scoring record.

In his six years at Deepdale, he found the net 114 times in 197 appearances.

Dawson was in the North End team which reached the 1964 FA Cup Final and netted against West Ham at Wembley in the 3-2 defeat.

Only two of the cup final team are now living.

Born in Aberdeen, Dawson started his career at Manchester United under Sir Matt Busby.

One of the Busby Babes, he made his United debut as a 17-year-old in 1957 after the club had clinched the First Division title.

The Munich Air Disaster saw eight United players killed and several others injured.

Dawson was one of the young players drafted into the team to cover those devastating losses and he scored in United's first game back after the air crash, a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

That 1957/58 season, Dawson scored a hat-trick for United in the FA Cup semi-final win over Fulham at Highbury. He also played in the final which United against Bolton.

When his first-team chances at Old Trafford became fewer, Dawson signed for North End in October 1961 for an £18,000 fee.

He scored on his PNE debut in a 2-2 draw at Rotherham and netted 11 in total that season.

Dawson then finished as North End's top scorer for the next three seasons, netting 27, 36 and 27 respectively in all competitions.

He netted five hat-tricks in a Preston shirt, and at the start of the 1963/64 campaign scored 13 goals in the first nine games.

The Scot's time at PNE came to an end in February when he joined Bury but he still finished that season as North End's leading scorer.

Dawson scored 21 goals in 50 games for the Shakers and then signed for Brighton where he netted another 26 times.

He had a loan spell at Brentford from Brighton, before finishing his career at Corby Town.

His career record was 212 league goals in 394 games, a hard-as-nails striker in an era when you had to be tough to find a way in the game,

To many North End supporters of that time, Dawson was their hero, a player who knew where the net was and went in where it hurts if needed.

Dawson had been suffering from ill health and passed away on Friday morning in Kettering.