ALBION are to honour former player and coach Steve Burtenshaw with a minutes applause before Saturday’s match against Burnley.

Burtenshaw, who made 252 appearances for the Albion, died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday in Worthing.

He was 86.

To mark their respects, Brighton and Hove Albion have announced there will be a minute’s applause ahead of their Premier League fixture against Burnley on Saturday.

“We pass on our sincere condolences to his family, friends and to the staff and residents of the care home in Worthing where Steve lived in more recent years,” an Albion spokesman said.

The Argus: Burtenshaw died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday in Worthing Burtenshaw died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday in Worthing

Born in Portslade in November 1935, Burtenshaw was a successful schoolboy player, captaining both Brighton and Sussex Boys while a pupil at Portslade County Secondary School.

In August 1951, he joined the Albion ground staff and won an FA County Youth Cup winner’s medal in 1952, when Sussex beat the Liverpool Association 3-1 over two legs.

After signing as a professional in November 1952, the wing-half made his first-team debut five months later, away at Exeter City, aged 17.

However, it took several seasons to establish himself in the side because of National Service with the Army.

Despite making 28 league appearance as a right-half in Albion’s 1957/58 promotion campaign, it wasn’t until Burtenshaw switched to left-half in 1960 that he became a first-team regular.

He was granted a testimonial in November 1963 before being appointed assistant coach the following year.

In total, he made 252 appearances for the Albion, scoring three goals, with his final match coming in December 1966.

After helping the reserves until December 1967, he began another long association with Arsenal, initially as first-team coach before taking over as chief coach in 1971 when Don Howe left the club.

He later went on to coach QPR and Everton and also had spells as manager of Sheffield Wednesday and Loftus Road, before a return to the Gunners, where he had spells as youth-team coach, caretaker manager and chief scout.

Burtenshaw had been president of the Albion Heritage Society since 2015.