BERNARD Joseph Slaven arrived at Ayresome Park in October 1985 after an acrimonious departure from his previous club Albion Rovers, for whom he had been top scorer in Scotland the previous season.

Bernie had refused to re-sign for the Scottish outfit, and was working as a part-time gardener when Boro boss Willie Maddren picked him up for an extremely canny £25,000.

He made his debut at Leeds and scored in his first home match against Bradford City.

In a career which straddled the liquidation saga and all the turbulence this entailed, Slaven was a model of consistency, finishing top marksman for six consecutive seasons.

His combined attributes of good close control, great positional sense and accurate finishing meant the Wolfman was assured a place in the pantheon of Boro legends.

As a self-confessed selfish striker, who regarded it as criminal to pass to a team mate if he had a half chance himself, he was sometimes criticised for his perceived inability in the tackle or his weakness in the air.

However, the stats speak for themselves. His 15 goals in Division One in 1988-9 was bettered only by Alan Smith and John Aldridge and included a fabulous hat-trick at Coventry in a 4-3 win.

His performances came to the attention of Jack Charlton and Bernie was selected to play for the Republic, qualifying thanks to his Irish grandfather.

He scored on his international debut, and was in the Republic squad for Italia '90. He eventually played seven times for Ireland.

Goalkeeping legend Steve Pears said of him: "He didn't strike the ball, he passed it into the net."