A PUB landlord known as 'Roy of the Rovers' has died of a ‘broken heart’ just weeks after his wife of 63 years passed away.

Roy Shulman, who ran Blackburn’s Rovers Return in Shadsworth with his wife Greta for 14 years from 1970, died on Sunday.

In the couple’s time at the Rovers Return, comedian Tom O’Connor and Coronation Street’s Liz Dawn and Bill Tarmey, who played Jack and Vera Duckworth of the fictional pub of the same name, were among celebrity visitors to the pub.

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Mr and Mrs Shulman, who met after he became friends with an Accrington man while serving in the Royal Navy, were both 85.

They both passed away at the Nelson Manor care home in Nelson, Mrs Shulman of cancer on July 19. In their retirement they lived in Oswaldtwistle.

The pair worked for Whitbread for about 25 years. They also ran the Farmers Arms in Great Eccleston and worked in Manchester.

Their son, Gary, who is managing director of BBC Superfactors, which has its head office in Accrington, said his father had been devastated to lose his wife.

Gary said: “He just gave up. He said, ‘That’s it, I’m going.’ He died of a broken heart.”

The 56-year-old said his father, a keen Blackburn Rovers supporter enjoyed his 'Roy of the Rovers 'nickname.

Gary said: “I went to see him on Sunday and he asked about the Rovers score.”

Mr and Mrs Shulman celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in 2014.

Mr Shulman, who hailed from London, met his Blackburn-born wife-to-be while staying in Lancashire during leave from the Navy.

He said at the time of the diamond wedding: “We went out to King George’s Hall in Blackburn and my friend met a girl and said that he’d got me a date for the next evening.

“We all met up and went out the next day and it was Greta. He ended up marrying the girl he was out with and I married Greta.”

Mr and Mrs Shulman leave their son, three grandchildren, Nicola, Stacey and Declan, and two great-grandchildren, Tyler and Tallulah. All live locally.

Mr Shulman’s funeral will be at Burnley Crematorium on August 23.