A GRANDFATHER well known in local football circles has died of a massive heart attack while on a weekend away with his wife and friends.

John Smith and wife Joan were with a group of friends who took a keen interest in line dancing and were spending a weekend in Llandudno.

On Saturday night 58-year-old John had a massive heart attack in the hotel ballroom and died.

"We had just been jiving when John said he wanted to sit down," his widow Joan told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. "He died doing what he loved with wonderful friends around him. Knowing that is what is keeping us going."

John, of Arthur Street, Great Harwood, was well known among local footballers. He was manager of local side Hodder United before going on to referee local matches for more than 30 years.

A member of the Accrington Refereeing Society, John passed his Class 1 examinations allowing him to referee some of the major youth sides all across the North West.

"If he had a match in Liverpool on the Saturday we would all go along and go shopping while John was at the game," said Joan, who has two children David 33, and Alison, 30. "On Sunday he would referee matches on Pleasington. People would always remember him, once when we were in Majorca a lad came up to him and recognised John because he had booked him." A first heart attack 14 years ago saw John give up his refereeing but stayed very much involved and remained active.

The fabricator welder enjoyed walking and was a member of the East Lancashire Railway Society. This week cards have flooded into the family home from all those that knew him.

John doted on his first and only grandchild, Hannah Furey, Alison's six-year-old daughter.

"He was an excellent grandad, he gave Hannah her curly hair," said Alison. "He absolutely adored her and Hannah loved her grandad John."

John's service is on Monday at the Central Methodist Church, Great Harwood, at 12.15pm, followed by cremation at Burnley Crematorium. The family has asked for family flowers only with any donations going to the Heart of Lancashire Appeal, which aims to buy a defibrillator for each town in East Lancashire.

"He was a wonderful man and will be missed by a lot of people," said Joan. "He was one-in-a-million," added Alison.

Brian Rutter, secretary of the Accrington Combination League, said John was the sort of character hard to come by.

"He was involved in so many different aspects and had just started assessing the younger referees," said Brian. "He will be missed in the areas he worked in by all the referees."