Craig Levein pays emotional tribute to friend and chairman Eddie Thompson

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CRAIG LEVEIN'S bottom lip trembled. His words were choked with emotion. Tears welled in his eyes.

Dundee United chairman Eddie Thompson's death earlier this week may have been taken in by many now but not his manager.

Levein cut a disconsolate figure at Tannadice yesterday. In body, he was there yet his glazed look suggested he was a million miles away. Rarely in the history of Scottish football has a bond between chairman and manager been so strong.

Thompson and Levein stood as one. They fought battles together and were united for United.

No more, though, and this has left Levein, at this moment, a shell.

Mourners gathered at Tannadice again yesterday to add their tributes to the shrine which has been set up underneath the stand named after Thompson.

It is not only United memorabilia that is there. Colours from across the country swamp the site adorned with touching messages.

Queues formed to sign the book of condolences but people stopped just for a second when Levein's club car pulled up just before 1.30pm.

Levein slowly emerged. He accepted handshakes of goodwill and consolation from some of the fans. While welcome, they barely seemed to register.

Once inside the foyer, Levein attempted to stand straight and give his own tribute to the man he called chairman.

He may have been his boss but he was also his mate.

Looking outside to the shrine, his voice cracked as he said: "It just shows you what people thought of Eddie.

"The thing is, not everyone who is putting stuff outside the stadium will know him other than what they see in the newspapers or TV.

"Yet everybody thinks he is a top bloke and they are not far wrong.

"Across Scotland, people have left stuff and it is football people. Honestly, I think we had the best chairman in Scotland.

"Every supporter of every other club would like someone like Eddie Thompson to run their club.

"Somebody who actually cares more about the fans and the club than anything else. He made that abundantly clear."

Levein had been unable to give a proper address about Thompson since the 68-year-old's death in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He couldn't because of the pain and emotion he was enduring.

Noticeably, at regular times throughout his interview, Levein spoke of Thompson in the present tense. As he discussed the late Arabs owner, he would say is, as opposed to was, will instead of would.

It was as if he was refusing to accept Thompson will no longer be at his side.

As more people walked through the door to sign the book, Levein said: "Eddie would be wondering what all this fuss is about. He is so pragmatic.

"After his cancer was diagnosed as terminal, he would be up at the ward at Ninewells Hospital.

"He'd come back to Tannadice having had some treatment which knocked him for six.

"Eddie would then sit upstairs with me and say there were some seriously-ill people at the hospital and he didn't know how he could help them.

"It's incredible to think he was in the condition he was in and yet all he could think about was helping others.

"Eddie was incredibly brave. A lot of things about his character were just traits to admire. He was honest and unbelievably loyal."

Thompson's ability to cover up his own problems were well-documented. Perhaps, though, few were aware just how severe those problems were.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer five years ago but continued to fight through each day, worried more about the supporters and staff at Tannadice than his own well-being.

Levein lifted the lid on the seriousness of the situation when he said: "Eddie was so hard working.

He'd be first in and last out and he had integrity. People recognised that but he was in agony at times.

"He was getting this new treatment where they inject acid into the bones to try to keep them strong.

"Eddie would be in agony but he would not take painkillers. I would have been throwing them down my neck one by one."

Thompson's courage did not go unnoticed in the dressing room. Even as his condition deteriorated this season, it did not stop him from being at every match cheering on his team.

Young defender Garry Kenneth spoke this week about the inspiration that gave the troops on the park and it has only added to the squad's grief.

Among the tributes in the shrine lay a touching message from winger Craig Conway, referring to Thompson as "Uncle Eddie".

As emotion drained from Levein's features, the merest glimpse of a smile appeared just once on his gaunt face and that came with the suggestion that Conway's reference was adopted by the majority of the squad. He said: "I never heard that. Most of them called him chairman when I was listening!

"But because his office is right beside the canteen and players were always around, there was no distance between them and Eddie.

"He would sit in the directors box beside me some days and call the players every name under the sun.

"But after the game, he would pat them on the back. Maybe it was out of embarrassment after he had shouted at them!

"Eddie was really close with the players, asking after them and how they were doing. He knew everybody and that is purely because he took and interest in people.

"The players respected him enormously and Eddie was so courageous."

The mention of Thompson's courage in the face of such pain brought it all back home to Levein.

For an instant, he had managed that mini-smile but it was gone. You felt it was his first in days and that it didn't rest easy on his face.

Perhaps his best summing up of the man who became his friend was his last after another brief glance outside to the throng of fans in the shrine.

Levein said: "Eddie put the supporters first. There is not a club I have worked where everyone was so tightly knit.

"From the first minute I came to Tannadice, the supporters were praising him.

"When he made decisions, he would have consultations with guys. He was a punter with a few quid and that is how he behaved."

With his lip quivering, Levein added: "Having got to know him so well over the past couple of years, I think two things. The football club will miss him but I'll miss him, too."

With that, his harrowing ordeal was over.

At least Levein can take comfort from the fact that he won't be alone in missing Uncle Eddie.