Luton midfielder Ross Barkley has paid tribute to Bill Kenwright.

The former Everton chairman recently passed away and Barkley admits they were close as he came through the Blues system.

He told The Times: "It's sad. Bill loved the club. He was really supportive of me when I was coming through. He used to write letters to my mum. He said he could really relate to me because he was brought up five minutes down the road from where I was.

"Whenever I spoke to Bill, he spoke so highly of my mum bringing me up. Bill said he could connect in that way because he was similar with his mum as well.

"He was always there for me, always in touch with me and when I went to the World Cup, he wrote to my mum saying, 'You should be so proud of him. We are at the club and proud a young lad from Liverpool is getting into the squad.'"