AN emotional video tribute to BBC Tees presenter Alistair Brownlee has been made featuring a former Middlesbrough star striker.

Ali died in February after a battle with cancer and thousands turned out for his funeral, with the cortege stopping at Boro's Riverside Stadium.

The Northern Echo:

Bernie and Ali during their time together commentating.

Now two Boro fans have released a video featuring a heartfelt tribute from Boro ace Bernie Slaven who commentated with Ali more than 500 times during his time as a pundit.

Ross Marshall and Pete Whelan interviewed Bernie about his memories of Ali and the resulting video has had more than 3,000 hits in the few days since it was uploaded.

In the video, entitled For Ali, Bernie says: "Ali was everything. He was funny, he was knowledgeable, he was charming, he was blinkered, he was biased. We had some great times and did more than 500 games together.

"We were the perfect partnership. Ali wouldn't say anything wrong about anybody or anything, whereas I was the opposite. If I thought somebody deserved a rollocking I would give it. There was many a time he would drag me aside and say 'calm down it's not worth it'. He had the lot.

"We would go to games and somebody would shout 'Oi, Ali take your rose-tinted spectacles off' and then somebody would say 'Oi, Slaven, stop criticising the team'. So the balance was perfect."

Slaven described Ali as the best partner he had worked with, on the pitch or off it.

"I have played with many a partner up front, Ian Baird, Paul Wilkinson, Paul Kerr, Lee Turnbull, Archie Stephens, they were good partnerships but I don't think they ever replicated the Slaven-Brownlee partnership."

Pete Whelan said making the video had taken him back to his early days as a Boro supporter.

"For me it was about the fact all of my formative experiences as a Boro supporter were experienced with Ali providing the soundtrack and making the film felt like a fitting tribute to that," he said.