STEVE COOGAN - WILSON'S MANCHESTER AN "ALTERNATIVE METROPOLIS"

WILSON'S MANCHESTER AN "ALTERNATIVE METROPOLIS"

Comedian and actor Steve Coogan has paid tribute to the late Factory Records boss Tony Wilson, saying he created Manchester's "alternative metropolis".

Coogan played Wilson in the cult film 24 Hour Party People, which portrayed Wilson's TV and music career.

Writing a tribute to the former presenter in the Guardian, Coogan described Wilson as a "slightly hippish bloke".

"It's almost impossible to describe Tony in a sentence," Coogan said. "You end up with a long list of adjectives - some of them paradoxical.

"Lyrical, poetic, unselfconscious, very self-conscious, unsentimental, a bit sentimental, uncynical, enthusiastic, Teflon-coated, vulnerable."

Wilson's funeral took place in Manchester yesterday at St Mary's church, also known as the Little Gem.

Among the hundreds of mourners were Joy Division and New Order's Peter Hook, TV's Richard and Judy, Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays and the Smiths' Andy Rourke.

The coffin was carried with the Happy Mondays' Bob's Yer Uncle playing in the background.

Wilson signed the group in the 1980s after seeing them come last in a battle of the bands contest.

Coogan added: "Never being one to wallow in nostalgia, one thing is certain; he was conspicuous by his absence and always will be."

The actor's piece first appeared in the Manchester Evening News and was reprinted in the Guardian.