“My Captain, my hero, my mate”, that was one of many
tributes that’s flooded in today as the footballing world come to grips with
the death of Wales, Leeds, Newcastle and Everton legend Gary Speed at the
tender age of 42.
At 7:08 on Sunday 27th November 2011 Speed’s body
was found hanging at his Cheshire home and football had lost a legend. The one
question that remains is why? It is one question that may never be answered;
here was a man that had his dream job, a highly successful career, a wife and
two young children. Speed was slowly changing the fortunes of the Wales side
and four wins from their last five games, including a 4-1 win over Norway in
his last game proved that.
Craig Bellamy, Speed’s team mate and friend and one of Speed’s
players in the Wales squad was today withdrawn from the Liverpool squad ahead
of their clash with Manchester City, meanwhile, Shay Given was left in tears as
the crowd at the Liberty Stadium before the fixture before Swansea and Aston
Villa turned the minutes silence into a minutes applause, leaving the Villa
goalkeeper struggling to play after the pair spent six seasons together at
Newcastle.
Former Wales’s team mate John Hartson was left ‘Devastated’,
while the man who gave Speed his first Wales cap Bobbie Gould said “Tears had
been shed”. The sheer volume of tributes make it all more emotional, here was a
man that was loved as player, manager, husband and father and that will never
be forgotten.
We may never know what drove Speed to hang himself today,
however, it has shocked the footballing world and will undoubtedly raise awareness
amongst people that no matter how good someone life looks from the outside, we
never truly knows what lies beneath. One thing that we are sure of though is
that today football lost a true gent and model professional.
RIP Gary Speed, you will be missed.
What are your favourite memories of Gary Speed? As always
let me know.
Follow me on Twitter @RyanDay100
Nice words.
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