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Gary Speed: A tribute

Gary Speed (1969-2011)
There is one song which has continuously echoed my mind this year. It came the day Amy Winehouse died earlier this year of alcohol poisoning. It came the day Seve Ballesteros passed away through cancer. Again yesterday, this very song returns to my mind when I heard the tragic news of Wales’s national football manager Gary Speed was found hanged in his Cheshire home.

For those who like I, I’m a keen user of social networking sites Facebook and Twitter and I have read tonnes of tributes of Speed. He wore the shirts of sides Leeds United, Everton, Bolton Wanderers, Sheffield United and Newcastle United with passion. He represented Wales 85 times and every match he played, he sang the national anthem with pride. Hands down, he was an overall talent on the field.

He wasn’t just a great player, but a promising manager. He took over as boss of Sheffield United in 2010 and his hard work at the club paid off with interest from the Wales national side. He took the job with no hesitation and during his ten match reign, he won five matches guiding the side from 117th to the top fifty according to Fifa World Rankings in a matter of months. He was tipped as the next manager who would send the proud nation to World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

The day before he died, he was in high spirits. He was a guest at popular Saturday afternoon football show, “Football Focus” presented by Dan Walker. On Walker’s blog post he wrote, “Off air we talked about playing golf, how good his boys were at football and his dreams of taking Wales to the World Cup in 2014”. It was clear Speed had a clear vision for years to come. Friend of Speed and former footballer Robbie Savage said in an emotional interview with the BBC, “I spoke to him yesterday and he was in high spirits. I just can’t believe it. He was my mate and he’s gone.”

I have to say myself; yesterday was one of the longest Sundays I’ve ever had in a long time. As a fellow Welshman, I followed his time as Welsh manager very closely and after a doubtful start, his side beat Bulgaria, Switzerland and Norway and like a lot of others, I was hopeful of Wales’s chances of doing great things in the near future. No doubt his loss would make the Welsh team stronger and each game, win, draw or defeat, each and every single one of those players would be thinking of the legacy Speed was about to lead.

The way he passed away was most unexpected. I’m sure I can speak for everyone by thinking that Speed committing suicide was the last thing in our minds. I’m sure more revelations will come out regarding an illness he may have had because never can a man who wanted to be a protagonist to Wales’s success in the long term, in a matter of hours would take his own life. It is simply unimaginable. This news ties in perfectly with Stan Collymore, another former football player who announced on Saturday he suffers from depression and said in his blog post he has not felt suicidal as of yet. Speed’s situation is completely different and will probably remain a mystery. I hope Collymore doesn’t go through that route as he was a superb professional when he played for sides such as Liverpool, Aston Villa and Leicester City. Stay strong.

My heartfelt condolences go to everyone who knew Speed, considered him as a friend and especially his wife and two sons – they must feel absolutely devastated and I offer my dearest sympathy. As the Billy Joel song goes “Only the good die young” and boy isn’t he right.

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