152 : RIP Gary Speed
I spent this morning and early afternoon curled on the couch reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, so I didn't have the television or my computer on. As a consequence I missed the news breaking that Gary Speed had died.
Most of you won't know who he was. In short, he was a true gentleman and a great football professional. He came through the Leeds academy system, played for them when they won the final old Division One title in 1992 (the last before the introduction of the Premier League), and after leaving went on the play for Newcastle, Bolton, Sheffield United and Wales. He was the first player to reach 500 appearances in the Premier League, and went on to manage the Blades and Wales. Watching him play for Leeds was a massive part of my childhood experiences at Elland Road. He was - and always will be - a Leeds legend and the faithful will always remember him.
The really sad thing is that he is believed to have killed himself. He was only 42 years old, and yesterday he appeared on Football Focus (the Beeb's Saturday lunchtime pre-kick off football show) along with Gary McAllister (another Leeds legend). I can't imagine what he must have been feeling to go from there to going home and killing himself.
Going to go have a bit of a cry now. He was my favourite player for a long, long time.
RIP Gary Speed
Most of you won't know who he was. In short, he was a true gentleman and a great football professional. He came through the Leeds academy system, played for them when they won the final old Division One title in 1992 (the last before the introduction of the Premier League), and after leaving went on the play for Newcastle, Bolton, Sheffield United and Wales. He was the first player to reach 500 appearances in the Premier League, and went on to manage the Blades and Wales. Watching him play for Leeds was a massive part of my childhood experiences at Elland Road. He was - and always will be - a Leeds legend and the faithful will always remember him.
The really sad thing is that he is believed to have killed himself. He was only 42 years old, and yesterday he appeared on Football Focus (the Beeb's Saturday lunchtime pre-kick off football show) along with Gary McAllister (another Leeds legend). I can't imagine what he must have been feeling to go from there to going home and killing himself.
Going to go have a bit of a cry now. He was my favourite player for a long, long time.
RIP Gary Speed