Motherwell captain dies

[Lineker]

Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell has died after collapsing towards the end of his side's Scottish Premier League game against Dundee United.

The 35-year-old midfielder fell to the ground just as he was about to be replaced with Marc Fitzpatrick near the end of Motherwell's 5-3 victory.

O'Donnell was treated for around five minutes on the field before being taken to a waiting ambulance.

But his death was later confirmed by Motherwell chairman Bill Dickie.

Staff from both clubs, who believe that O'Donnell suffered a seizure, had made efforts to revive him en route to hospital.

"Phil was a great professional and gave everything when he played the game" - Motherwell manager Mark McGhee

But he did not regain consciousness and was pronounced dead at 1718 GMT.

Speaking at a news conference at Wishaw General Hospital, Motherwell chief executive Ian Stillie said: "The management, directors, players and fans are all stunned and having great difficulty in comprehending what has happened over the last few hours.

"At this stage we do not have all the facts surrounding the tragic death of Phil O'Donnell.

"We have been in contact with Phil's wife Eileen and his family and they have given us their blessing to speak to the media tonight.

"Phil collapsed during the second half of the game today. He was standing alone at the time.

"He was immediately attended to by Motherwell's club doctor and assisted by Dundee United's club doctor.

"He was transferred almost immediately to an awaiting ambulance and taken to Wishaw General.

"It is believed Phil suffered some form of seizure and was pronounced dead at 1718."

Motherwell owner John Boyle said: "This is an unspeakable tragedy for Phil's family.

"At this stage, we do not know the exact cause of death, but the club is obviously liaising with the medical staff at Wishaw General.

"Everyone at Motherwell is shocked to the core and we are sure that everyone involved in Scottish football will feel the same.

"Phil was not only an inspirational player for Motherwell and club captain but was an inspirational person.

"All of us at Motherwell are thinking of his wife Eileen and their four children."

Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith led the tributes.

"This is absolutely devastating news," he said.

PHIL O'DONNELL'S CAREER

1972 - born in Hamilton

1991 - joins Motherwell

1991 - scores in Scottish Cup final victory over Dundee United

1993 - earns only Scotland cap against Switzerland

1994 - sold to Celtic for a club record £1.75m

1999 - signs for Sheffield Wednesday

2003 - released after injury-hit spell at Wednesday

2004 - returns to Motherwell, becoming club captain

"Phil was not just a wonderful footballer, he was a great human being."

"My thoughts are with his family at this tragic time."

"A few of the boys got a fright."

Motherwell manager Mark McGhee had said immediately after the game that O'Donnell's substitution had been "an absolute coincidence" before his sudden seizure.

The manager had simply been looking to give his captain a rest ahead of Wednesday's game against Hibernian.

O'Donnell's nephew, David Clarkson, was substituted moments later after scoring two goals in the match.

"We took Clarkson off because he got a fright from the nature of the collapse," said McGhee.

The manager said that the whole team was in shock at the news of the death.

"We are all totally devastated and our thoughts are with Phil's wife and family," he said later.

"Phil was a great professional and gave everything when he played the game.

"This is a shocking tragedy."

Meanwhile, Motherwell's match against Hibs on 2 January has been postponed, while the Fir Park club's next fixture, against Celtic, is currently under discussion.

O'Donnell, who earned one cap for Scotland, was lauded as one of the country's brightest talents when he broke into the Motherwell first team as a teenager.

He moved on to Celtic for a club record £1.75m fee, but injury problems were to blight his time with the Glasgow club and his next club, Sheffield Wednesday.

O'Donnell returned to Motherwell in 2004 and became club captain, playing beside his nephew.

Link.

Another footballing death... and his nephew was playing too; talk about going from an extreme high to.... this.

RIP Phil O'Donnell.

Edited December 29, 2007 by Y2Kubica

[MDK]

Fucking hell, what caused it?

A few footballers have had that happen. Our player had to retire because he had the same heart condition that killed Foe.

Damn, never cool to hear this kinda thing. Shouldnt be dropping at 35 during a match.

[Lineker]

SSN is saying he had a seizure on the pitch, but was alive upon leaving the stadium.

[Scott McFly]

Looks like this topic just cropped up before mine, apologies for the duplicate. But it's just an absolute tragedy, the guy was a legend at Motherwell, and this has come completely out of nowhere. Fucking sucks.

[Dan]

RIP.

Horrible, horrible thing to happen, seems to be happening a lot lately.

[METALMAN]

He scored the winning goal at the Kilmarnock vs. Motherwell game I went to just over a month ago so I wasn't too pleased with him at the time. It's a real tragedy though. He was a good player and he always conducted himself well.

Edited December 29, 2007 by metalman

[Turbo Yannis]

Absolutely tragic. It hits home something shocking when it happens in your country.

RIP Phil O'Donnell. Such a shame for a person so young.

[The Kraig]

Absolutely shocking. I live a couple of miles away from Fir Park. This will be remembered for a long time in Scottish football, a very long time.

I'm seriously in shock. Motherwell are going to take this hard. Not sure how this will effect David Clarkson (one of their best players, Phil was his uncle). They've been doing so well in the league as well...

I'm just so sad. Rest in peace Phil.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Very very sad actually. Not that I've particularly followed his career but I always signed him on Sensi World Of Soccer and on Championship Manager back in the day.

Always horrible when someone dies so young and leaves a family behind him.

Thoughts are with his family.

[Baddar]

This is happening waaaaay too often these days.

...And that comment was used the last time it happened.

[LexChaney]

While most of us were watching our teams yesterday or enjoying ourselves this happend, its a hard thing to take these kind of things in when it happens. My thoughts are with his family, team mates and friends.

[Adam]

This is terribly sad. It shouldn't be happening, but again we've lost a footballer on the pitch, during a game. My thoughts are with his family and all of the 'Well faithful. Motherwell are our family's 'look out for their result' team, have been for years (though I've no idea why, it'll be some stupid reason from the 70's or something) and I'm impressed with their form this year. Hopefully this tragedy will not affect their form-because if they are 3rd come the end of the season its a great achievement.

I couldn't remember who O'Donnell was until I looked into his history and saw he was an ex-Wednesday player. Then it clicked. He was part of one of my most successful teams in Champ Manager with Wednesday a while back, odd to remember someone for something in a computer game.

R.I.P Phil O'Donnell.

[Captain Kirk]

An absolutely fantastic professional who in his older years was Motherwell's driving force even with his injuries. An absolute professional to me it was like Eddie Guerrero dying and I think he deserves the same remembrance think we should get someone who is good with video editing to make a tribute video for him.

[Lineker]

A post-mortem examination has found that Motherwell footballer Phil O'Donnell died from heart failure.

The 35-year-old collapsed during his team's game on Saturday and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Robert Liddle, the club doctor, said: "The post-mortem revealed that Phil had suffered left ventricular failure of the heart."

It was also announced that the player's funeral service would take place in Hamilton at noon on Friday.

The Requiem Mass, in St Mary's Church, Cadzow Street, will be followed by internment at the nearby Bent Cemetery.

At the request of his wife Eileen, the church service will be for family and friends only.

Mrs O'Donnell said she had been left "devastated" by her husband's death.

Speaking publicly for the first time since he died, she said her husband had achieved much in football but "the most important thing for him was his family".

Mrs O'Donnell, mother of the couple's four children, said: "He would like to be remembered as a family man and we were all so proud of him.

"We are all devastated by what has happened.

"We hope we will now be given peace and time to grieve but we are overwhelmed by the messages of support we have received."

The player collapsed and died as he was substituted during his side's 5-3 defeat of Dundee United at Fir Park on Saturday.

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan and Rangers captain Barry Ferguson were among the figures from across the world of football who visited Fir Park to see the tributes.

The Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic, O'Donnell's former club, was postponed as a mark of respect for the father-of-four.

. Surely he must have had chest pains during the match though, no?

[Scott McFly]

My family always go through to my Gran's on the 1st of January every year just to see the relatives that still live in the west of Scotland, and she lives only a few miles from Motherwell's stadium. My dad's a lifelong Motherwell fan from growing up there, so we all went to the stadium to pay our respects and to see all the tributes left by others. I've got some photos I'll try to upload soon.

Wow. Even on a wet and crappy Wednesday afternoon there was still a huge queue of people there to shuffle past the tributes and to sign their condolances. The entire car parking section (or at least I think it was) at the front of the stadium was absolutely covered in shirts, scarves, flags, flowers, candles, messages and the like. You name it, there was something there. Someone had even left 2 bottles of beer with an opener next to them as if to say "cheers for everything". There was a framed photo of Phil playing for Motherwell. There were strips from many other clubs - Dunfermline, St. Mirren, Airdie, Kilmarnock, Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen. I spotted a Leeds scarf, an Arsenal scarf. There was a strip with a message on it from some Japanese fans. And it was great to see all the English clubs wearing black armbands and paying their respects too. James McFadden scoring for Everton and then pointing to his armband was very touching to see.

I had seen him play during his first spell at Motherwell pre-1994, my dad would take me to a few games both at Fir Park and whenever they were playing an Edinburgh team, although I don't remember much as I was so young, but I do remember my dad pointing him out on a squad list on the match programme on one such occasion. I've certainly never considered myself a Motherwell 'fan', but they mean something to me through family connections.

And the amount of tributes I've heard on the radio and TV speak volumes. I know people are quick to praise someone for their qualities when they pass on, but Phil O' Donnell seemed to geniunely be a nice guy, always helping out the young players at a club with settling in and always leading by example. And it's a damn shame that he'll never be able to carry on doing so, as I reckon he would've made a bloody brilliant youth development coach.

Again, my deepest condolances to his wife and children. Football is only a game and he certainly will be missed in those circles, but his family are by far the ones that will miss him the most as a father, a husband, an uncle and all those things - and they will hopefully get the support they need to get through this difficult time.

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Switching topics, obviously Motherwell's game today had to be postponed, and they called off the Gretna vs St Mirren game (as Gretna play at Fir Park too), and also the Celtic vs Rangers game. I'm shocked that that any SPL games have gone ahead so soon after this. And surely, SURELY it would have made sense to postpone the Dundee United game too, as they were on the pitch when it happened and I highly doubt that all the players were completely over watching a man die in front of them in the middle of a game of football. I understand they had some tough decisions to make, but the SFA will have a lot to answer for once people have finished mourning and paying their respects.

[METALMAN]

I was at the Kilmarnock v Falkirk game today. There was a minutes applause and all the players were wearing black armbands. It was nice to see both sets of fans joining in.

[Guest RyanSmiley]

I didn't know him but like everyone's saying. It's really tragic. R.I.P Phil O'Donnell.