Gary Speed has died

[deli]

Unbelievably shocking news.

R.I.P Gary

[Adam]

I woke this morning to be told of the news and it absolutely floored me. I am still totally stunned. It is so sudden and unexpected. I am tremendously saddened that Gary felt he had no other choice than to take his life, and my thoughts go out to all of his family and friends. Seeing Robbie Savage on BBC News was so heartbreaking, I have already shed tears and have no doubt that when I watch Match of the Day 2 tonight I will again. Gary was a brilliant footballer, an icon of the Premier League who I imagine will always be regarded as one of the top midfielders of the era. I'll always remember him as one of the players that made Newcastle a team I enjoyed watching and wanted to see do well. It looked like he was about to embark on a successful managerial career as well, that Wales team has so much promise and I hope they go on to achieve all that they are capable of, as Speed has laid the foundations.

I spent the day with die-hard Newcastle fans, in the city and going past St. James' Park, seeing David Craig there reporting on it for SSN, the whole thing was very surreal.

Depression is a very serious illness and people do not take it seriously for whatever reason. Whether it's because they don't fully understand it, haven't experienced it or maybe even just because they cannot see it as a physical illness. I really hope that awareness of the illness can be increased, I've been thinking about it a lot in relation to sport this week what with Stan Collymore revealing his recent plight.

On another note, I just want to say how much I respect and pride I have for the members of this forum. On some boards today I've seen a lot of threads about Speed just descend into personal arguments about suicide and depression when it just is not needed at this time. Here that has not been the case (save for one idiot it seems) and it is one of the things that I really like about EWB.

I truly hope you can rest in peace now Gary, all of us will miss you in the game. This is a very sad day for the sport.

[Matt]

And the first goal from this:

Quality player.

[FLiam]

Couldn't have put it any better myself, very well said.

Very sad day for football.

[Pettengill_Mark]

Shockingly sad news today, Gary Speed was one of the most consistently fantastic and underrated players in football. He had a bright career ahead of him in management and this is tragic news. RIP Speedo, hopefully you've found your peace.

[METALMAN]

Why did Gary Speed?

Because he saw Ian Rush!

Nice Welsh footballer joke there, courtesy of my football joke book.

I've always thought Gary Speed was hugely underrated as a player, considering how consistent he was. A real professional as well, and a potentially great manager. Shocking news. Sad.

[Gazz]

Hugo Viana

Top bloke.

[Big Red Fury]

It really makes me sad that he took his life over what might have been reported by the papers. If true, and I'd have to think at this point that it was, it really wasn't the end of the world, although who know's how the football world would have reacted.

[-A-]

Regardless of whether what they're saying is true, we still don't know what other things were going on in his life. Even if some evidence comes to light that he was likely to have been gay, that doesn't mean it's as simple as 'he killed himself to avoid the shame of having it publicised.' Depression doesn't always have to have come from something, it can merely make otherwise conquerable problems seem endless.

[-A-]

Double.

Edited November 28, 2011 by -A-

[Jimmy]

What's being reported?

[Summers]

Regardless of whether what they're saying is true, we still don't know what other things were going on in his life. Even if some evidence comes to light that he was likely to have been gay, that doesn't mean it's as simple as 'he killed himself to avoid the shame of having it publicised.' Depression doesn't always have to have come from something, it can merely make otherwise conquerable problems seem endless.

[-A-]

What's being reported?

Usual twitter mess involving possible gay affairs and irate wives and missing brothers and mob links.

[Lineker]

Yesterday's 606. Emotional stuff.

[brenchill]

Having rewatched Focus, you can tell that everything isn't right with Speed. He looks as if he'd rather be anywhere but there.

I just re-watched it myself and didn't get this impression at all. He seemed fine to me which is even more harrowing.

[Colly]

Having rewatched Focus, you can tell that everything isn't right with Speed. He looks as if he'd rather be anywhere but there.

I just re-watched it myself and didn't get this impression at all. He seemed fine to me which is even more harrowing.

Dan Walker agrees. It's actually quite a tough read.

[DavidMarrio]

I'm still in shock, he was such a good footballer and seemed such a nice guy. A great loss for football and my prayers are with his family at this tragic time. Match of the Day was so hard to watch there was numerous times I thought I was going to cry

RIP Gary, football has lost a great man.

[IAceI]

There's a great piece in the Daily Mail about Gary as well, well worth a read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2067009/Gary-Speed-dead-Devastating-day-British-football-Wales-boss-dies-42.html

[Dan]

Having rewatched Focus, you can tell that everything isn't right with Speed. He looks as if he'd rather be anywhere but there.

I just re-watched it myself and didn't get this impression at all. He seemed fine to me which is even more harrowing.

Dan Walker agrees. It's actually quite a tough read.

That's awful.

[Jam]

As a Leeds fan this really hit home, one of my earliest football memories is that great midfield of Strachan, McAllister, Batty and Speed. With all four of them, even when they left and played for other teams, to me they were still Leeds. Tomorrow night at Forest will be the first time I've ever watched Leeds and not cared about the result, rather to pay tribute to a legendary footballer.

The toughest thing I've seen/heard through all of this was Bryn Law being interviewed on Sky. Bryn's a Leeds fan and he's Welsh, and also a good friend of Speedo. Video for it here