FlipBoard
Wales national football team manager and former captain Gary Speed was found dead over the weekend, only hours after appearing on BBC One’s Football Focus. He was only 42 years old.
Sources have said Speed, the national manager for nearly a year, was found hanged.
Cheshire Police confirmed he was found dead at 07:08 GMT at his home in Huntington, Chester. They said there were no suspicious circumstances.
Former Wales team mate Ryan Giggs said: “Words cannot begin to describe how sad I feel at hearing this awful news.”
As someone who has just recently tried to get into soccer, I can’t provide the context or gravity necessary for a situation like this. As someone who has tried his entire life to understand death and suicide, I’m even worse. The “was found hanged” part of the sentence makes sharing his stats and accomplishments seem empty, and someone being found hanged not constituting suspicious circumstances says something horrible for the world we live in, but here we go.
Speed remains the most capped outfield player for Wales, having appeared 85 times at senior level between 1990 and 2004. He held the record for the most appearances in the FA Premier League at 535, until David James surpassed him. More importantly than all that, he’s being remembered right now by the international community as an ambassador for the game, a consummate professional and more or less the kind of guy who makes the world sh*ttier by not being around.
Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan tweeted: “This is a sad day for football and for everyone in Wales. Gary Speed served club and country as a player and manager with great distinction.”
Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservatives leader, said: “Gary Speed was tremendously gifted and I – along with millions of others – will always remember him as a legend in the game of football.”
Hopefully one day we’ll understand it a little more, if understanding is a thing that ever happens.
![[avatar]](https://profilecdn-woven.netdna-ssl.com/photo/1245/profile)
Incredibly sad to hear of his passing yesterday. Though I don’t support one of the teams he played for, i’ve always appreciated and respected Gary Speed as a fine footballer. And he was turning the fortunes of the Wales side around, showing he had great potential as a manager too. Most importantly though, from all the tributes from friends and colleagues, it sounds like he was first and foremost a great man.
Tragic. He was also bringing alot of youth to a Welsh side that had been a bit stale in years past. 535 games in the Prem is a stunning achievement. He will always be remembered as exactly that: a consummate professional.
Kudos Brandon. It’s not often you see any sort of American media reacting to tragedy that happens overseas. As a Welsh expatriate, it is absolutely numbing to think that Gary Speed won’t be leading the team out of the tunnel in Cardiff anymore. He had such a knowledge and passion for football that spread to the people who he surrounded himself with. I once remember Ryan Giggs stating in an interview that he always knew how to play football, but Gary Speed taught him how to love football. R.I.P. Gary. Forever a Dragon.
“no suspicious circumstances” is simply UK cop-speak for “no one else was involved in the act”.
I don’t know about this case but it is common for people to hang themselves in a room locked from the inside, with a note on the outside of the door telling their family not to break in but to phone the police.