Gary Speed
I suppose I’m of an age now where death, if not exactly surrounding me, becomes a little less unexpected. Which doesn’t explain the sense of sadness I felt over the recent death of Amy Winehouse and this weekend’s tragic news about Gary Speed. There was no similarity of course, excepting their celebrity and that is what makes Gary Speed’s passing particularly saddening. An athlete blessed with formidable talent, showing all the signs in his stewardship of the Welsh national side of being able to bring on the talent in others, the recipient of an MBE, he surely had everything to live for.
As a lifelong Leeds United fan I’ve seen Gary Speed play many times as part of what most rate as the best midfield of the nineties. Gordon Strachan, tirelessly and feistily running the right wing, McAllister dictating the play with imperious grace, David Batty wreaking his unique brand of mayhem on any team that had the audacity to attack. Gary Speed was the youngster thrust into the limelight on the left. He had everything. Brilliant in the air, possessed of a ferocious shot and a timely scorer of many wonderful goals he epitomised the modern day footballer. He never hid from adversity on the pitch and seemed to go out of his way to treat fans with generosity and respect. A gentle man in the truest sense.
A debate has broken out in recent days as to the reasons for his suicide. There is speculation, as there always is, that some terrible secret is about to be exposed. I hope that if there is a secret, the gutter press exercise some restraint. Gary Speed deserves better than that. He deserves our respect and his family in this dreadful time must be left alone to come to terms with their loss. The outpouring of grief and the tributes laid at Elland road by the fans are testimony to a man who left his mark in the nicest possible way. For the sake of his memory and of his family’s future, let’s leave it at that.
