Jump to content
Newcastle-Online

Gary Speed (1969–2011)

Dokko

by Dokko
in Football

 Share

Recommended Posts

madras

madras

Posted
Posted

I remember quite vividly him scoring against yous on the opening day of the 1996-1997 season. 2-0 win. Certainly does feel like he was with us longer, I must say.

shearers debut.

 

Charity Shield.

could stick a friendly or two in their then. you know i meant a game that actually meant something.
Link to post
Share on other sites
Village Idiot

Village Idiot

Posted
Posted

I saw the news in the Spanish TV, and I was completely shocked. He always was one of my favorite British footballers, since he was always there since I started following the PL, and for some reason he always seemed to me a great guy, and with lots of energy and courage, which makes these news the more surprising. My thoughts are with his family.

Link to post
Share on other sites
David Icke - Son of God

David Icke - Son of God

Posted
Posted

Did they really need the personal injury advert below the picture of the guy who'd just been found hanged? :(

 

Given that it was paid for, yes.

 

I would say these circumstances are exceptional enough to have left the advert off for once.

 

The Ronny and all other regional newspapers are beholden to the advertisers unfortunately. The industry on its arse. I've no doubt they'll have contacted the agency who commissioned the advert and warned them where it would be appearing/allowed them to change their mind.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Interpolic

Interpolic

Posted
Posted

An article about Speed when he was approaching his 500th Premier League appearance 5 years ago:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23377551-model-pro-speed-notches-up-500.do

 

Model pro Speed notches up 500

 

Gary Speed was not always so professional in his work. Customers on his paper round in the north Wales town of Queensferry still testify to the contrary.

 

"When he was 14 or 15 he was my paper boy, he lived on my street," recalled former Everton captain Kevin Ratcliffe. "And my paper was not always on time, which was no use if you were a footballer leaving the house early for training."

 

Luckily for the teenage Speed, he had other gifts that soon eclipsed his problems with early-morning punctuality and it didn't take Ratcliffe and the rest of the football world long to spot them.

 

"He was mates with my cousin so I used to take them for kickabouts down the end of the street," said Ratcliffe, later to play with Speed for Wales. "Even at that age he had a beautiful left foot. I thought straightaway he had a chance."

 

Visitors to the Reebok Stadium this evening will see that Ratcliffe was right. Playing for Bolton against West Ham, 37-year-old Speed will become the first player to record 500 games in the Premiership.

 

Along with Ryan Giggs (486) and David James (481), Speed is one of only three surviving players from the first day of the Premiership back in August 1992. It is a milestone that he appears reluctant to celebrate. "If we lose, I will be sulking," deadpanned Speed this week.

 

And it is not an act.

 

Former Leeds team-mate Gary McAllister said: "When Bolton played Chelsea recently I went to find him. I had heard about the milestone and wanted to congratulate him. It's phenomenal. I played into my mid-30s and know how difficult it can be.

 

"He just looked at me and told me he was fed up with people asking him about it. He doesn't seem to get all the fuss. How has he done it? He has just looked after himself.

 

"Look at him. He's a good-looking lad in the age when football turned into showbiz, the celebrity age. He could have had some of that but turned his back on it. To Gary, it was always about football."

 

A pupil at the Deeside Primary School that produced Welsh footballers such as Ratcliffe, Ian Rush, Barry Horne and England's Michael Owen, Speed — an Everton fan — was picked up by Leeds in his mid-teens.

 

That was his lucky break and the key to his longevity. For at Elland Road he met two great influences, manager Billy Bremner and, later, team-mate Gordon Strachan.

 

"Players like Gary and David Batty were the same," said McAllister. "They both came through when Bremner was there and they had some of his modesty in them.

 

"And then there was Strach. He was 34 and still leading pre-season training. I think Gary saw that. It sunk in. The four us played in that midfield and had a great bond."

 

Speed said: "I used to stop off at Burger King on the way home when I was 19 or 20. Gordon Strachan was on bananas and seaweed. I thought: 'What is he eating that for?' Then when he runs past you in pre-season, you realise why. I was fortunate to take that on board at an early age.

 

"Moving away from home was the best thing that happened to me. I had a council house in Leeds and nothing to do but play football. It was great. I used to go home, watch telly and go to bed."

 

Speed blossomed as a left-sided midfielder at Leeds. Post-Bremner, Howard Wilkinson's side won the old First Division in 1992 with the 23-year-old contributing seven goals. Often ghosting into scoring positions at the last moment, he was a forerunner of the likes of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes.

 

Wales team-mate Dean Saunders said: "He looked the part, he wasn't a bighead and had the right attitude. Same as Giggsy. His strength was in the air — arriving late on crosses. I ended up rooming with him for a few years, but he's so perfect he doesn't even have bad habits."

 

Ask around and you will find no controversial Gary Speed stories. Either on or off the record.

 

According to recent Welsh team-mates, he plays the guitar quite well. According to McAllister, he plays golf quite badly. Only from his spell at Everton is there a whiff of controversy to be found.

 

Securing his dream move to Goodison Park should have been the making of Speed when he arrived for £3.5million in the summer of 1996.

 

Manager Howard Kendall made him captain — deposing the popular Dave Watson — but his stay was brief, culminating in a switch to Newcastle 18 months later after he allegedly refused to travel to an away game at West Ham.

 

Speed has never talked about it and nor will his confidantes, but it is thought to have been Kendall's struggle with alcohol that so upset his skipper.

 

Ratcliffe said: "I just think it was the wrong time for him to go there. He could see things were not going the right way. For somebody who idolised that club to go there and find out it was not what he thought must have been hard."

 

Despite their troubles, Kendall was happy to deliver a tribute to Speed this week, describing him as "superb" and a "tremendous professional".

 

At Newcastle, Sir Bobby Robson was generous in his praise, too. "He is one of the best of the best," said Robson, after Speed was sold to Bolton two summers ago. "He and Alan Shearer are the finest role models you will find in football."

 

And on it goes.

 

On Saturday, his children Tommy and Ed will be in the crowd with his wife Louise. Speed will receive an award from Bolton and a leather-bound scrapbook from Barclays, smile with embarrassment and look forward to kick-off. When it comes, his will be simple, effective, honest football. A metaphor for his life.

 

Ratcliffe said: "Gary is not the life and soul. He will happily tell a story but would rather listen to one. Some players will be distracted by big-name players or money. Gary is his own man. He is private. What you see is what you get."

Link to post
Share on other sites
Stu

Stu

Posted
Posted

Did they really need the personal injury advert below the picture of the guy who'd just been found hanged? :(

 

Given that it was paid for, yes.

 

I would say these circumstances are exceptional enough to have left the advert off for once.

 

The Ronny and all other regional newspapers are beholden to the advertisers unfortunately. The industry on its arse. I've no doubt they'll have contacted the agency who commissioned the advert and warned them where it would be appearing/allowed them to change their mind.

 

Seems odd, given the mood over the past 24hours throughout the country - I guess if you're right, then they're firm subscribers to "any publicity is good publicity."

Link to post
Share on other sites
Hanshithispantz

Hanshithispantz

Posted
Posted

Pulled up some plank for making a Gary Speed joke on Facebook. His response "but if i made the joke in a month's time, everyone would be like Gary who?"

 

Fuck me. Some people.

Tin hat on here like, but it's no worse than people making jokes about Michael Jackson and co. Only the fact that we have a 'connection' with Speed we'll take offence to it, yet quite happily rip the piss out George Michael (as we saw in the other thread).
Link to post
Share on other sites
Mistle17

Mistle17

Posted
Posted

Pulled up some plank for making a Gary Speed joke on Facebook. His response "but if i made the joke in a month's time, everyone would be like Gary who?"

 

f*** me. Some people.

Tin hat on here like, but it's no worse than people making jokes about Michael Jackson and co. Only the fact that we have a 'connection' with Speed we'll take offence to it, yet quite happily rip the p*ss out George Michael (as we saw in the other thread).

 

Agree with that.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest optimistic nit

Guest optimistic nit

Posted
Posted

I think the circumstances of his death and the fact that unusually most of the crowd will have seen the man we are honouring play, will make Saturday's tribute more poignant than any other.

It should be a minute's silence followed by vocal tributes. Applause only started because some crowds were deemed unable to respect silence and it saved embarrassment.

 

That's an urban myth. Everton fans broke into applause when Alan Ball died, Man United did similar when Best died. Nothing to do with people acting out, they were spontaneous and seemed a better way to show respect than the tired silence. Personally I prefer it.

 

I agree. it obviously comes down to individuals, but i think a better way of remembering a glittering career is 1 minute of clapping and cheering rather than 1 minute of silence.

Link to post
Share on other sites
AyeDubbleYoo

AyeDubbleYoo

Posted
Posted

I think the circumstances of his death and the fact that unusually most of the crowd will have seen the man we are honouring play, will make Saturday's tribute more poignant than any other.

It should be a minute's silence followed by vocal tributes. Applause only started because some crowds were deemed unable to respect silence and it saved embarrassment.

 

That's an urban myth. Everton fans broke into applause when Alan Ball died, Man United did similar when Best died. Nothing to do with people acting out, they were spontaneous and seemed a better way to show respect than the tired silence. Personally I prefer it.

 

I agree. it obviously comes down to individuals, but i think a better way of remembering a glittering career is 1 minute of clapping and cheering rather than 1 minute of silence.

 

I see what you're saying, but for me it's not just about remembering a glittering career. It's also about reflecting on a young man who felt he had no option but to take his own life, thinking about others who might be in the same situation and sending thoughts out to his friends and family.

 

Anyway, neither one is better or worse, shame it has to be either obviously.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...