This Sunday Leeds United lost one of their true greats, football lost a great ambassador of the game, and worst of all a family lost their son, husband and father.
Gary Speed chose to cut his life short, the reason is unknown and actually not that important, no matter the reason why we won't ever get Gary Speed back.
I began following English football when I was about 10-11 years old (90/91) but didn't manage to find a favorite team before around 1994, the team I chose wore white and came from the north, the team was Leeds United, they weren't really that good and didn't really win that much - but they had a few players I thought were cool when they were shown on TV in Denmark. The coolest of the bunch was the flashy left winger Gary Speed (when Yeboah started playing the fascination grew even more). One of my earliest defeats as a Leeds fan came on the day when I learned that Gary Speed had been sold to Everton (certainly didn't help my sadness that we spend the transfer money on Lee Sharpe!) - I had read books and been told stories by older Leeds fans about the pride of playing with home grown players so I felt we had lost a great deal when Speedo left us, however nothing compared to how I felt on Sunday when he left us all for real.
I was sitting on my couch in Denmark yesterday listening to the live coverage of the away game in Nottingham, and I must say that I have never been more proud of the team I chose to support all those years ago, to hear the Leeds fans sing tributes to Gary Speed was so moving and the fact that the team, staff and club responded so brilliantly was fantastic. The way Simon Grayson and our players and fans have behaved since learning the tragic news on Sunday makes me even more aware that we have a fantastic club and the best fans in the land.
I hope Gary Speed have now found the peace he couldn't find here and that everyone associated with him in any way will always cherish the many great memories he gave us - Rest in Peace Speedo, You will never be forgotten! M.O.T
Good article, and you're right: it doesn't matter how he died, it's a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! MOT
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