Gary Speed: A Leader of Men
Remembering Gary Speed five years on since his tragic death
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27th November 2011, a date that will be etched in many football fans memory for many years to come. The date that Welsh football hero Gary Speed passed away. The circumstances as to why a 42-year-old decided to take his own life, will forever be a mystery to all, why a man who seemed to have it all made this decision, we can only contemplate what inner thoughts and demons the man had at the time he took his own life. The outcry after the news broke, just shows how loved the man was, not just in Wales and from the clubs he played for, but from the world in general.
Gary Speed made 840 club appearances and 85 appearances for Wales. He started his career as an attacking left midfield player, but moved into centre midfield over time, both as an attacking midfielder and in a more defensive holding role, plus also appeared many times near the end of his career at left-back for Wales. Speed was a fantastic footballer, was strong in the tackle, had a good passing range, scored crucial goals and aerially be very strong, one of the best headers of the ball of his generation. Speed was a positive influence at all of the football clubs he was employed by. The 6 teams he played for in his professional career including Wales, he was club captain at 5 of them, just illustrating the respect and credibility the man had.
When Gary Speed became Welsh manager in 2010, I did have my reservations, this was purely down to his managerial experience, at that point he had only managed Sheffield United for a short period of time in the Football Championship. Speed though proved me wrong, the players you could see loved playing for the man that many of had alongside them only a few years earlier. There was a structure to the playing style with some really positive results, indeed Wales were on a run of three wins, including a resounding 4–1 victory against Norway, only 15 days before Gary Speed passed away. When Gary Speed took charge of Wales, the FIFA ranking was as low as 117th in the world, under Speed’s 10 games in charge, Wales had moved up 45th in the world.
There is no doubt that Gary Speed helped implement the building blocks which Chris Coleman took on further which ultimately gained the success we saw in the European Championships in France this summer, and hopefully further successes in the near future. Gary Speed, a man mourned by many, a great loss to the world of football.
Diolch yn fawr Gary Speed.
By Craig Muncey (@craigmuncey)
This article originally appeared in issue two of Y Ddraig.
