Gary Speed MBE, 1969-2011
An inquest will be opened at the coroner’s court at Warrington Town Hall on Tuesday into the death of Gary Speed at his home in Cheshire.
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Wales manager Speed, 42, was found hanged on Sunday morning. He leaves a wife, Louise, and two teenage boys.
Alan Shearer and his family were very close to the Speeds, socialising and going on holiday together, and they are in total disbelief at the news having arranged to have dinner this weekend.
His agent, Hayden Evans, has insisted the player did not suffer from depression and had no problems in his family life. He thinks the reasons for Speed committing suicide may never be known.
Shearer told The Sun: “The question I keep asking myself and have done since I heard the dreadful news is ‘Why? Why Speedo, didn’t you give me or one of your other close mates a ring, if you were feeling so bad?’
“Why he couldn’t have picked up the phone for a chat in those moments before he did what he did, I’ll never know. None of us will. I was with him on Saturday watching the Stoke game and arranging next weekend.
“He was coming up with his wife to stay at my house. We were going to various charity dinners. I left the studio, shook his hand and said: ‘See you next weekend’. Unfortunately I won’t.
“This just doesn’t happen to one of your best mates. My wife is in bits. We just keep thinking of Louise, the two boys and his mum and dad. I can’t imagine the pain they’re going through. I can’t get my head around the fact I was with him and he was happy, joking.
“We were having a laugh and joke about golf trips and holidays that we went on together last year. We were planning our next holiday in Portugal next summer with the families and the kids.
“I played against him many times, but when Kenny Dalglish signed him for Newcastle straight away we struck up a relationship. You’re bound to have arguments along the way in football – but no one ever did with Gary. No one had a bad word for him. He was what you’d describe as a proper bloke, a proper man. You could depend on him.”
Hartson: “Wales is in total shock”
Evans added in The Sun: “She [Louise] doesn’t understand it. They were happily married. It’s a mystery. They were happily married and anyone who knows them will tell you that. This is why it’s a mystery.
“We genuinely at the moment have no clue whatsoever what has caused it and I have been with the family all day. Everybody is asking the same question and no one has an answer. We are all in shock.”
When asked if Speed was depressed, Evans added: “The one thing the family and me as one of his closest friends would totally refute is that. There was no indication of any problems and never has been.”
The Sporting Chance Clinic, which looks to help professional sportsmen suffering from alcohol addiction, drug abuse and depression, has been contacted by five footballers for help following the news of Speed’s tragic death.
Chief Executive Peter Kay told the Daily Express: “I’ve received emails and phone calls from five players since Gary Speed’s passing, all of whom have said, ‘I have got to do something about this. I need help’. It is fair to say Gary’s death has prompted them to ask for help.
“Actually admitting you need help is one of the hardest and bravest decisions to make and at the clinic we will do all we can to try and get their lives back together.”