Gary Speed dead

Gary Speed, the manager of the Welsh international soccer team and an accomplished former player, was found dead in his home on Sunday morning.

The Football Association of Wales first announced the news, with local police in Cheshire - just across the border in England - adding more details later.

"At 7.08 am this morning, Sunday 27 November, police were informed of an incident at Aldford Road, Huntingdon," a police spokesman said. "Officers went to the scene where a 42-year-old man was found dead. There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and next of kin have been informed."

The spokesman also said that Speed had been found hanged.

Speed had taken over the Wales coaching job in December 2010, shortly after retiring as player and beginning a managerial career at his last club side, Sheffield United. In a playing career that spanned over two decades, Speed became Wales' most capped international outfield player, representing his country 85 times. For some time Speed held the record for the most club appearances in England's top flight, the Premiership, competing in a staggering 535 matches in the country's top division.

"We extend our sympathies and condolences to the family," the Football Association of Wales said in a statement. "We ask that everyone respects the family's privacy at this very sad time."

Twitter tributes

Speed played with five major clubs in his lengthy career, competing in almost 250 matches for Leeds United and over 200 games in the black and white stripes of Newcastle United. He laid his stamp on many corners of the country, and tributes poured in on Sunday.

"The world has lost a great man in Gary Speed. I am devastated. Spoke to him yesterday morning. Why why? I will miss him so much," Speed's former Wales team mate Robbie Savage wrote on Twitter. "He was upbeat on the phone, yesterday we were laughing together, talking football and dancing. He was a great team mate and a great friend. RIP."

"Just cannot believe the news regarding Gary Speed. We waved at each other a couple of days ago dropping our kids off at school. I'm numb," Manchester United forward Michael Owen, also a Cheshire resident, said. "He has died aged 42. So sad. He lived local to me and we knew his family. He leaves behind two sons. Tragic."

Depression casts its pall

The Wales coach and former captain's apparent suicide came barely a week after German Bundesliga referee Babak Rafati sought to take his own life; he was found in his Cologne hotel room and saved. Hamburg and Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke committed suicide in November 2009.

Hours before Speed took his life, retired professional footballer Stan Collymore wrote a series of Tweets and then a blog post exploring his own experiences with depression and the symptoms he faced over the past 10 years. The player turned radio pundit candidly described his own recent, sudden slide into a more depressive state, calling the sudden dip in morale a "thud."

"If you're struggling, please go and see your doctor, KNOW there's support there, know there's many going through what you're going through," Collymore wrote on Friday.

As well as a league title, Speed twice picked up FA Cup runners' up medals while playing for Newcastle, and was named a Member of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010 for services to football.

Sunday's fixture between Swansea City - the only Welsh club in England's Premiership - and Aston Villa went ahead as scheduled.

Organizers, who had considered calling off the match, decided to honor one minute's silence before the kick-off, but this silence was broken by rousing chants from the fans, who instead sang: "There's only one Gary Speed."

Author: Mark Hallam (AP, dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Andreas Illmer