Dave Edwards leads tributes to Gary Speed
Monday 28th November 2011, 11:00AM GMT.
Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards today paid tribute to Wales manager Gary Speed, whose death yesterday at the age of 42 left him “absolutely stunned”.
The former Leeds, Everton, Newcastle and Bolton midfielder was found dead at his Cheshire home yesterday morning after tragically taking his own life.
Edwards is one of three Wales internationals at Wolves regularly selected by Speed with keeper Wayne Hennessey and striker Sam Vokes and he revealed his disbelief at seeing the news as it broke.
“It was just such a major shock and I was absolutely stunned to hear the news,” said the midfielder.
“My brother alerted me to it and when I saw it all on the TV I just couldn’t believe it.
“From the outside it just looked like he had everything going for him.
“He’d been a really talented player and had a great career and was already showing he was becoming a very talented manager as well. He was such a level-headed and confident bloke that I was just stunned to hear what had happened.”
Speed leaves a wife Louise, and sons, Tommy and Ed, and Edwards said his feelings were with the family.
“He had a wife and two children and it’s difficult to imagine what they’re going through – it’s such terrible news,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to Sam Vokes and Wayne and we’ve all been struggling to get our heads around it all.
“From listening to all the tributes from people who were a lot closer to him than I was, they too felt he had everything going for him and are baffled. It’s a massive loss to everyone and he will be sadly missed.”
Edwards revealed that as someone who played in the same position as Speed, who became Wales’ record cap holder for an outfield player, he looked up to him.
“He was one of my heroes as a player,” said the 25-year-old. “I was so pleased when I got the chance to work with him when he became Wales manager.”
And the Wolves man was convinced Speed would have led Wales to their first World Cup finals since 1958, saying: “He’d made such an impression with Wales – I’m sure he would have got us there.”
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Incredible sympathies to his family.
You may not think it from my stupid posts, but I suffer from depression and have found it invaluable that I work in a field where the condition is recognised and openly discussed. I worry that football is not such a field, and that depression – if indeed Speed was suffering from it – is seen as a sign of weakness, which is why the likes of Robert Enke and Speed are forced to internalise their pain until it consumes them completely. Like I say, I don’t know if Speed DID suffer from depression, I’m just speculating, but hopefully this will get those within the game talking about it more openly. The condition is a killer – the way to beat it is to openly discuss it.
I hope that Gary is in a better place. May he rest in peace.
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A gent on and off the pitch.
Sadly missed by club, country and the world. Our thoughts are with his family after this huge shock.
Show the ultimate tribute to him on sunday boys with all 3pts
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No1 petenuts
Respect to you for saying what you have said.
heart goes out to speed and his family.
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Well said Petenuts it just goes to show you can never really tell what a person is going through! your posts are always full of humour I would never have said you suffer from depression, well done in writing about it..
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Well and bravely said, PeteNuts…strangely in Saturday’s Guardian there was a piece by “The Secret Footballer” on depression/stress within the game. [See online.] Also one of the books up for Sports Book of the year is the biography of the German goalkeeper who suffered terrible depression and ended by killing himself.
I entirely agree with you, Pete, that issues such as mental health should be much more acknowledged in the football world…it might eventually lead to a decrease in the levels of what I find quite sickening abuse of individuals, notably the 3 Ms on message boards such as this. A lot of the problem here is that the posters are working out their own issues in public, which would be OK except for the distress they are likely to cause others. It was clear how upset Mick was recently by the really vituperative insults aimed at him by people who quite obviously lack his courage and resilience.
See you in the Newhampton one of these days, I hope, Pete…..
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You actually find me having just having got back from my GP this morning after a very difficult weekend both for myself and my partner. Like him or loathe him, Stan Collymore speaks very eloquently on the subject, and indeed has been doing so this week. There’s a story I like to tell people about depression – well, I don’t LIKE to tell them, but it gives them an idea of how debilitating it can be. One particularly bad morning, at about 8.30, I realised that I needed the loo. By the time I’d summoned up the energy to walk the 20 feet I needed to traverse to get to the toilet, it was 11.15. At its worst, it is an awful, awful thing, and I would not wish it on anyone – and to take one’s own life is the act of a profoundly depressed person. I’m still gobsmacked. But I’ve never felt more determination to beat depression than I do today.
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I feel so sorry for his wife & kids,it just reminds us all of how serious depression can be.We will probably never know what was going through his mind to lead him to this drastic course of action.
RIP Gary
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Shocked to hear the news yesterday, my thoughts go out to the family, res in peace Gary Speed, a top man in football.
1 Pete well said I hope you get better within time
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R.I.P.Gary speed a true legend of Wales
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Here in Oz we are currently edgeing to the end of Movember (I believe it is now international). For a month men grow mo’s to help the organisation support men with depression.
I also play in a band, (Immigrant-Brisbane), where 4 of us suffer some sort of mental ailment or another. We treat it as a safe place for us to open up, let it out, and move forward in acknowledgement of the responsibility we take for each other and ourselves thereafter.
This is a tragic and yet so understandable event. Men, talk to each other, one on one is best for us. Let no more good men suffer in this way.
To hear Dave Edwards speak this way is exemplary.
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PeteNuts. I hope you get better in time. I agree depression is terrible and I have suffered over the years. This illness needs to be openly discussed so all can understand how debilitating it is.
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I’ve listened to the tributes all morning but PeteNuts you said it all in your post(s).
If something good can come out of such a dark place it is that, whatever the cause, it will be discussed and people in a similar place may find the help they need.
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As someone like PeteNuts who has suffered similarly and will always suffer from mental health problems, I hope for two things: 1) That the disbelief over Gary Speed’s death will lead to greater awareness and understanding of how dehabilitating depression/mental health problems can be (if that was the reason) and 2) When we disagree with the contributions of others on this site, make the argument against that point of view not against the individual you disagree with! You never know how it might hurt!
Not wishing to make this too personal but I was off work for 2 months with depression/ exhaustion and during that time didn’t get a single “Get Well Soon” card…probably because people didn’t know what to say! We have a long way to go generally in society to understand and be comfortable with the impact of mental illness!
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Throughout the past thirty-odd hours, there have been so many accounts demonstrating what a top man Gary Speed was that it is obvious why so many people have been so moved and stunned by his untimely death. What a tragic loss.
Our thoughts are with his family. R.I.P. Gary Speed.
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RIP Gary Speed. My heart goes out to you and your loved ones.
10: BrisVegasWolf. You are so right men don’t talk for the fear of embarrassment or riducule. Its about time it changed.
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@13 Molly Knew Mick
That sounds very familiar. “Try to cheer up”… “Keep your chin up”… We truly do have a long way to go. One thing’s for certain, going to my GP was the smartest thing I ever did, not necessarily because they got me right first time – it took a while for us to figure out that talking was key for me rather than medication – but because they gave me a strategy for coping. It also helped that my brother’s partner had personal experience of depression and was able to give me loads of invaluable advice, plus made it feel like I was less alone. It’s that feeling of being completely adrift and isolated that is the killer. We need people like Stan Collymore (which is not a phrase you get to use very often!) to say, “You’re not alone, there are other people going through what you’re going through.” It’s now 30 months since I was diagnosed, and if you can do 30 months, you can do 30 years.
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Cheers, PeteNuts. I was first diagnosed about 3 years ago. There were dark days but I have accepted who I am and have learnt not to be afraid or ashamed of what I live with. Marcus Trescothick’s book was a big help to me. I think the thing about Gary Speed is it will raise the question, ” If someone who apparently has it all can suffer in this way, how many others are suffering in silence?” If his death starts a public debate and widespread soul-searching, then it will not have been in vain!
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Good luck PeteNuts and Molly Knew Mick. Takes a lot of guts to admit that you needed help.
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RIP Gary. It just shows we never know what people are going through does it.
Football has become very cruel lately and letting off steam has become rage and vile abuse. Fans are struggling for cash and feel let down by the club, but our players and manager are human beings so lets cut everyone a bit of slack. We all have to look at our behaviour, including the media who delight in who is getting the sack first, and the moneybag owners that are making the bottom end of the table such a joyless dogfight because we don’t have the cash to compete.
Respect brothers and sisters. It’s a game and not one that should cause misery or worse to anyone. Get behind our welsh boys they will need our support, and Pete I salute you.
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@17
You’re so right. It’s interesting that you mention Trescothick – I was lucky enough to meet, and converse with, Graham Thorpe on the subject of depression not long after his own struggle was revealed, and I was really struck by how differently cricketers approach the subject, always willing to talk, always willing to try to use their own experiences to help others. I suspect that the culture of football makes it a lot more difficult for people to open up. Having said that, the recent suicide of the cricketer Peter Roebuck reminds us that no sport has a specific “type”.
All so very, very sad.
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gary speed was a legend in my eyes. model professional who was always a gent on & off the pitch but i’m so surprised at his death. he had turned the welsh national team from a lowly ranked nation to a decent footballing nation that could have got better.
i too have also suffered depression and my fiancee still does. fortunately for me i’ve learned to cope with it on my own without doctors or tablets etc…
i know when you’re there that you can’t see the light or any good coming from it but there can be.
i seen a documentary a few years ago regarding ex-players and all their wives said once they retired they were so depressed as there was a big gap in their life.
just hope it can get sorted has speed needed help and should have got it.
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If there is any good to come out of this then Gary Speed will become the German equivalent of Robert Enke. German people are far more aware and open about the terrible desease that is depression.
I actually knew Gary Speed and his wife Louise. One of our mutual friends is just simply confused by it all as he does not understand.
Assuming it was depression, as someone who suffered one of the many complicated forms of the horrible illness, its not like having spots on your face, a bone sticking out of your skin to indicate a bad break, only the well educated can see behind the smiling facade that most depressive people put up.
PS if you dont know who Robert Enke is, Google him, it may change your life.
RIP Gary
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Gordon Bennet so well said…
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Such sad news , it puts everything into perspective . At least he is at peace now . My sympathies go out to his family and friends.
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Say not in grief: “He is no more”,
but live in thankfulness that he was.
Hebrew Proverb
My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.
Toronto Wolf.
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