Strachan: I will forget Gary’s goals but I will never forget his laughter

The football world is still in shock at the sudden loss of the former Leeds midfielder who was found hanged at his home in Cheshire on Sunday morning.

Floral tributes have been laid at Elland Road as well as the grounds of his other former clubs – Sheffield United, Bolton Wanderers, Newcastle United and Everton.

Leeds manager Simon Grayson says victory tonight at Forest would be a ‘fitting tribute’ to Speed who had been in charge of the Welsh national side for nearly a year.

The club’s supporters, meanwhile, have arranged to stage their own unique tribute to Speed, who wore the No 11 jersey as a player, by applauding and chanting his name for 11 minutes from the 11th minute of the game.

A minute’s silence will be staged before tonight’s other games in the Championship including Millwall against Doncaster Rovers, who are managed by former Welsh internationals Kenny Jackett and Dean Saunders.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) have opened a book of condolence for Speed at their headquarters in Cardiff.

FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford said the organisation had received messages from UEFA and FIFA, and the Welsh flag at FIFA House in Zurich was flown at half-mast.

Speaking at a press conference, a visibly emotional Ford said: “We have had hundreds of messages. My phone hasn’t stopped with messages from everyone involved or not involved. It has touched everybody.

“We have had messages from family, friends have called, professional people have called, and they have all been heartfelt messages from people who may only have met Gary a couple of times, which showed the mark of the man.

“He was such a great person and he is such a loss. We have a book of condolence available at FAW headquarters and there is an area set aside for fans to leave flowers. Our door is open and we are trying to do everything we can at this terrible, terrible time.”

Ford said the FAW, whose own flag is at half-mast at the national side’s former Vale Resort base in Hensol, would also look to provide a permanent tribute in the future.

“There will be, I am sure, a fitting tribute at some point in time but for now we are just looking in the short term and anything we can do for (Speed’s widow) Louise and the boys,” he said.

Speed’s former Leeds team-mates Gordon Strachan and Gary McAllister expressed their sadness at the news.

Both Scottish internationals played alongside Speed in the Leeds team that won the First Division title in 1992.

McAllister had worked as a pundit alongside the Welshman on Saturday’s Football Focus programme on the BBC.

“Alan Shearer broke the news to me and it turned me to jelly,” he said. “I couldn’t believe what he was saying. It shook me to the bones, I was in shock for most of the day.

“Twenty minutes before we went on air on Saturday, he was the normal Gary Speed to me. He was very excited about the prospects of the Welsh national team and was upbeat, looking class, immaculately presented. He was a movie star in my eyes.

“There were no signs, nothing to suggest he was troubled. He looked well and things are going well for him at the moment. I could never have thought that 10 to 12 hours after I saw him I’d be getting that news. It’s a nightmare.”

Strachan struggled to hold back the tears as he spoke about the sudden loss of his former team-mate. “I changed beside him for six years at Leeds and, throughout my football career, I was proud of Gary Speed like a father figure. I kept saying to people that he wasn’t the most talented of kids when I first met him but he wanted to be better and learn things.

“When I was a young coach at Leeds, he used to ask what I was doing in the afternoon and he would say ‘I will come with you and work at this and that’. I used him as an example to other players. I’d say ‘You have more talent but this guy got the most out of what he had.’

“People have problems in football – through debt, drugs, drink, or family – and you have an indication so you need to keep an eye on them and make sure they are okay but this was one that was right out of the blue,” added Strachan.

“You look back three weeks ago and think ‘Could you possibly have given me an indication that you were unhappy about something? I spoke to you, gave you a hug. Something?’ It’s a problem dealing with something like that for everybody, the whole family and his friends.

“I was unfortunate to lose my father three months ago but I spent the last three months with him every day so there was a conclusion and a farewell – but with this there was no farewell. It’s hard for his friends to understand.

“I am going to miss his laugh,” Strachan added. “Anyone who knows him will know he had a kind of child-like laugh and I said to Gary McAllister yesterday ‘I will forget the goals but I will never forget his laughter’. I am never going to hear that laughter again.”

Speed’s agent, Hayden Evans spoke outside the family home in Cheshire, where his body was found on Sunday morning, on behalf of the 42-year-old’s family saying they were “overwhelmed by the support” they had received.

Evans, who was also best man at Speed's wedding, said: “Gary's family would sincerely like to thank all the people that have sent messages of condolence and tributes in what is a very difficult time.

“We have been overwhelmed by the support and it really has helped.

“We would ask that the family are now given the respect of some privacy to just grieve on their own.”

Former England and Manchester United captain David Beckham added his voice to the tributes describing Speed as “an amazing, talented player” while Wales and Tottenham star Gareth Bale said the death was a “massive shock” and the Welsh nation team would carry on “in his honour”.

The inquest into Speed’s death will be opened at Warrington Coroner’s Court today at 3pm.