FORMER ASTON VILLA star Ugo Ehiogu has died at the age of 44.
Ehiogu, who was the Spurs U23 coach, collapsed at training yesterday after suffering a cardiac arrest.
He died in the early hours of this morning.
In a statement on Twitter, Spurs head of coaching John McDermott said:
“Words cannot express the shock and sadness that we all feel at the club. Ugo’s immense presence will be irreplaceable. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife Gemma and his family.”
Ehiogu started his career in the old Second Division with West Brom in 1989 before moving to Aston Villa where he and Paul McGrath developed a formidable defensive partnership.
He stayed with Villa for nine years, and was part of the side that lifted the League Cup in 1996 when they beat Leeds 3-0.
He joined Middlesbrough in 2000 for a then-club record fee and, while injuries limited the remainder of his playing career, he only retired in 2009.
Ehiogu won four England caps, scoring once and began his coaching career as part of Peter Taylor’s set-up for the U20 World Cup in 2013.
He had been working as a coach for Tottenham’s underage teams since 2014.
Ehiogu is survived by his wife Gemma.
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That’s incredible
@Jim Demps: the fast lane was left wide open for Wade to get through… You wouldn’t see a hole that big in regular season. Still though, great vision and speed to score. Big things await this guy.
@Peter Cavey: it certainly does have all the hall marks of a pre season game but to score on a 65 yarder on your first touch is pretty special.
Delighted for him. Took some set of balls to do this, hope it works out for him.
Delighted for tbe guy, took way too much flak on departure.
That’s the thing about American Football.. Runners usually don’t sidestep, jink or hand-off, just take the contact and set up again. Strange Sport. (Not saying that I could do any better.)
@Seamus Quinn: they do jink and sidestep
@Colm Connolly: and I’m pretty sure he didn’t sidestep or hand off anyone en route to scoring that TD either….
@Liam Flague: I’m not saying he did but the original comment said that running backs dont jink or sidestep which is clearly not true if you have ever watch even 1 game
@Colm Connolly: I know, but, y’know.. more.
@Seamus Quinn: You must be watching a different sport to the one I watch. Literally the best side steps and jinks in world sport are found in the NFL.
@Liam Flague: He certainly seems to send the first defender the wrong way with a shimmy just after he gets the ball. No-one’s expecting someone to get through that area with the ball in hand so after that yeah it’s a straight race and he doesn’t need to step anyone else.
@Seamus Quinn: no hand off cos the defender will rip your arm off if you try . Loads of jinks and steps by running backs though
@Limón Madrugada: Fair enough. Arms are kinda handy. Still think they’re in the habit of taking the hit instead of trying to beat the last man. Wade might try things a little differently..