Gary Speed inducted to the National Football Museum Hall Of Fame.
Gary Speed was inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame at ceremony in Manchester on Thursday evening.
Gary a former Aston Park Rangers player was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his dedication to the game.
The midfielder was capped 85 times by Wales, he later went on to manage his country laying the foundation for current national teams incredible rise.
Gary tragically passed away in 2011, he long-held the record for most appearances in the Premier League with a total of 535 during his career, and was a key part of the Leeds United side who were the final winners of the ‘old’ Division One Championship.
He takes his place in Hall of Fame alongside other legends of the game including Sir Tom Finney, Gordon Banks, Alan Shearer and last year’s inductees Rio Ferdinand and David Seaman.
The award was collected by Gary’s parents Roger and Carol Speed at the National Football Museum in Manchester in Thursday .
“We didn’t realise the level of love and respect people gave him.” Carol Speed #NFMHallOfFame pic.twitter.com/Zn2DGCPxHo
— Nat. Football Museum (@FootballMuseum) September 21, 2017
Roger and Carol received a standing ovation as they took the stage, BBC Sport’s Manish Bhasin read a letter out from Gary’s former manager at Leeds Howard Wilkinson it said;
“Gary Speed was a model professional footballer, a managers dream.
On match days he consistently gave you high performances, on all other days he was low maintenance.
Gary was also the model team player, in my time at Leeds United he played in every position except Goalkeeper.
On each and every occasion he demonstrated his conviction, there were times when the teams performance is more important than the individual satisfaction with his own performance, and his own enjoyment.
As a player he couldn’t have been more reliable, throughout his club and international career he was always determined to play and give off his best, only serious injury prevented him from being available for selection”
His parents Roger and Carol must take pride and huge credit for the man, husband and father there son grew to become.”
Gary’s mum said;
“Obviously we are very proud, what we didn’t realise until after he had gone that the respect and love and accolade people gave him, since he first stood up he had a ball at his feet, that passion never wavered, we are very proud.”
Also inducted into the Hall of Fame were England’s Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankee, Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson, West Ham player and manager Billy Bonds, Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard.
The inductees were decided by a host of the game’s greats and Hall of Fame members including; Sir Geoff Hurst, Gordon Banks, Sir Bobby Charlton, Peter Schmeichel, Roger Hunt, Kevin Keegan, Bryan Robson, Francis Lee, Trevor Francis, Ossie Ardiles, George Cohen, Norman Hunter, Sue Lopez and Marianne Spacey, making the achievement even more special.
