The world of British football was shocked when Leeds United legend, Gary Speed took his own life in November 2011. Speed was manager of the Welsh national team at the time and has since been credited with beginning the turnaround of their fortunes which has since seen them qualify for three tournaments, including this year's World Cup.
However, Speed was suffering from mental health problems which many - even his closest friends - were unaware of. Former Leeds United defender and teammate of Speed's at Newcastle United, Jonathan Woodgate has spoken of his shock at hearing the 'devastating' news, as well as explaining his sadness that his former teammate didn't feel he could speak to those friends. Speaking to Under the Surface podcast, Woodgate said:
"Gary was an incredible person, he’d do anything for you. He’d pick up the phone and ring you out of the blue. I used to keep in contact with him on the phone, and then for that to happen, and it was out of nowhere. I was devastated. I think Newcastle were playing that day and I was watching Shay Given and Craig Bellamy both crying, and it was a real sad time.
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"So tragic. He was really close with Shay Given, Alan Shearer and Steve Harper so you might have thought he would have opened up to them, but we’ll never know why he did it, what he was going through – that’s the biggest thing – what was he going through to make him do that. No one ever knew, so tragic."
Elsewhere in the interview, Woodgate opened up about his own mental health struggles, as he explained how difficult he found dealing with so many injuries in his career. During his time at Elland Road, Woodgate was known as one of the top young defenders in the country, with injuries holding him back from reaching his full potential.
"When you have injuries, there’s nothing worse as a footballer as you just want to play. It seemed to be a snowball effect for me, as I’d get one injury and that would lead to another one, but it all came down to my back as I had an unstable segment in my back. Even though I didn’t get a massive amount of pain in my back, it was making me pull my hamstrings, my quads, groin injuries. But it was tough to take, especially as you know you could give a lot more, and had a more successful career without the injuries."
Woodgate made 137 appearances for Leeds before he left in 2003. Despite having spells at five other clubs, he never reached more appearances elsewhere.
Woodgate was speaking on the Original Penguin X Campaign Against Living Miserably Under The Surface podcast
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