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In honour of Gary Speed's birthday,* here is a brief account of my most fortunate encounter with the great man.
It was 2010 and Speed had just been appointed player manager of Sheffield United. I happened to be doing a bit of legal work for them at the time 1/
*yesterday
It was 2010 and Speed had just been appointed player manager of Sheffield United. I happened to be doing a bit of legal work for them at the time 1/
*yesterday
I was only a junior lawyer and wide-eyed. The client was a lovely bloke and he gave me a trip to the training ground and introduced a couple of the players. He knew that I was a massive Newcastle fan and took me to meet two ex-NUFC legends - Scott Sellars and Speed himself. 2/
I don't usually get nervous when I do client work, no matter who for, but Speed had been my hero for a decade at this point and I could barely speak when I was introduced to him. The client explained that I was a boyhood fan and Gary was all too pleased to chat Newcastle. 3/
He was halfway through a war story when he asked where I was staying. I was in a crap hotel in central Sheffield. It turns out he was too and was only driving home at the weekends. We agreed to meet for a beer and a bite to eat that evening. 4/
So I turn up at 7pm and we have a drink. He immediately dives into his Newcastle stories (many involving Shearer, who sounds like he'd be worth having a beer with). He says that he has never been so happy as when he was at the club. He really did sound like a man who'd 5/
...lived out his dream. His highest praise - you will not be surprised to here - was for Robson, who he said was the kindest and most sincere man in the game. After an hour of that - which went by in the blink of an eye, we got chatting about other things in the game. 6/
At that time (and remember, I was very junior), I had the bold idea that I take over the football world by offering my services to footballers, basically replacing football agents. Why would a footballer hire an agent who had no legal or financial experience and pay a fortune.7/
when instead they could hire a solicitor on an hourly rate and have someone who could at least understand the small print on a contract and help them out with image rights, sponsorship and so on. I floated my big idea to Gary. 8/
He looked at me like I was mad. "Paul, I am clearly the first footballer you have ever met", he said. "You wouldn't last five minutes as the agent for most of my lads. All they know is football. Most have never lived at home since they were 15. They are almost helpless." 9/
"They missed the bit in life where they learn to open a bank account, get the gas switched on, hire a care, book a table at a restaurant. Their agents do all of these things for them. One minute they at Bolton and the next they are in a hotel in Southampon." 10/
"Yes, you could help them during a transfer, but more likely you will be up at 2am to drive into the city after one of them has put his foot though a shop window outside the local nightclub. It's not for you, Paul. Stick with what you are doing." 11/
Anyway, we had a few more drinks and then went our seperate ways. He was very generous to me with his time and I will never forget it. He seems like a normal, warm, funny bloke who'd had an extraordinary life. I had no inkling of any darkness or depression in his life. 12/
Happy birthday to you, Gary. You enriched the lives of millions and are missed to this day. END
