Ehiogu was a gentle giant off the field and a great colossus on it
ONE senior member of staff at Spurs spoke touchingly yesterday of why he so admired Ugo Ehiogu. He explained that at no time did Ehiogu ever trade on the fact that, unlike most of the academy coaches at the club, he had enjoyed a fine career as a Premier League footballer; someone who had made four appearances for England, scoring a goal against Spain in what was Sven Goran Eriksson’s first game as manager.
More than that, though, the colleague admired him for his reasons for working at the academy in the first place.
‘It wasn’t because Ugo needed the money,’ he said. ‘He had done well out of the game. No, it was out of pure love for football.’
That passion, and the fact Ehiogu was simply one of football’s good guys, was a common theme yesterday as friends, colleagues, former teammates and managers responded to the shocking news of his death yesterday morning at just 44 after suffering a cardiac arrest at Spurs’ training centre on Thursday.
Paul Merson could not hide his grief, the tears flowing from his eyes during an emotional tribute on Sky.
‘I am still devastated,’ said Merson of a defender he spent two years playing alongside at Aston Villa.
‘Ugo was a top bloke, unbelievable, a man mountain. You know what, Billy Joel sings that song, ‘only the good die young’, and that was him. I was talking to him recently and he was always winding me up, saying Tottenham have got some good players coming through. My heart goes out to his family.’
In a Footballers’ Football Column he wrote for Sportsmail in 2013, Ehiogu shared his views on coaching and what he had learned, not just as an England player but as a coach who had then worked with England’s Under-20s side.
He wrote of the need for coaches in this country to be ‘braver’, and the lack of joined-up thinking when it came to settling on a style of play for the England teams across all the age groups and genders.
It was the approach they were adopting at Spurs, and one he thought the Football Association should imitate. Someone he played with an awful lot is now very senior at the FA, of course, and last night Gareth Southgate issued a very personal statement.
‘I’m stunned and deeply saddened by Ugo’s passing and clearly my initial thoughts are with his wife Gemma, his children and his family,’ said the England manager.
‘I probably played more games with Ugo than anybody else in my career. While in many ways he was a gentle giant away from football, he was a colossus on the pitch. It felt like a true partnership with him because we were prepared to put our bodies on the line for each other.
‘We shared highs, lows and won a couple of trophies together with Aston Villa and Boro. It’s those memories that I will always cherish when I think of Ugo.
‘He was one of the most professional people I played with in terms of how he applied himself to his job and it was great to see him progressing though the coaching pathway with that thirst for learning.
‘I’ve spoken to several of our former team-mates today and there’s just a sense of disbelief that we are having these conversations.’
Even the last thing Ehiogu posted on Twitter, towards the end of March, said much about the man.
‘Gave a homeless girl £10 last night in Dalston. She didn’t ask or beg. Random impulsive act from me. Not gona lie. Felt good. #dosomethingkind.’
A few days earlier, he had posted a picture of himself with Fabio Capello, having attended a youth league coaches forum at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
His passion extended beyond football and into music, where he had a stake in a successful independent record label that even boasted a chart-topping album for The 1975, a rock band from Manchester.
Ehiogu was unfortunate to play in an era when England were so well blessed with top-class centre-halves. He was close to making the squad for Euro 96 and the 2002 World Cup, injury denying him a fighting chance on the latter occasion.
But as a centre-half at club level, he was outstanding, as Bryan Robson was only too aware, having signed him twice.
‘I thought so highly of Ugo as a player and a lad,’ said Robson. ‘I paid £6million for him up at Middlesbrough and I tried to sign him at West Brom but the deal did not go ahead. I also signed him at Sheffield United towards the end of his playing career.
‘He was such a good, strong defender and a fitness fanatic, which is why it comes as a real shock if it was a heart attack.’
After two decades as a professional, which included a year with Rangers, Ehiogu joined Spurs’ coaching staff on a full-time basis in July 2014, with head of coaching and player development John McDermott putting him in charge of the club’s Under-23 side.
‘Ugo was an extremely popular and respected academy coach, a tremendous influence on our younger players in training and away from the pitch. He will be greatly missed,’ said Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy.
Mauricio Pochettino echoed the sentiment. ‘Ugo was a person who always helped us a lot and we will miss him greatly,’ said the manager.
Harry Kane, who was a member of the England squad coached by Peter Taylor, Chris Ramsey and Ehiogu at the Under-20 World Cup in 2013, said: ‘Ugo was a big part of our development team at Spurs and a great character, always laughing and joking. He was a fantastic person,’ he said.
Speaking on behalf of the League Managers’ Association, where Ehiogu had enrolled in their diploma in football management, chairman Howard Wilkinson said: ‘As a player and then a coach, Ugo was a credit to the modern game.’