SPEED’S FITTING TRIBUTE
LEEDS UNITED gave Gary Speed the performance he would have wanted at the City Ground in November 2011.
Football was rocked just two days before the game by the death of Wales boss Speed at the age of 42.
The loss was felt deeply in Leeds where he had started out as a schoolboy, making the first of his 312 appearances for the club at 19 under manager Howard Wilkinson.
Speed won promotion to the top flight with Leeds, in 1990, and helped them win the First Division two years later before moving on to boyhood club Everton for a £3.5million fee.
Leeds boss Simon Grayson, who had signed schoolboy forms at
Elland Road on the same day as Speed, told his players to produce a big performance at the City Ground in Speed’s memory – and they delivered on an emotional night.
Forest and Leeds fans forgot the rivalry ignited by managers Brian Clough and Don Revie four decades earlier, joining in a minute’s applause before the start.
Forest, under Steve Cotterill, were struggling near the foot of the table, while Leeds had won their previous two away games.
The thoughts of the 4,000 Leeds fans were with Speed (above). They had planned to start chanting his name from the 11th minute for 11 minutes in memory of the former No.11 – but, instead, paid their noisy tribute from the opening whistle.
They only stopped chanting Speed’s name to cheer Robert Snodgrass’s opener for Leeds.
Grayson said afterwards: “It was very poignant the first goal came right as the 11th minute of singing ended and was a left-footed shot. Gary scored many goals like that.”
Jonny Howson doubled the lead with an unstoppable right-foot rocket and, four minutes after the restart, Leeds went further ahead when Luciano Becchio glanced a header just inside the far post.
Adam Clayton completed the scoring, tapping into the empty net after Forest keeper Lee Camp had failed to hang onto Howson’s shot. And, to cap a miserable night for the home side, Andy Reid was sent off.
At the final whistle, Grayson went on to the pitch to applaud the Leeds fans, pointed skywards and left in tears.