Dale Roberts

Dale Roberts - who was born on October 22nd, 1986, in Horden, County Durham, England - was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for several teams between 2005 and 2010.  The son of George and Isabelle, he attended Easington Comprehensive School, and played for Cleveland Juniors F.C., later joining both Sunderland and Middlesbrough football academies.  As a scholar at Middlesbrough, he was part of their F.A. Youth Cup-winning squad in 2004 as a backup to David Knight.  In 2005, Roberts signed as a professional for Nottingham Forest, but failed to make any first-team appearances for Forest in his four years at the club, although he played many times whilst on loan to Eastwood Town, Alfreton Town, and Rushden and Diamonds, winning Rushden's player of the season award in 2008-'09.  He signed permanently for Rushden on January 2nd, 2009, and played 61 times for the club over the next season and a half.  Roberts's good form won him six caps for the England C team in 2009 and '10.  He was voted C team player of the season in 2009-'10.  His final game for the C team, and last in all senior football, was against Wales on September 14th, 2010.  In 2004, Roberts began a relationship with Lindsey Cowan, who had been at school with him.  However, they briefly split up in May of 2010 when Cowan had an affair with Paul Terry, the older brother of former England captain John Terry.  The press got hold of this story, causing Roberts considerable distress.  In September of 2010, Roberts injured his leg whilst playing for England C.  These incidents led to Roberts becoming depressed, and he began to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, becoming reluctant to go out in case he was recognised after his appearances in the press.  He lost motivation, and started missing training sessions, causing consternation to his manager and agent, Justin Edinburgh and Cyrille Regis, respectively.  On November 19th, 2010, Roberts visited Rushden's club doctor, who prescribed him anti-depressants, which only enhanced his lethargy.  Apparently, he also asked for counselling, but received none.  Roberts was told by his manager that he would be starting his first game for Rushden and Diamonds for some time against his former club Eastwood Town in an F.A. Trophy match on December 14th, 2010.  The previous evening, his girlfriend returned home to find a note scribbled on the whiteboard in their kitchen: "I love Lindsey Elizabeth Cowan very very much. She is the love of my life."  The next morning, he sent Cowan a text message, saying he was scared about the upcoming game.  After Roberts failed to turn up for the match that day, police went round to his house in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, where they discovered his lifeless body.  He had committed suicide by hanging.  Dale Roberts was just 24 years old.

Elias Owen

Elias Owen - who was born in the first quarter of 1863, in Llanllechid near Bangor in north-west Wales - was a Welsh amateur footballer, who made three appearances for the Wales national team in 1884.  Ellis was one of thirteen children, and his elder brother, William Pierce Owen, and his cousins, Morgan Owen and Hugh Morgan-Owen, also played for Wales.  After grammar school, Owen studied theology at Lampeter College.  At Ruthin Grammar School, Owen was initially a half-back, before becoming a goalkeeper in 1882 when the regular 'keeper was unavailable for a match between Denbighshire and Liverpool F.A.  Impressing in this game, Owen was selected to play as a goalkeeper for Wales in the inaugural Home Championship match against Ireland on February 9th, 1884; Wales won this game 6-0, with Owen's brother William scoring two goals.  Owen played in Wales's following two games - a 0-4 loss to England, and a 1-4 defeat to Scotland - before being dropped from the team.  On September 19th, 1888, Owen returned to the family home at Efenechtyd.  The next morning, September 20th, he was discovered by his two sisters, Mary and Maggie, hanging from a tree in the churchyard.  Although he was still alive on being found, he died shortly after being cut down. Official reports say he was depressed over the results of his final examinations, although family sources claim he was depressed because his wife was having an affair.  Elias Owen was just 25 years old.

Zoe Tynan

Zoe Tynan - who was born on May 20th, 1998, in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England - was an English footballer.  As a schoolgirl, Tynan excelled at rounders and cross-country running, as well as football.  Later concentrating on soccer, she was selected to represent England at under-15, under-17, and under-19 levels.  As a Youth player, she represented Liverpool Feds, Everton, and Manchester City, before signing for Manchester City's academy in 2015.  She was given her first-team debut when she played all 90 minutes of an F.A. Women's Cup quarter-final against Sporting Club Albion on April 3rd, 2016.  Though she wouldn't play any further games for Manchester City, her performance drew the attention of Fylde Ladies of the F.A. Women's Premier League.  Signing for Fylde, she played two games for them in 2016.  On August 30th, 2016, Tynan spoke to her sister, Beth, at the family home - saying she loved her, and that "everything would be okay" - before leaving at about 3.40 p.m.  At 4.09 p.m., she sent a text message to a friend, suggesting she was intending to end her own life.  C.C.T.V. cameras captured her "calmly" climbing down onto the railway tracks at West Allerton station at about 4.15 p.m., whereupon she was soon struck by a train travelling from Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street.  Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene, and coroner Anita Bhardwaj later recorded a verdict of suicide.  Tynan had achieved good 'A'-level results, and hoped to become a professional footballer.  She was just 18 years old.  After her death, the Zoe Tynan's Spirit of Running award was set up in Liverpool to recognise similar children who lead others by example and encouragement; whilst her first football team, Liverpool Feds - whom she had joined as a six-year-old - created the Zoe Tynan Tournament for under-10 and under-12 7-a-side teams.  This tournament has been held each year since 2017 in her honour, played on May 20th to coincide with the date of her birth.

Martyn Rogers

Martyn Rogers - who was born on January 26th, 1960, in Nottingham, England - was an English association-football player.  After an outstanding record as a schoolboy, Rogers signed as a trainee for Manchester United in May, 1976, and as a professional in January, 1977.  He made his debut for United, at the age of 17, standing in for Arthur Albiston at left-back, on October 22nd, 1977, in a 0-4 away defeat at West Bromwich Albion.  This was to be Rogers's only first-team game for the club, and he was sold to Queen's Park Rangers - then managed by former United manager, Tommy Docherty - for £7,500 in July of 1979.  Rogers's career at Q.P.R. was equally short-lived, as he only made two first-team appearances, in the last two games of the 1979-80 season, both of which were won.  In May of 1981, he was given a free transfer to Australian club Sydney Olympic.  In five years at Sydney, Rogers helped the club win the Australian NSL Cup twice, in 1983 and 1985, before returning to England.  On Saturday, February 29th, 1992, Rogers made two phone calls: one to his mother, whom he told he was in Singapore; and one to a female friend, whom he told he was in Australia.  Later that same day, Rogers's lifeless body was found in a hire-car in a car-park in Ringwood, Hampshire, after he had fed the exhaust fumes through the window of his vehicle.  He had committed suicide at the age of 32.  Coincidentally, that same month, another Manchester United player of around the same age, Alan Davies, had killed himself in similar circumstances.

Stuart Leary

Stuart Edward Leary - who was born on April 30th, 1933, in Green Point, Cape Town, South Africa - was a dual-code professional sportsman, who played soccer as a centre-forward, and cricket as an all-rounder.  Leary started his football career with Cape Town side, Clyde, before moving to English club, Charlton Athletic, in 1950, along with team-mate Eddie Firmani.  Making his debut in 1951, he became a prolific goalscorer, netting a record number of goals for the club: in total, Leary made 376 league appearances for Charlton, scoring 153 goals, until his departure for Queens Park Rangers in 1962.  At Q.P.R., he appeared in a further 94 league games, scoring 29 goals.  Leary played once for the England under-23 team in 1954, but was banned from playing for the full national team due to his foreign birthplace.  Leary had a parallel career as a county cricketer for Kent between 1951 and 1971.  A right-handed batsman, in first-class matches, he scored 16,517 runs at an average of 31.10, and took 146 wickets at an average of 33.80 with his leg-break bowling. Leary returned to South Africa after his sporting career ended.  Rumours circulated that he may have been homosexual, at a time when this was not widely accepted, particularly in sporting circles, although he had married, and then divorced, an older woman.  Fellow South African cricketer, Eddie Barlow, said that, at the time of Leary's death, he had, "...about five girlfriends on the go..."  In By His Own Hand, writer David Frith states that Leary had a fondness for resting his hand on a colleague's knee during team photographs; also, at the time of his death, three people who knew Leary apparently stated that he was concerned at the nationwide crackdown on juvenile vice, and that he was also worried he may have contracted the AIDS virus.  In 1985, Leary was replaced as coach of Western Province cricket team, and sometime thereafter began taking anti-depressant drugs.  Leary's body was found on Table Mountain near Cape Town on August 23rd, 1988. It was believed he committed suicide two days earlier, on August 21st, by throwing himself off a precipice.  He was 55 years old.

Dave Clement

David Thomas Clement - who was born on February 2nd, 1948, in Battersea, south-west London, England - was an English footballer.  Clement signed as a professional with Queens Park Rangers in 1965, making his debut in the 1966-67 season - a memorable one for Q.P.R., as they won the Third Division Championship by a twelve-point margin, and became the first Third-Division side to win a major trophy - the League Cup - by defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at Wembley.  A right-sided full-back, Clement played a total of 472 games for Q.P.R. between 1965 and 1979, scoring 28 goals.  During this time, he also won five full international caps for England.  He was sold to Bolton Wanderers in 1979, before moving on to Fulham in 1980.  He played a further nine games, scoring two goals, for Wimbledon during the 1981-82 season, leaving him with a career total of 532 league games and 30 goals.  As his football career wound down, Clement began to become depressed; and, on March 31st, 1982, he committed suicide by ingesting weedkiller.  He was 34 years old.  Dave Clement's son, Neil Clement, who was only three years old at the time of his father's death, also became a professional footballer, spending the majority of his career at West Bromwich Albion.  His eldest son, Paul, became a non-league footballer, and later a professional coach and manager, becoming head coach at Swansea City in Wales.

Mike Thalassitis

Michael Thalassitis - who was born on January 19th, 1993, in Edmonton, London, England - was an English footballer and television personality.  Starting his career with Stevenage in Division Two of the Football League, Thalassitis, a striker, subsequently played for several non-league teams. In all, between 2011 and 2017, he played 151 games, scoring 36 goals, for various teams.  Of Greek-Cypriot descent, Thalassitis also played  three games for the Cypress under-19 side, and four for their under-21s. He was called up for Cyprus's senior team in May, 2014, but was unable to travel to the game against Japan, as he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the final game of the league season whilst on loan from Stevenage at Ebbsfleet United.  On May 29th, 2017, Thalassitis was announced as part of the cast for the third series of the reality television show, Love Island.  He and fellow contestant Jessica Shears, along with their respective partners Olivia Attwood and Dom Lever, emerged among the three couples with the fewest public votes for Favourite Couple.  In 2018, he joined the fourth series of Celebs Go Dating.  On March 15th, 2019, Mike Thalassitis hanged himself in a park in Edmonton, north London, England.  He was 26 years old.

John Lyons

John Patrick Lyons - who was born on November 8th, 1956, in Buckley, Flintshire, north-east Wales - was a Welsh footballer, who played for several teams in the Football League between 1974 and 1982.  As a youngster at Elfed High School, Lyons excelled at basketball, playing for the Wales under-15 team at that sport, before signing as a professional footballer with Wrexham in September of 1975. Playing as a striker, he scored 23 goals in 86 games for Wrexham, helping them to the Third Division title in the 1977-78 season.  He subsequently played for Millwall, Cambridge United, and Colchester United; in total, playing 195 league games, and scoring 58 goals.  Whilst at his last club, Colchester, Lyons befriended his fellow striker and notorious hardman, Roy McDonough.  Lyons had replaced fan-favourite, Kevin Bremner, in the side, and thus became unpopular with his own side's supporters, and began to suffer from depression. Lyons had apparently said several times to McDonough that, if the crowd abuse didn't stop, he would hang himself.  On November 9th, 1982, Lyons played in a home game for Colchester United against Chester City at Layer Road, which his team won 1-0.  Two days later, on November 11th, 1982, Lyons went out for a drinking spree with McDonough.  He thereafter returned to his home in the village of Layer de la Haye, Essex, England, and hanged himself.  John Lyons was just 26 years old.

Robert Enke

Robert Enke, who was born on August 24th, 1977, in Jena, East Germany, was a German football goalkeeper.  He played most-notably for the German club Hannover 96, as well as winning 8 caps for the German national team.  He was also team captain of Hannover 96 from the 2007-8 season until the end of his career, and was twice voted best goalkeeper in the German Bundesliga.  Enke had been expected to be Germany's number-one 'keeper during the 2010 World Cup, but he had been struggling to cope with the death of his daughter in 2006, and had been treated by a psychiatrist after suffering from depression.  On the night of November 10th, 2009, Enke committed suicide by standing in the path of a regional express train at a level crossing in Eilvese, Neustadt am Rubenberge, Germany. He was 32 years old.

Alan Davies

Alan Davies was an English-born Welsh international footballer. Although born in Manchester on December 5th, 1961, Davies's Welsh parentage qualified him to play for Wales, for whom he won 13 international caps between 1983 and 1990, as well as playing six times for the Wales under-21 side.  Signing as a trainee for Manchester United as a 16-year-old in July of 1978, he put pen to paper on his first professional contract just five months later.  Davies made his first-team debut for United in a 1-0 home win against Southampton on May 1st, 1982.  He only played ten competitive games for The Red Devils, but did play both games in the 1983 F.A. Cup Final, when United beat Brighton and Hove Albion in a replay, resulting in him winning the only major medal of his career.  Unfortunately, after this success, Davies suffered a bad injury in a pre-season friendly, which resulted in him being out of first-team contention for six months during the 1983-84 season.  He returned to the team in memorable fashion, scoring his only goal for the side when coming on as substitute in a 1-1 draw with Juventus in a European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final first leg at Old Trafford.  Sadly, he only played three more league games that season, and none the following season, and was sold to Newcastle United in 1985, also playing on loan for Charlton and Carlisle whilst with The Magpies.  He later had two spells at Swansea City, either side of a spell with Bradford City in 1989-90.  During his second spell at Swansea, he found himself a key player in a side that was struggling towards the bottom of the Third Division.  On February 4th, 1992, Davies dropped-off his daughter, Katie (aged 4), at school, before driving out to Horton on the Gower Peninsula, where he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.  Although no-one knows for certain what made him kill himself, it later transpired that Davies - like fellow Welsh international footballer, Gary Speed (who also committed suicide) - had been coached as a youngster by serial paedophile, Barry Bennell.  Six weeks after Davies died, his second daughter, Sophie, was born to his wife, Deborah.  Both his daughters have since competed in running events to raise money for a mental-health charity.  Alan Davies was 30 years old.

Justin Fashanu

Justinus Soni Fashanu was an English footballer, who played for Norwich City and Nottingham Forest, amongst other teams. He was born in Hackney, London, England, on February 19th, 1961, to a Nigerian barrister and a Guyanese nurse, and was the older brother of fellow footballer, John.  Fashanu was most famous for scoring BBC's Goal of the Season in 1980, with a spectacular effort for Norwich against Liverpool.  He excelled at Norwich, his first club, scoring 40 goals in 103 senior appearances for The Canaries, and was selected six times for the England under-21 side.  Fashanu's 19 league goals in the 1980-81 season were not enough to prevent Norwich's relegation from the First Division, and he was sold to Nottingham Forest in August of 1981, becoming Britain's first black million-pound footballer in the process.  His career then stalled, after Forest manager Brian Clough became disturbed by finding out about Fashanu's visits to gay nightclubs and bars.  His confidence and form deserting him, Fashanu scored just three goals in 32 league games for Forest in the 1981-82 season.  He was loaned to Southampton, who were prevented from buying him by lack of funds.  Fashanu was sold to Notts County for £150,000 in December, 1982.  He scored 20 goals in 64 games for The Magpies, but this was not enough to stop the club having back-to-back relegations.  Soon after joining Brighton and Hove Albion in June, 1985, Fashanu suffered a knee injury which looked to have ended his career.  After travelling to the U.S. for surgery, he subsequently played for a number of clubs in England, Scotland, the U.S.A., Canada, and Sweden.  In an interview with The Sun newspaper on October 22nd, 1990, Fashanu came out as homosexual, becoming the first (and, so far, only) prominent player in English football to do so, and thereafter struggled to find regular employment as a professional footballer, as well as becoming the subject of crowd abuse.  His brother, John, described Justin as an "outcast" after his admission.  On April 13th, 1992, whilst playing for Torquay United, Fashanu received a £265 fine and was banned for driving for 28 days after being fund guilty of speeding and failing to produce his driver's licence.  In March, 1998, after moving to the United States, Fashanu was alleged to have sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy after a night of drinking.  Homosexual acts were illegal at the time in the state of Maryland, where Fashanu was living.  Fashanu fled back to England, where - on May 3rd, 1998 - his body was found hanged in a lock-up garage in Shoreditch, London.  His suicide note denied the charges, claiming the sex act was consensual, and that he had returned to England as he wouldn't get a fair trial in the U.S. due to his homosexuality.  The Times and the B.B.C. reported that an arrest warrant had been issued by Howard County District Court on April 3rd, that he had been charged with second-degree sexual assault and first-degree assaults punishable by up to 20 years in jail, and that Howard County police would have requested his extradition had they known he had fled to England.  Justin Fashanu was just 37 years old.

Gary Speed

Gary Andrew Speed was a Welsh footballer and football manager.  Born on September 8th, 1969, in Mancot, Flintshire, Wales, Speed made 677 league appearances in a 22-year playing career, which finished in 2010.  He also played 85 times for the Welsh national soccer side (making him Wales's second-most-capped player), captaining them on 44 occasions.  His successful career encompassed spells at Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers, and Sheffield United.  After retirement as a player, Speed managed Sheffield United and then the Wales national team.  In 2010, he was awarded an M.B.E. for his services to football.  Speed's first competitive game as Wales manager was a 0-2 home defeat to local rivals, England, resulting in Wales slumping to an all-time-low F.I.F.A. world ranking of 117th.  However, several good results followed, lifting Wales's ranking to 45th, and being awarded 'Best Movers' at the end of 2011, after amassing more ranking points than any other nation in 2011.  Speed's last game as Wales manager was a 4-1 home win against Norway in a friendly on November 12th that year.  On November 26th, 2011, Speed appeared as a pundit on the BBC programme, Football Focus, before driving back to his home in Huntington, Cheshire, England. The following morning, November 27th, just before 7 a.m., his wife found his dead body hanging from the roof of the family garage.  An inquest into his death heard that the strain of football management had put strain on Speed's marriage to Louise, and they had argued on the night prior to his death.  His mother, Carol, described Gary as a "glass-half-empty person", and his wife said he was a "somewhat closed character".  Four days before dying, Speed had texted his wife suggesting the possibility of suicide, although he then rejected this out of concern for his family.  As a boy, Speed had been coached by serial sex offender Barry Bennell, although Speed had denied ever being abused; however, one of Bennell's victims claimed he had seen Speed being assaulted, but the inquest was unable to prove this.  Speed's funeral was held on December 11th, 2011, in the village of Hawarden, Flintshire, and was attended by 250 people.  He was later cremated at Pentre Bychan Crematorium, Wrexham.  A memorial match was held in his honour at the Cardiff City Stadium on February 29th, 2012, in which Costa Rica beat Wales 2-0.  Gary Speed was 42 years old. 

David Bairstow

David Leslie Bairstow was an English cricketer, and, briefly, a professional footballer.  Born in Horton, Bradford, Yorkshire, on September 1st, 1951, Bairstow was primarily a wicketkeeper and a middle-order batsman, although he occasionally bowled medium-pace.  Bairstow made his debut for Yorkshire in a County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Park Avenue on June 3rd, 1970, taking an 'A'-level at 6 a.m. that day to enable him to play in the game.  He had a long and successful cricket career, playing for Yorkshire County Cricket Club for 21 seasons until 1990, captaining the side for three of them.  He scored 13,961 first-class runs at an average of  26.44, taking 961 catches and making 138 stumpings behind the timbers, and even chipping in with 9 wickets at an average of 34.22.  Bairstow made his England debut in a One-Day International against Australia in Melbourne in January, 1979.  Later that year, he made his Test debut against India at The Oval.  Overall, he played 21 O.D.I.s and 4 Test Matches for England.  Bairstow also had a short career as a footballer for Bradford City, playing 17 games as a forward and scoring one goal between 1971 and 1973.  He was married twice, first to Gail (whom he nicknamed 'Stormy'), who bore him one son, Andrew, who briefly played first-class cricket for Derbyshire.  Divorcing Gail, he married Janet, who bore him two children: Becky, and Jonny - who went on to play cricket for Yorkshire and England.  Bairstow later had a second career as a cricket commentator, but began to become dejected after his wife developed breast cancer.  Heated confrontations with Yorkshire C.C.C. officials, financial worries, and a drink-driving charge hanging over him, all exacerbated his problems, for which he saw both his own doctor and a consultant psychiatrist. Suffering from depression, he took an overdose of tablets in late 1997.  A few weeks later - on January 5th, 1998 - David Bairstow hanged himself at his home in Marton-cum-Grafton, Yorkshire.  He was 46 years old.