If you’re reading this, you’ll be familiar with the story that broke yesterday morning.

This is one of those posts I’d have preferred not have written: it’s an unfathomable tragedy that any 42 year old family man should apparently chose to end his life in such a devastating manner. I didn’t know Gary Speed, but I knew about him: he was one of the best Welsh players of his generation and looked as if he was about to oversee a long overdue revival of the fortunes of the Welsh national team.

The strange thing about Speed’s death is that it comes within two weeks of German referee Babak Rafati attempting to commit suicide before the game between Mainz and Koln in the Bundesliga; last weekend Belgian linesman Chris Schelstraete apparently tried to emulate Herr Rafati. It’s also just over two years since I wrote about German goalkeeper Robert Enke: this article – written by the Daily Telegraph’s Sarah Crompton at the end of September is almost uncannily prescient about what happened this weekend and deserves to be read by a wider audience.

No doubt in the weeks and months to come we may find out more about the inner turmoil that Gary Speed went through on Saturday evening: but at the moment it’s a sad ending to a life that was far too short. Our thoughts and sympathies are with his family and friends: he will be missed.

Gorwedd Mewn Hedd, Gary Speed.

Sad news: Macclesfield Town manager Keith Alexander passed away last night. Probably best known as being the first full time black manager in the Football League when he was appointed Lincoln City manager in 1993 after a relatively modest playing career, he died after returning home from Macclesfield’s 1-0 defeat at Notts County last night.

The England team will be wearing black armbands tonight in his honour.

The death of former Birmingham City and England goalkeeper Gil Merrick was announced yesterday; he won 23 caps for England and played in the 1954 World Cup finals tournament, his final international appearance coming in the 4-2 quarter final defeat against Uruguay. Sporting a pencil moustache and slicked back hair during his playing days, he is probably best known as the ‘keeper who played in the 6-3 and 7-1 defeats against Hungary at Wembley in 1953 and Budapest the following year although the margin of defeat wasn’t his fault: at that time the Hungarians were playing football from another world.

Merrick was an old school one club man, making almost 500 appearances for the Blues between 1938 and 1960; the club renamed the Railway Stand after him at the beginning of this season.

Sad news from Germany this evening: goalkeeper Robert Enke of Hannover 96 and Germany committed suicide by diving under a train in the town of Neustadt am Rübenberge near Hannover. He was 32 years old, had won eight caps for Germany and would have been a strong contender for one of the goalkeeping positions in the German squad for the finals: he leaves behind a wife and an adopted eight month old daughter.