When Gary Speed appeared on BBC’s Football Focus on Saturday the 26th of November 2011, he was approaching his first anniversary as Wales manager and had plenty to look forward to. Wales had won four of their previous five matches, climbing from 117th to 45th in the world rankings, and Speed had spent the week discussing plans for the country’s next World Cup qualifying campaign. He had travelled to the BBC studios in Salford to join presenter Dan Walker and his former Leeds United teammate Gary McAllister. And when the two met that morning, there was nothing unusual about their conversation. “It was the normal Gary Speed.” “He was a movie star in my eyes.” The pair spent the morning joking with each other, with Speed particularly amused by the jumper McAllister had chosen to wear. They talked about the Wales team and made plans to play golf together when their schedules allowed. “There were no signs, nothing.” Dan Walker had spent several hours with Speed and remembered him asking about his family, discussing his two sons and talking about taking Wales to the 2014 World Cup. “He was just the Gary Speed that I know.” “Just normal Gary stuff.” After the programme, Speed went upstairs to see Alan Shearer and Mark Lawrenson, who were watching Stoke against Blackburn in the Match of the Day production office. Shearer and Speed had become close friends during their time at Newcastle, and the two were already arranging to spend the following weekend together with their wives. Before leaving, Speed shook Walker’s hand and thanked him for having him on the programme. The following morning, Speed’s wife Louise found him dead at their family home. He was just 42 years old. Walker received the news less than twenty-four hours after they had been sitting together in the television studio. “Staggered by the news.” “I genuinely cannot believe it.” McAllister was at home when Alan Shearer rang to tell him what had happened. “It turned me to jelly.” “I couldn’t believe what he was saying.” “It shook me to the bones.” Across football, former teammates struggled to take in the news. At Swansea, Wales internationals Neil Taylor, Joe Allen and Ashley Williams were preparing to face Aston Villa when Brendan Rodgers called them into a room and told them Speed had passed away. Villa goalkeeper Shay Given had been one of Speed’s closest friends at Newcastle. As the teams prepared to kick off, Given stood in his goal crying, while supporters from both clubs joined in a tribute to the Wales manager. For the Wales players, they had lost the man who had started turning their national team around. Speed had taken the job in December 2010 after Wales had fallen to their lowest ever world ranking. He introduced new training methods, improved the professionalism around the squad and began giving younger players greater responsibility. Just two weeks before his death, Wales had beaten Norway 4-1 in Cardiff. It would be his final match as manager. Afterwards, Speed had spoken about how much the team had improved. “We’ve progressed further than I’d have thought in this space of time.” “But we’ve still got a lot of work to do.” One of the players he had placed his faith in was Aaron Ramsey. Despite being only twenty, Ramsey had been given the Wales captaincy earlier that year. Speed believed the Arsenal midfielder could lead the next generation of Welsh players, and Ramsey never forgot that decision. “He means a lot to me.” “To be named captain by him… was a very proud moment.” In January 2012, Chris Coleman was appointed Wales manager. He had been one of Speed’s closest friends and had spoken to his family before accepting the job. Coleman kept much of the backroom staff and continued the improvements Speed had begun. “I carried on some work that Gary Speed had started.” “He set the wheels in motion for that to happen.” The results did not come immediately. Wales struggled through their next World Cup qualifying campaign, and Coleman faced growing pressure after a 6-1 defeat to Serbia. But as Gareth Bale, Ramsey and the rest of the squad developed, the team began winning matches again. In October 2015, Wales qualified for the European Championship, ending a 58-year wait to reach a major tournament. For several of the players, it was a moment they had once dreamed about under Speed. “Gary put a lot of this in place.” “He got us all believing we could achieve.” The following summer, Wales travelled to France for Euro 2016. They beat Slovakia and Russia to finish top of their group before defeating Northern Ireland in the last sixteen. Then came Belgium, one of the favourites to win the tournament. Wales fell behind early but fought back to win 3-1, with goals from Ashley Williams, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Vokes sending them into the semi-finals. Five years after Speed’s death, Wales were one match away from a European Championship final. Before their semi-final against Portugal, Williams was asked about the man who had first brought many of the squad together. He remembered Speed giving them their opportunities as young players and wondered what he would have made of their journey. “He’s always in the back of our minds.” “When we achieve something, we think about him.” #football

When Harry Wilson was just 18 months old, his grandad Peter Edwards walked into a William Hill betting shop in Wrexham and asked for odds on his grandson playing football for Wales. Harry could barely walk at the time, but Peter had been watching him chasing a football around the living room and was convinced there was something special about him. He was an electrical contractor who worked away from home most of the week, so he only got to see Harry when he came back. “Each weekend he could see me getting stronger.” Peter went into the bookmakers and explained what he wanted to do, but the woman behind the counter had never dealt with anything like it. “Sorry, that’s over my head, you’re going to have to ring the headquarters in London.” It took a while to arrange, but eventually William Hill offered him odds of 2,500/1. Peter put £50 on it. Harry’s uncle put another £20 on the same bet, but his dad decided against joining them. “So I’m always having a little dig at my dad.” Harry joined Liverpool’s academy at eight years old and began progressing through the youth teams. By the time he was around twelve, Peter was so impressed that he returned to William Hill to try to put another bet on. But the bookmakers refused, explaining that he already had a substantial wager with them. In October 2013, Harry was still only 16 when Chris Coleman called him into the senior Wales squad for World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Belgium. He was an unused substitute against Macedonia, leaving his grandad waiting for another chance. Four days later, Wales travelled to Brussels to face Belgium. Peter was working away from home at the time, watching the match on his iPad from his caravan. He had already told his boss what would happen if Harry got onto the pitch. “I told my manager yesterday that if Harry plays I wouldn’t be coming back.” But as the match went on, Peter was beginning to worry. Wales had already made two substitutions, and with only a few minutes remaining, Harry was still sitting on the bench. Eventually, in the 87th minute, Coleman sent him on to replace Hal Robson-Kanu. At 16 years and 207 days old, Harry became the youngest player ever to represent Wales. And the moment he stepped onto the pitch, Peter’s £50 bet had won him £125,000. Harry’s parents were at the match in Brussels, and when he came out to see them afterwards, his mum had some news. “Granddad’s retiring in the morning!” Peter kept his word and handed in his notice, retiring a year earlier than planned. When Harry returned home, he kept the Wales shirt from his debut rather than swapping it with a Belgian player. The following morning, he took it round to give to his grandparents. Peter had spent years travelling around the country for work, often only getting home to see his wife Dorothy every other weekend. Now he could finally stay home, and he was planning to use some of the winnings to help Harry with the cost of travelling to Liverpool. And despite being a quiet man who preferred to keep himself to himself, he suddenly had television crews turning up at his house in Corwen wanting to interview him. Peter was not particularly bothered about the attention. He had got to watch his grandson make history for Wales and had just retired with an extra £125,000 in the bank. “Not bad for a daft bet.” #football