Football
ESPN staff 7y

Ugo Ehiogu, former England and Aston Villa defender, dies at age of 44

Former England and Aston Villa defender Ugo Ehiogu has died aged 44, Tottenham Hotspur have announced.

Ehiogu, who had been working as Tottenham under-23s coach, was taken to hospital on Thursday after collapsing at the Hotspur Way training ground.

Tottenham's head of coaching and player development, John McDermott, told the club's official website: "Words cannot express the shock and sadness that we all feel at the Club. Ugo's immense presence will be irreplaceable. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife Gemma and his family."

Born in Homerton, east London, Ehiogu started out on the road toward becoming a professional at Senrab Football Club, the local team which also counts Ray Wilkins, Bobby Zamora, Jermain Defoe, Sol Campbell and John Terry among its former players.

It was, though, at West Bromwich Albion where the young defender would come through the ranks, before joining Aston Villa in 1991 and going on the win two League Cups during his nine years at the club.

He would become a cult figure at Villa Park, inheriting the No. 5 shirt vacated by Paul McGrath and going on to make more than 300 appearances, one of which was in the 2000 FA Cup final loss to Chelsea.

Middlesbrough paid a then club-record £8 million for the defender in November 2000 and Ehiogu teamed up with former Villa player Gareth Southgate at the Riverside Stadium, winning another League Cup again in 2004 with victory over Bolton in Cardiff.

However, continued knee problems would hamper his later career, which took in Leeds, Rangers and Sheffield United prior to his retirement in 2009.

International recognition came as Ehiogu scored on his England debut in a 3-0 friendly victory against Spain -- Sven Goran-Eriksson's first game in charge.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup semifinal meeting with Tottenham on Saturday, Blues boss Antonio Conte said: "I want to send my condolences to Ugo's family. I think when there are these sad news, it's never good."

Asked if it would affect the atmosphere, he said: "When this type of situation happens, the football is not important. I repeat, it's not easy to speak about this situation, because this situation hits every one of us, and for sure tomorrow there is, there will be, a strange atmosphere.

"It's a pity because he was very young, only 44, and a former player, and when these types of situation happens you start to think a lot of things, in your mind, you know? And for sure, not good things. We are very sad for this.

"We can remember him tomorrow and I think this is the minimum for us, for Tottenham and for the fans."

Information from the Press Association was used in this report.

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