‘Things that tell you a bigger story now’ – Gary Speed’s agent opens up on Newcastle United great

Life goes on – it has to – but November 27 never gets any easier for Hayden Evans. The agent represented Gary Speed throughout his career but the former Newcastle United midfielder was a friend rather than client. So much so, Speed was even Evans’ best man.

To this day, Evans can still recall Speed’s religious post-match routine in his early days at Leeds and how they would get to the Red Lion pub in time for Blind Date before his pal ordered egg, gammon and chips.

Evans also remembers the many singsongs and how Speed had quietly taken up the guitar shortly after joining Newcastle in 1998. By the time Speed had told Evans he had bought a new instrument, he had already learnt some of Oasis’ back catalogue.

If ever an anecdote summed up Speed. As Rob Lee previously told ChronicleLive, it was a ‘little bit annoying’ how his former team-mate was ‘good at everything’.

Evans was also there for the bad times, of course, and it was the agent who made a statement on behalf of the family outside their Cheshire home after Speed took his own life on November 27, 2011.

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Nine years on, Evans is the first to admit that he was ‘extremely naive’ not to think that Speed was depressed because his friend was ‘larger than life and always had a smile on his face’.

“Clearly, we have more of an idea now about depression and mental health wellbeing in men, in particular, and we are being more open and talking more,” he told ChronicleLive.

“If there could ever be a consolation for losing Gary, it was that it took someone of his stature to wake people up a little bit.”

Speed’s death, naturally, left friends and family with so many questions which, ultimately, will never be answered.

Shay Given previously told ChronicleLive that ‘it’s still hard to get your head around it and even talk about him’.

There were no obvious signs and, naturally, it is only with the benefit of hindsight that Evans has taken note of a once seemingly insignificant detail from Speed’s move from Newcastle to Bolton in 2004.

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Speed had been on his way to Fulham to link up with compatriot Chris Coleman but Sam Allardyce asked the Newcastle player to call into Bolton at the 11th hour.

The veteran was impressed by the team of sports scientists Allardyce had assembled and how progressive the Trotters were in that field at the time. Speed was also struck by what Evans refers to as an ‘inner sanctum room for wellbeing’ at the club’s training ground.

“You sort of look back then and you see certain things that he wanted to do or did do that appealed to him that were a little bit out of character but tell you a bigger story now,” Evans said.

“There was this sort of quiet room that players could go to and just rest and relax. I didn’t recognise any relevance in that other than he thought it was forward thinking but, clearly, he needed that room, himself, from time to time.”

Speed had not planned to leave Newcastle and although a deal was in place for the Magpies to sign Nicky Butt, the midfielder’s move to Bolton came as a huge shock to manager Sir Bobby Robson.

Sir Bobby Robson presents Gary Speed with an award for playing his 400th Premier League game ahead of Newcastle United’s match against Leicester at St James’ Park in 2004

Evans had developed ‘a bit of a relationship’ with chairman Freddy Shepherd – another client, David Batty, had joined the Magpies two years before Speed – but the agent still does not know why the club sold the Welshman above Sir Bobby’s head.

“Normally, I get a bit of an insight into why or when a player might be leaving but we had no real insight into that,” Evans said.

“It just came out of the blue and certainly Bobby Robson said he hadn’t got a clue that it was happening.

“Gary came from the same mould as David [Batty] in that the minute there’s an indication that you’re not wanted, whether that’s from upstairs or the gaffer, there’s no pleading to stay or trying to work a deal out or anything else.

“It’s more, ‘Look, they indicated they want me to go so let’s go’.”

Sir Bobby once remarked that Speed would be a ‘miss in every concept’ when he eventually left Newcastle and so it proved.

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As well as being a talented footballer, Speed’s professionalism, leadership qualities and personality also made him a priceless figure in the dressing room.

Tellingly, Speed was one of the first names on the team sheet under three different managers during his time at Newcastle.

Speed took the good and bad from all of them when he became a manager in his own right with Sheffield United and Wales, and Sir Kenny Dalglish and Sir Bobby certainly had an influence on his plans after retirement.

“Gary had been very lucky, particularly at Newcastle, to have Kenny and Bobby Robson, who were two fantastic managers to work under,” Evans said. “I’m sure that steered his career into ultimately wanting to become a manager.

“Howard Wilkinson was an influence but an early-age influence as a footballer. As a coach and ultimately a manager, his time under Kenny and definitely Robson proved to him that’s what he wanted to do.

“During his time at Newcastle, it became apparent that he wanted to soak it up like a sponge. He wanted to take in what these top managers could give him.”

The late Gary Speed with his former Newcastle United team-mates Warren Barton, Shay Given, Rob Lee and Alan Shearer

Speed formed lifelong friendships with a number of his team-mates at Newcastle and the midfielder and his wife, Louise, regularly socialised with Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Warren Barton, Rob Lee and their partners.

On the field, Newcastle’s trophy drought went on – the Magpies suffered back-to-back FA Cup final defeats in 1998 and 1999 – but Speed enjoyed some unforgettable Champions League nights in a black-and-white shirt.

Speed may have received hate mail after leaving boyhood club Everton – the Toffees even installed steel shutters to protect the players’ entrance ahead of his return to Goodison Park – but his time at Newcastle proved one of the happiest spells of his career.

“I knew I could trust Freddy and they wanted Gary the first time round when he went to Everton so they had always monitored the situation,” Evans said.

“It was pretty well-known in football that there was some frictions developing and, ultimately, I think it was absolutely inevitable albeit it was his hometown club and everything else.

“Certain things behind the scenes meant that it just wasn’t something he could continue to take responsibility for so it didn’t take long at all to be honest. It was very straightforward.

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“When you are a player with the integrity that Gary had, normally a club knows and a manager certainly knows that if he goes and says, ‘I want to leave’, it’s not for money or any other reason than he feels it’s the right time.”

Of course, it goes without saying that Everton supporters will join Newcastle fans and followers of Speed’s former clubs in paying tribute to the Welshman on the ninth anniversary of his death.

The anniversary is always a difficult day for those closest to Speed – never more so than during an isolating pandemic – but he will never be forgotten.

“I always remember the good times with Gary,” Evans added. “The brilliant footballer, the man who brought pleasure to so many and, most of all, the mate with the best smile in the world.”

Samaritans can be contacted in the UK and Ireland on 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.