Soccer: Gareth Bale hopes Wales can honour Gary Speed by continuing the improvement they made under him. Former Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton and Sheffield United midfielder Speed died at his home on the outskirts of Chester on Sunday, with police saying there were no suspicious circumstances.
Friends, team-mates and colleagues queued up to pay their respects to Speed in the aftermath and Wales and Tottenham winger Bale was eager to join them.
"It was a massive shock, I don't think anybody ever thought anything like this would happen," Bale told tottenhamhotspur.com. "Everyone is devastated and it is a massive loss to everyone in football.
"It is a tragedy, everyone still can't get their head around it and all our condolences go out to his family and his kids. It is a hard time."
Speed had revitalised Welsh fortunes after taking over last December, overseeing a recent run of four wins in five games that had raised hopes they could launch a genuine bid to qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
"We were on the up, he changed the way we play and the whole mentality of our game," Bale said. "It is a massive loss, but we will try and carry on the best we can in his honour."
Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, joined the tributes to Gary Speed this morning.
Friends, team-mates and colleagues queued up to pay their respects to Speed in the aftermath and Taylor admitted he was overwhelmed by the level of shock.
"I've never known of such grief and loss," he told Sky Sports News. "He was so popular, so friendly and I never heard a bad word about him. A real light has gone out in the football world.
"He was a great legend of a player and every time I saw him he had a smile. It's terribly sad on behalf of everyone. He was one of our finest ever members, our sincere thoughts and condolences to his wife and sons."
Fans have started to leave shirts, scarves and flowers at Speed's former stomping grounds, but Taylor hinted a more formal tribute could yet be forthcoming from the football world.
"There will be an overwhelming sense that we want do something together to show how loved and regarded he was in the football world," Taylor added. "Everywhere he went he was surrounded by friends. There is a terrible sense of loss."
West Ham manager Sam Allardycealso paid tribute to Speed.
"I was fortunate to take Gary to Bolton," Allardyce told BBC Radio Five Live. "At that stage he was a young 34 and most people were saying he was getting past it, but in actual fact his stats were absolutely outstanding.
"As soon as he walked into the club he had an aura. He did everything to detail. When generally an old professional might moan and groan and say 'I don't want to do this' he just took it on board. "I was also fortunate to get to know him as a person. He was an outstanding individual and this is what's devastating.
"His life was about standards, he had a high standard for everything that he did. To sum it up, if you had a daughter and she brought Gary Speed home you'd be delighted."
Football Association of Wales chief executive Jonathan Fordhailed Speed's influence on the national team since becoming manager in December last year.
"When we went through the selection process Gary wasn't necessarily the most experienced manager there, but he had some fantastic qualities," Ford said. "He was a true professional, a fantastic gentleman and he got the players where they wanted to be, they wanted to play for him and it wasn't just players - it was the fans, the staff, everybody around him. It's such a sad loss.
"I was with him at the draw (for World Cup qualifying) and we looked at each other when each of those teams came out and agreed every one of those matches was winnable.
"The future was bright, the last few games were packed with positivity. We were on a roll and there was a great optimism about the place that the team had a fantastic opportunity to qualify for 2014."
Leeds manager Simon Grayson, who signed for the club on the same day as Speed as a 14-year-old and had been a close friend of the former midfielder, spoke of his sadness.
"(On Sunday) We were at the training ground preparing for the game against Nottingham Forest and somebody rang me," Grayson told Sky Sports News. "It was just an amazement, it left you all cold and with a feeling of sickness.
"We're the same age, 28 years we've been together on coaching courses, playing against each other and apprentices together and that's why it's such a tragedy for everybody."
He added: "We were both 14-year-old boys (when we signed for Leeds) that came through innocent at the time and 28 years later still remained very close friends and that's why it's an unbelievably sad day, for everybody who knew Gary.
"His family, it's such a shock to everybody in general because he was such a wonderful person, a fantastic footballer and apart from being a fantastic footballer he was a role model for everybody out there and that's why everybody is so saddened by the news.
"You can put aside the football aspects, because that's our job at times, but he was a fantastic person. He had time for everybody; he'd go out of his way for people, young or old. This is why there's so many people mourning the death of such a lovely person. He'll be sorely missed."
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