Stan Collymore · @StanCollymore
21st Apr 2017 from TwitLonger
R.I.P. Ugo
Sadness doesn't really cover how i and i'm sure everyone who knew Ugo feel today, and although it's very easy to put out a tweet or picture to celebrate a life of acknowledge loss, i really wanted to share a couple of memories of Ugo.
I joined Villa straight after the 96/97 season ended and immediately went with the gaffer, Brian Little to San Francisco to meet up with my new team mates on a post season 2 game tour against LA Galaxy and San Jose.
Being "My" club i was so excited to get there ( Steve Gough of Cannock Villa was waiting at San Fran airport with the Cannock Villa flag!) so i got to the hotel , did a medical and Ugo was the first person to come and say hello, the first person to take time to welcome me to the club i supported as a kid. I was nervous, he knew it, and rather than be the alpha male that many of us players can be around each other, he showed me around, we hung out over the coming days and he was instrumental in helping me settle in. Going to Villa was my dream so for him to see that and just offer calm, cool friendship is something i'll never forget.
He was already great friends with Bozza and Dwight Yorke but wasn't as loud as them or me, just cooler than cool at the back with a big smile but always up for fun and a laugh.
The thing that struck you about him was his size, something that only David James has surpassed in my career, a true man mountain but someone who never used his size or stature to intimidate, far from it ,he was the opposite, always calming, always the one who eased any tensions between big names and a man who commanded respect not by what he said but very much by what he did.
I only spoke to him a month or so ago on my phone in, a regular guest, we chatted about how much he was enjoying Spurs, how proud he was of the young talent coming through and how the club was vibrant and progressive. You could hear that he had found his niche and something he was passionate about, so although there is so much sadness today, the fact that he was poorly on the training ground,a scenario that was his life over 20 years will comfort many, me included because it wasn't a strange, lonely place to be ill, it was, after family, his second home.
I've posted a lovely picture of him smiling, taken at a Villa pub in San Francisco, the Mad Dog in the Fog, where all of the lads went to welcome me to my football club. I know that Yorky, Boz , Gareth, Tayls and all of the boys from that era will be gutted today, and my love and best wishes go out to them, Ugo's family and friends and to everyone who worked with Ugo at Spurs.
Proud to have known you Brother, find a happy place up there and i know i will see you again someday soon.
Rest In Peace big un.
Stanley Victor.