Ugo Ehiogu - RIP

[Matt Collins]

Fucking hell . . . The last couple of years 🙁😔

I hope we sing his proper song on Sunday - not "one Ugo Ehiogu"

He was only five years older than me - and a lot fitter no doubt

Just shit all round

[SoccerHQ]

RIP Big Man.

My memories of Ugo -
Eye injury vs someone....?

Gone far too soon.

Shearer?

Might have been. I remember it put him out for a little while - he was pundit in the Sky Studios for a dull 0-0 at Wimbledon.

Shearer kicked him in the face in 1999 and broke his eye socket. Shearer eh, whoever would've thought it?

I wonder where we'd have finished that season if he hadn't got injury at that point. We were struggling without Bosnich but Ugo and Southgate were holding things together just about.

Losing Ugo for three months though was the end of our title challenge as we started leaking goals straight away and went from first to 6th that season.

[Tayls_7]

RIP. Best wishes to your friends and family Ugo. Thank you for the memories.

[four fornicholl]

Ugo, Ugo, Ugo.
Instantly recognisable heading and running style, A true "good egg", my thoughts are with you and your family Ugo.XX

[adrenachrome]

Very sad news. He was a great player for us in a world class defence.

Best wishes to his family who will be devastated.

[remy]

It is with great sadness that we're reading another young ex villa has passed.

I was a kid and big Ugo gave me his autograph, so damn happy I was. I remember him keeping Shaun Teale out of the team with big Ron refusing to drop him.

I remember fondly the blades away one game and they had this ferret in midfield who zipped past our midfield until....man mountain Ugo stepped forward and the ferret just bounced off him sending him sprawling. You ain't getting past me son his body seemed to say.

I remember us going top of the league thanks to Ugo's 87th min winner via corner v Owls I think - might have time and place wrong but sure do remember celebrating the goal.

Goodbye Ugo, thanks for the memories, God bless you.😢

[The Left Side]

Only saw him on TV a few months ago at Dalian's funeral, unbelievable... RIP Big Man.

[Toronto Villa]

What always strikes me when I hear a story like this is how the normality of life can destroyed so easily. I'm the same age. I get up, get dressed  say goodbye to my kids/wife fully expect to walk back in later that day returning from work or wherever I'm going. Likewise they tell you they love you and expect you to walk back through that door. It would have been the same for Ugo with his wife and kids. Never did he think the day before "tomorrow's my last day alive", or that morning "I'm not seeing my family and friends ever again". And his wife and kids never thought "that's the last time I'm seeing my husband or dad". I mean at 44, athlete, fit and healthy from what we can tell he's not just dropping dead.

It's just so unimaginable that something happened, so violent and so unexpected that he's no longer with us and reminds us all how very fragile life is. None of us are invincible and it reminds us all to remind those you love that you do love them. Don't take it for granted.

[LamBeast]

Devastating news,life is too short.UTV.

[ChicagoLion]

What always strikes me when I hear a story like this is how the normality of life can destroyed so easily. I'm the same age. I get up, get dressed  say goodbye to my kids/wife fully expect to walk back in later that day returning from work or wherever I'm going. Likewise they tell you they love you and expect you to walk back through that door. It would have been the same for Ugo with his wife and kids. Never did he think the day before "tomorrow's my last day alive", or that morning "I'm not seeing my family and friends ever again". And his wife and kids never thought "that's the last time I'm seeing my husband or dad". I mean at 44, athlete, fit and healthy from what we can tell he's not just dropping dead.

It's just so unimaginable that something happened, so violent and so unexpected that he's no longer with us and reminds us all how very fragile life is. None of us are invincible and it reminds us all to remind those you love that you do love them. Don't take it for granted.

Well said and thoughts with his family at this time.

[Dlp]

Such sad news of the passing of Ugo. A great servant to our club. A colossus in defence with Southgate, a period when we were an entertaining successful, solid team. RIP UGO. Life is not fair.

[Somniloquism]

RIP Ugo. Knew a fair few folks that knew him back in the 90s, none had a bad word to say about him. Not only a great player but from everything I heard a great bloke as well.

I got a job in Bexley in 2005 and my Director grew up with Ugo in Hackney. He said similar platitudes as well and he used to return regularly to be with his mates from that time. I'm pretty sure he mentioned his mum had died around that time but that might be a mis-remembering of a story.

When he first was signed by Ron from the Baggies, I took to calling him batfink because of the bad guy being named Hugo A-Go-Go. Wasn't his first team debut a disaster? He certainly improved massively but who wouldn't when he had Macca around him to learn from.

[PeterWithesShin]

Nope, his debut was a start and complete game in a 3-1 home win over Arsenal in 1991, BFR's 3rd game. The infamous Norwich game was over a year later.

[olaftab]

Not sure if it's right or wrong but about this time last year I heard the news that my 28 year old nephew had been killed in a car crash and I felt obviously devastated but  physically sick. I had the same feeling this morning when I heard this news.

[Risso]

It is with great sadness that we're reading another young ex villa has passed.

I was a kid and big Ugo gave me his autograph, so damn happy I was. I remember him keeping Shaun Teale out of the team with big Ron refusing to drop him.

I remember fondly the blades away one game and they had this ferret in midfield who zipped past our midfield until....man mountain Ugo stepped forward and the ferret just bounced off him sending him sprawling. You ain't getting past me son his body seemed to say.

I remember us going top of the league thanks to Ugo's 87th min winner via corner v Owls I think - might have time and place wrong but sure do remember celebrating the goal.

Goodbye Ugo, thanks for the memories, God bless you.😢

The tackle you mention, was that the game against Sheffield United in the cup, the one where Yorke scored that cheeky chipped penalty?  If so, I was just going to post the same thing.  It was the hardest fair tackle I think I've ever seen.  He absolutely poleaxed the opposition player, it must have felt like being hit by a freight train. I was watching the game with a couple of non Villa supporting mates, and we all winced in unison at that one.