A FEW WORDS ABOUT UGO EHIOGU...

Ugo

Languid 

Was the first impression;

Long legs loped, making up ground

But he was seemingly lacking urgency.

Arms and legs flailed,

Yet was not brutish with his use of aggression:

Adequate at the back, equipped for dependency…

Stolid

Was an accepted adjective;

Villa traded him, Middlesbrough bound

But he was seemingly barely missed.

Confidence and form prevailed

Which rendered him even more effective:

 Thus with England games his career was blessed… 

Pete Ray

April 2017

Ugo Ehiogu, who passed away suddenly, aged 44 was a novice central defender at Villa, whose trademark one long diagonal pass from the right side of defence to the left-flank still makes my older daughter Lucy smile in fond remembrance to this day. 

He joined Middlesbrough of course…

He became an international player too, probably due to his own intelligence and the influence of Gareth Southgate.

My younger daughter Wendy once needed to paint an egg for an Easter competition at her Primary School and she had puzzled for some time as to what she could create that would be different, until it was realised that Ugo was her favourite Villa player and so her entry was ‘UGO EGG-IOGU’.

It was brilliant and there is a picture of it somewhere but of course with her Headteacher being a Chesterfield fan and the judges having no idea who the heck the egg was supposed to represent (or they were Birmingham supporters), Wendy didn’t win a prize…

It was so good though…