Remembering the Fallen

Robert Enke's untimely death touched us all.

It's almost hard to credit given that he achieved the sort of dreams millions of us fail to realize - representing your country, signing for Barcelona and being in line to play at the World Cup, but his personal reasons for dying were valid for him. Ultimately individuals make their own choices.

Plus there is more to life than football. The death of Enke's child in 2006 hurt him deeply and today, Aston Villa's Luke Young spurned an England recall, ostensibly because he is still grieving the death of his younger brother earlier this year.

I was on my way to a Swansea v Cardiff derby in 1992 when news came through that the game was off because Swans midfielder Alan Davies, a Welsh international and FA Cup winner with Manchester United, had asphyxiated himself in his car that afternoon.

But the most famous suicide in British football, (let's hope Gazza never steals that tag) remains Hughie Gallacher (right), a Scottish goal-machine on both sides of the border, author of 463 strikes for seven teams including Chelsea and Newcastle. He scored 23 in 20 games for his country and was one of the 'Wembley Wizards' who memorably trounced England 5-1 in 1928. In '57, depressed after a run of misfortune, he also walked out in front of a train, and placed his neck on the rail as the London-Edinburgh express approached.

Enke's wife revealed today he had been taking professional help, but also that he feared the news becoming public. Mental health remains a stigma in too many workplaces, and the locker room remains a die-hard macho environment, which also explains the dearth of openly gay players. What a tragedy if Enke died because adult society has not grown up yet.

Since it is Armistice Day today, I'd like to pay tribute to Donald 'Donny' Bell, the first professional footballer to volunteer for World War One and a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), Britain's highest military award (equivalent to the Medal of Honor).

Donny Bell played for Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Bradford Park Avenue before volunteering to fight in 1915. In the Battle of the Somme on July 5th, 1916, he used his athlete's speed to race audaciously across no-man's-land with two comrades in pursuit, to take out a German machine gun post, attacking with hand grenades and a revolver and accounting for over 50 soldiers.

"I must confess it was the biggest fluke alive," he modestly admitted. Five days later he tried the same thing and was shot dead.

Many, many sportsmen fought and died in the Great War - Tottenham for instance lost eleven players alone - but the only other footballer to win a VC was Celtic's Willie Angus, who took 40 bullets and lost an eye in an effort to save a friend stranded near enemy trenches. Unlike Bell, Angus (right) made it home alive from the Somme; 1,500,000 men did not.

-Sean O'Conor, London