FORMER RANGERS DEFENDER DIES AT 44

A Tottenham statement said Ehiogu died in hospital in the early hours of this morning.

Ehiogu, who was Spurs’ Under-23s coach, was capped four times by England.

He played at Ibrox for one season after joining in January 2007 following his release from Middlesbrough. The highlight of his career with the Light Blues was scoring the winning goal against Celtic in a league game at Parkhead in March that year.

John McDermott, Spurs’ Head of Coaching and Development, said: “Words cannot express the shock and sadness that we all feel at the club.

“Ugo’s immense presence will be irreplaceable.”

Ehiogu made over 200 appearances for Aston Villa between 1991 and 2000 and then spent seven years at Boro.

He won the League Cup with Villa in 1994 and 1996, and also with Boro in 2004.

As well as Rangers, the centre-back also played for West Brom, Leeds and Sheffield United, before retiring in 2009. He began coaching at Spurs in 2014.

He married his wife, Gemma, in 2005 and had two children – son Obi Jackson and daughter Jodie.

Villa will hold a minute’s applause before their Championship match against Birmingham City on Sunday, with both sets of players to wear black armbands.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton‏ posted: “Really upsetting news about Ugo Ehiogu. Football has lost a great player and a great man. Thoughts go out to his family. RIP Ugo.”

In Ugo’s last tweet on social media he talked about the great feeling he had after gifting £10 to a homeless girl.

Football has lost a real gentleman.