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Speed’s widow reveals new letter showing Wales manager battled depression from age of 17

  /  autty

Gary Speed's wife has found a letter suggesting the troubled football icon struggled with mental health problems since he was 17.

Louise Speed, 48, said 'nobody seen it coming' when she found the father-of-two dead in their Chesire garage after hanging himself in 2011.

But she's now stumbled on a handwritten note he sent her when he was a teenager playing for Leeds United.

In it the Welshman said: 'I'm so depressed. I'm just going to go to sleep now and hope I never wake up. I love you so much.'

Gary had written the letter to Louise when the pair were dating as teenagers.

His widow found the note while helping Gary's journalist friend John ­Richardson write new book Gary Speed Unspoken: The Family's Untold Story.

She has no recollection of receiving the letter, but said it's the lightbulb moment that confirms the ex-Welsh manager was battling with depression from a young age.

Related: Leeds United