Matty Wells | Ugo Ehiogu - our special relationship and a day fitting of his memory

Matty Wells has taken us behind the scenes of an ‘emotional’ weekend where he spoke to the playing squad about his friend, former colleague and our Academy coach Ugo Ehiogu ahead of our fine win against Aston Villa on Sunday - the day that would have been Ugo’s 52nd birthday.

Ange Postecoglou explained after the 4-1 victory that Matt’s words had proved to be ‘a bit of an inspiration’ for the team. “Wellsy did him proud, the way he spoke about him,” Ange told us on the Review Show. “And that had a real effect on the players.”

Now Ange’s Senior Assistant Coach, Matty began his coaching journey with our Under-13s, before moving up to work alongside Ugo in the summer of 2014, when Ugo joined our Academy set up as coach of our Under-21s (soon re-classified as Under-23s), a role he held until his sad passing in April, 2017 after suffering a cardiac arrest at our training centre. He was just 44.

Capped four times by England, Ugo was a towering centre-half in his playing days, where he made over 500 appearances for the likes of Villa, Middlesbrough, Leeds United, Rangers and Sheffield United. Twice a League Cup winner, and a long-time defensive partner of former England boss Gareth Southgate, Ugo passed all the knowledge and experience of almost 20 years at the top of the game to his young players.

Our obituary summed this up... ‘he carried himself with the utmost humility, was a good and willing listener to those inside and outside of our coaching and playing staff and took personal pride in helping each individual player to improve, no detail overlooked during countless hours of training and guidance. He stuck by his players week in, week out, no matter the results on the field and when it was time to go home, he'd turn away from the exit door and instead go and lend his experience to coaching sessions for our younger age groups. His passion for the beautiful game shone through every day, reflected in his beaming, unwavering smile’.

Those were memories Matty was happy to tap into in front of the squad as Sunday approached, as he told us on Monday…

Matty: “Back in 2014, I’d been coaching the Under-13s and, being honest, I was getting itchy feet a bit, because I felt I was more than ready to work with the older players. I’d had quite a few conversations with John McDermott (our former Head of Coaching and Player Development) about it and he said, ‘be patient’ and the opportunity coincided with Tim Sherwood moving up to the first team with Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey, so it opened up at the time, and John put myself and Ugo together, thinking it would be a good fit. That was it, really. We worked really well together, got on really well, and formed a close bond and friendship. You’re in each other’s pockets working every day together. His wife, Gemma, used to call me his mistress! I spoke to Ugo non-stop, and that’s what football’s like as Head Coach and assistant, it can be an intense relationship and I’m really thankful for that, because it made us so close and that’s in life in general, socialising together as well. It was a really happy and important time for me and my career as we started that coaching journey together with the intention of going into first team football. It’s a period I look back on with great fondness...

Matty: “So, I spoke at the end of the team meeting on Saturday. It was a good opportunity to talk about Ugo, not least the timing of it, with Sunday his birthday and we’re playing Villa, the club he’s most associated with as a player, alongside Middlesbrough. The gaffer gave me the opportunity to do it, so I put up a photograph of the pair of us sat together in the Academy restaurant back in the day. We had the salt and pepper shakers out and we were planning our pressing strategy for a game against Chelsea. Jenny Stephens (our former Assistant Football Secretary) came through and snapped the photo, the two of us sat at the table, salt and pepper set up 11 vs 11! I was telling the lads what that photo symbolised and what it meant to me, and the whole timing of it, his birthday on Sunday. I wasn’t linking it to the game and saying, ‘let’s win it for Ugo’, it was just a way of bringing everyone closer with that family vibe, and I just thought it was a chance to show a bit of vulnerability, because the lads don’t normally see that side of it. They only really know me as a coach and wouldn’t have known what I went through, and what I’m still going through and processing. Everyone can relate to it, though, because everyone has had people they’ve loved and lost. So, it was just about that and my relationship now with Ugo’s wife Gemma, and his son, Obi. It was a nice moment and a privilege to be able to share that with them...

“Then, before the game, the gaffer, at the end of his team talk, something I didn’t know he was going to do, but off the back of that, put a picture of Ugo up on the screen in the dressing room before the game, which was really nice, and he spoke a bit about my talk and the pain I’ve gone through and just linked it back to the squad and how everyone can relate to that and the fact that it was Ugo’s birthday and, again, not saying, ‘let’s win for Ugo’, but more about the togetherness vibe. I didn’t know he was going to mention it in his interviews after the game and in the dressing room afterwards, he caught me off guard a little, he came in and where he usually does his team talk, he stood up and said, ‘Wellsy, the floor’s yours’, and let me speak to the lads again. I couldn’t tell you what I said, because I was quite emotional, so I just rambled on a little and thanked them all for the performance. It was a memorable day with the victory and performance and, for me, on many emotional levels as well. It was class from the gaffer...

“It’s been nice to talk about it this week. It’s something I’ve struggled with, especially with the nature of how everything happened, the trauma, I guess, of witnessing it, being there. In a way, it was quite Cathartic. I did get quite emotional, but I said to the lads, it’s also been a privilege to be able to share memories of Ugo with them and I’m glad the performance and the victory made it a special occasion. It’s certainly a day I’ll remember for a long, long time.”