Soccer star claims articles falsely linked him to crime

A former Premiership footballer claims a newspaper defamed him by falsely saying he was linked to Dublin gangland figures and crime.

David Speedie, aged 55, who played for a number of top English clubs in the ’80s and ’90s, including Liverpool and Chelsea, says he was disgusted and humiliated by two articles in the Sunday World in April 2011.

Mr Speedie has launched a High Court action, saying the articles falsely claimed he was linked to mobster Fat Freddy Thompson. They damaged his reputation and lost him work as a football pundit on Irish television and radio, he says.