Monitoring of young players can be improved

Ryan McBride wasn't a household name across Europe, but now his passing is being marked, much like those of footballers who have died in similarly inexplicable circumstances, writes David Shonfield

The ‘football family’ is one of those expressions that can make you cringe, but there are times like today when it is appropriate.

Ryan McBride was not a household name in France, or Italy, or Germany, or Austria, or Poland — or England for that matter — but the sudden death of the Derry City captain has been marked right across Europe, much like the tragic passing of others who died in similarly inexplicable circumstances, both on and off the pitch.

“He was still playing on Saturday,” read the headline in Germany’s daily paper Bild, yesterday. In Italy, the Gazzetta dello Sporthighlighted the grief of Derry fans and the shock felt right across the Irish football community.

“This has had a huge echo in both Ireland and round the world,” said the Corriere dello Sport, which also talked of how Ryan’s boyhood dream had always been to play for Derry rather than Manchester United or Celtic.

There has been a similar reaction from L’Equipein France and the Spanish sports papers, not simply out of sympathy, but because of their memory of similar tragedies.

In Austria, the condolences have been particularly heartfelt, because of the story of Lukas Schubert, Ryan McBride’s Derry team-mate. Schubert, aged 27, like McBride, was forced to give up professional football because of heart problems, but returned after 21 months as an amateur and eventually signed a contract with Derry last May.

In Spain the thoughts are of Antonio Puerta and Daniel Jarque. Puerta was just 22 when he collapsed and lost consciousness during Sevilla’s opening game of the season in 2007.

He seemed to have recovered, but then collapsed again in the dressing room and died three days later. Jarque had been named as new captain of his club Espanyol just a month away from the start of the 2009 season.

He and his team-mates were abroad in pre-season training at the Italian national coaching centre in Florence when he collapsed. Despite all the facilities and medical support he died within the hour.

More shocking still was the death of Cameroon midfielder Marc-Vivien Foé during the 2003 Confederations Cup, followed by Benfica’s Hungarian striker Miklos Feher in a Portuguese league game just seven months later.

Both men received immediate medical attention on the pitch, but neither could be revived. The deaths had a major impact in France and Portugal, because the matches were being shown live on television and because of the visible grief and despair of both sets of players.

Procedures have been significantly improved to deal with medical emergencies during professional matches, as we saw five years ago, when Fabrice Muamba survived a cardiac arrest at White Hart Lane.

Equipment and expertise now has to be readily available, which was often not the case previously.

One example was in Italy’s Serie B, where Piermario Morosini died only a matter of days after the Muamba incident.

Fabrice Muamba survived a cardiac arrest at White Hart Lane, but Piermario Morosini died just days later during a Serie B match.

However, these are nearly all cases of emergencies and deaths during games, not a day or a day and a night later.

Such incidents can be much harder to monitor (and prevent) and sometimes there is nothing that can be done. All the same, there are concerns that monitoring of young players can still be improved.

Antonio Puerta, Daniel Jarque, Miklos Feher, and Marc-Viven Foé are among those whose tragic deaths are commemorated by their clubs and their countries.

Like them, Ryan McBride will be remembered.