Ugo Ehiogu tribute - Dancing the night away with Daryl Burgess
Ugo Ehiogu started his playing career as an Albion trainee before Villa snapped him up at the age of 18, but although he only made two appearances in blue and white, he left a lasting impact.
Daryl Burgess was two years older than him, and remembers being gobsmacked when he first saw him play.
The long-serving Albion defender, who stayed in touch with Ehiogu via Saturday nights at Liberty’s nightclub in Birmingham, believes his old friend should have won far more than just four England caps.
“At the end of my first year as a pro there was a trial game for the next set of apprentices at The Hawthorns,” revealed Burgess. “We went and watched it and there was this big, tall kid at the back who looked like he still had his coat hanger in his top his shoulders were that big. It was Ugo.”
Ehiogu only won four England caps, and was unlucky to be playing at the same time as the likes of Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Gareth Southgate, Sol Campbell, and Rio Ferdinand.
But Burgess said: “He should have been in the England squad more than he actually was. He should have got a lot more caps, he was absolutely immense.
“When he started out he looked a bit uncomfortable, he was very rangy. But within 18 months of going to the Villa he was established in the first team and he just grew and grew.
“He played with some great players like Paul McGrath and became a top class defender. He was quick, powerful, strong, he had those inspector gadget legs that got round corners.”
Burgess was ‘devastated’ by the news on Friday morning because he knew Ehiogu well.
“When he was at West Brom he used to live in digs with a good friend of mine, Kwame Ampadu, so I probably saw him a bit more than the other guys because I was hanging about with Kwame,” he explained. "He was warm, friendly he always had time for you.”
But even when Ehiogu left for Villa, he kept in touch with the Baggie boys, and would catch up with them on Saturday nights in Liberty’s nightclub in Birmingham.
“We’d head to the back bar, have a drink and a chat and a giggle,” said Burgess. “There tended to be a regular crowd from Blues, Villa, and West Brom. I’d be there with Kwame, Ugo would always be there with Dwight Yorke, they were very close, and Dean Saunders was there too.
“Even when I was established at West Brom and he was established at Boro and playing for England, I’d bump into him.
“But there was no hierarchy there, he was sound. He was an England international, but he used to sit and talk and we’d talk about nothing. He was so down to earth."
Shocked by the news, Burgess paid tribute to the gentle giant who enriched his own life.
“You just wouldn’t expect this to happen at this stage of his life," he said. "He was still coaching (for Tottenham), I’d imagine he was a lot fitter than most of us.”
