Aston Villa legend Jack Grealish has paid tribute to former coach Craig Shakespeare after his passing.
Devastating news broke on Thursday night as it was revealed that former Villa assistant manager Shakespeare had died after a battle with cancer.
Shakespeare had enjoyed a great coaching career. His biggest achievement was easily at Leicester City. At the East Midlands club, he was assistant manager to Claudio Ranieri when the Foxes shocked the world by lifting the Premier League title in the 2015/16 campaign.
Following this, he briefly became the Leicester manager, where he guided the club into the Champions League quarter-finals.
After departing the East Midlands club, he took numerous coaching roles before landing a job at Villa as the assistant manager to Dean Smith in 2020 where he stayed for just over a year.
During this time, he helped guide many of Villa’s current stars and former legends including Grealish.
Jack Grealish reveals heart-warming story about Craig Shakespeare
One player who Shakespeare left a lasting impression on at Villa was Grealish. The former Villa captain was coached by Shakespeare for a year before he departed for Man City.
However, despite the two parting ways, they both stayed in touch.
Grealish has revealed that when he did not get into the 2024 Euros squad last month, Shakespeare texted the winger despite his condition.
The former Villa captain went on to say that Shakespeare was ‘one of the greatest people he has ever met’ and that he had a ‘heart of gold’.
Craig Shakespeare is a legend of football
Throughout his career, Shakespeare did nothing but impress. Some of his achievements may never be repeated, especially with what he did at Leicester.
At Villa, he helped turn the club into a mid-table team and paved the way for many of the players to go on to succeed in their careers.
On top of this, Shakespeare is clearly a fantastic person and the impressions that he left of many of the players is proof of this. Football has just lost one of its best.
