Final hours: Gary Speed appears on the BBC's Football Focus with Gary McAllister on November 26, broadcast from its studios in Salford, hours before he was discovered dead

She said her son's death left herself and her husband in 'complete shock'.

'Looking back, Gary was always a glass-half-empty person, certainly no optimist,' her statement added.

Dan Walker, the presenter of Football Focus, spent four hours on and off camera with Speed the day before he died and he said he was left stunned by the tragedy.

Speaking in the days after the death, he said Speed had been 'as bubbly as I have known him...It's awful to think that someone who was so gifted and so well liked with the rest of his life to look forward to has been so cruelly removed.'

Tributes to Speed poured in from around the world after news of his death spread. A public memorial service to celebrate his life is planned to take place later this year.

The Football Association of Wales has also said that the national team’s game against Costa Rica on February 29 will be dedicated to their former manager.

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