it brings a tear to my eye thinking of this one of my favourite players to grace the sky blue shirt
Marc-Vivien Foé (born May 1, 1975 in [Yaoundé]], - died June 26, 2003 in Lyon, France), posthumously decorated with the Commander of the National Order of Valour, was a Cameroonian international football player, who played in midfield for both club and country. With success in the French League, and stints in the English Premiership, his sudden death, whilst in the middle of an international competitive fixture, came as a shock to the world-wide footballing community
Foé started his career as a junior with Second Division Union Garoua,[2] before moving to Canon Yaoundé, one of the biggest clubs in Cameroon, where he won the Cameroon Cup in 1993.[3] He made his international debut against Mexico in September 1993,[4] and the following year he was included in the Cameroon squad for the 1994 World Cup, starting all three of Cameroon's matches.[5] His performances in the tournament prompted interest from European clubs. After turning down an offer to join Auxerre as a trainee, he signed for another French club, RC Lens of Ligue 1.[6] Foé made his Lens debut on 13 August 1994 in a 2–1 win against Montpellier.[6] During his five seasons at Lens he won the French league title in 1998. In the close season he was targeted by Manchester United, who had a £3 million offer refused.[7] Further negotiations took place, but were curtailed abruptly when Foé sustained a broken leg at Cameroon's pre-World Cup training camp.[8] As a result, he missed the 1998 World Cup. Shortly after his recovery from injury Foé moved to English Premier League club West Ham United, who paid a club record £4.2 million in January 1999.[9] He played 38 league matches for West Ham, scoring one goal.[10]
He moved back to France to play for Olympique Lyonnais in 2000. In that same year, he suffered from a bout of malaria but recovered and went on to win the French league Cup in 2001 and the French league title in 2002. He was part of the Cameroon squad in the 2002 World Cup. As in 1994, he played in all of Cameroon's matches, but the team were eliminated at the group stage.[10]
Foé made a return to the English Premier League when he was loaned to Manchester City for the 2002–03 season, Manchester City paying a £550,000 fee for the loan.[11] He made his City debut on the opening day of the season in a 3–0 defeat against Leeds United. Foé was a first team regular for Kevin Keegan's team, starting 38 of the club's 41 matches in all competitions. His first goal for the club came against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on 9 December 2002,[12] and over the course of the next month he scored a further five goals. In total he scored nine goals for the club, the last of these having particular significance; his second goal in a 3–0 victory against Sunderland on 21 April 2003 was the club's final goal at their Maine Road stadium.[13]
Foé's death caused a profound shock. Numerous tributes to the man's joyous personality and infectious humour were expressed in the media. Also Thierry Henry and other players pointed to the sky in tribute to Foé after Henry had opened the scoring against Turkey in France's Confederations Cup semi-final that evening. [17] Many suggestions for ways to honour the life of Marc-Vivien Foé were made after his death: it was suggested that the Confederations Cup and the Stade Gerland could have been renamed after him, and former Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan announced that the club would no longer use the number 23 shirt Foé wore during his successful season there. At Manchester City's ground; the City of Manchester Stadium there is a small memorial to him in the stadium's memorial garden, and on the walls of the players' tunnel are plaques paid for by supporters, with their names, dubbed the Walk of Pride. The first plaque on the wall is for Marc and reads "Marc Vivien Foé - 1975 - 2003". His first club (Racing Club de Lens) has given his name to an avenue near the Félix Bollaert Stadium. Foé was given a state funeral in Cameroon.[18]
Olympique Lyonnais also decided to withdraw the number 17 shirt that Foé wore a year before when he played in Stade de Gerland with the Lyon team. People in Lyon were shocked as he had received a warm welcome on his return to the stadium
city have also retired the number 23, ino this is a long post but he deserves it.. :down: :down:
