, Aston Villa: former attacking midfielder dies after police taser deployed

Aston Villa: former attacking midfielder dies after police taser deployed

In news emerging through various sources, including the Shropshire Star, a man tasered by police died, with reports coming through that it was former Aston Villa defender Dalian Atkinson.

Whilst initial details were somewhat sketchy, the identity of the man was later confirmed to be that of 48-year-old Atkinson (see Tweet – below)

In a statement from West Mercia Police, the Shropshire Star quote a spokesman saying: “Officers responded to a report for the concern for the safety of an individual at approximately 1.30am this morning at an address in Telford. Upon arrival taser was deployed and a 48-year-old man, who subsequently received medical attention, was pronounced dead at approximately 3am.”

Shrewsbury-born Atkinson had a career that started at Ipswich before a £475,000 move to Sheffield Wednesday. What followed next, on August 1 1990 was a £1.79m move to Spanish side Real Sociedad, where he played one season in La Liga – making just four appearances but scoring three times.

Aston Villa paid the Spanish side almost what they had spent to take him to Spain, a £1.7m fee bringing the cultured midfielder back to English football and the Premier League mid-July 1991. Atkinson went on to make 76 appearances for Villa scoring 23 top-flight goals – the highlight being his 11 goals in 28 Premier League appearances in the 1992/93 campaign where Villa finished as runners-up to Manchester United.

Villa sold Atkinson to Turkish side Fenerbache at the beginning of the 1995/96 Premier League season, with him being loaned back to English football and Manchester City on March 1 1997. A return to Fenerbache saw Dalian Atkinson make a final move at the opening og the 1997 summer transfer window to Saudi side Ittihad where he finally called time on his football career two years later in 1999.

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