Dead Pool 11th January 2026

Quite a deadly week for the football community, far more footballers than I have listed here kicked their final ball. Plus we have seen the last of pseudoscience poster boy, Erich von Däniken. Perhaps we’ll hear less from the mad hatters claiming humans did not build the Pyramids, Stonehenge etc…  

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Pa O’Dwyer, 40, Irish strongman. 
• Jayne Trcka, 62, American bodybuilder, fitness model and actress (Scary Movie). 
• Eva Schloss, 96, Austrian-British Holocaust survivor and memoirist.
• Terry Wharton, 83, English footballer (Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace). 
• Martin Chivers, 80, English footballer (Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, national team). 
• Tony Field, 79, English footballer (Blackburn Rovers, Southport, Memphis Rogues). 
• Terry Yorath, 75, Welsh football player and manager (Leeds United, national team). 
• Molly Parkin, 93, Welsh painter, novelist and journalist. 
• T. K. Carter, 69, American actor (The Thing, Punky Brewster, Runaway Train). 
• Erich von Däniken, 90, Swiss author and ufologist. 
• Bob Weir, 78, American musician (Grateful Dead) and songwriter (“Sugar Magnolia“, “One More Saturday Night“), complications from cancer.  
• Tina Packer, 87, British actress (David Copperfield, Doctor Who) and stage director, co-founder of Shakespeare & Company. 

In Other News

Football legend Kevin Keegan has been diagnosed with cancer, his family has said. In a statement published on Wednesday, his family said the former England international was recently admitted to hospital for “further evaluation of ongoing abdominal symptoms”. “These investigations have revealed a diagnosis of cancer, for which Kevin will undergo treatment,” the statement continued. “Kevin is grateful to the medical team for their intervention and ongoing care. During this difficult time, the family are requesting privacy, and will be making no further comment.” The statement was released by Newcastle United, the club Keegan both played for and managed and remains closely associated with. Affectionately known as “King Kev”, he scored 204 goals in 592 appearances during an illustrious club career and 21 goals in 63 international caps. He began his playing career at Scunthorpe United before moving to Liverpool, where he won three First Division titles as well as two Uefa Cups, the FA Cup and the European Cup. The 74-year-old later had spells at Hamburg – where he won the Bundesliga, was twice named European Footballer of the Year, and reached the European Cup final – and Southampton before he joined Newcastle. He helped the Magpies secure promotion from the Second Division in his second season. He retired in 1984 before moving into management, returning to Newcastle in 1992. Newcastle sealed promotion to the Premier League in his first full season, and he later took charge of Fulham, England, and Manchester City before a second spell with Newcastle in 2008, his most recent managerial role. 

A grandmother in Wales who became an internet hit after being hoisted 10ft into the air by a shop’s shutters has died. Anne Hughes’ coat had got entangled in the electronic shutters as they were being opened and she was left dangling upside down. A CCTV video of the incident, which thankfully left her unscathed, was viewed more than 100 million times. Although initially somewhat embarrassed, Anne soon saw the funny side and ended up embracing her newfound fame. Now it’s emerged that she sadly passed away shortly before Christmas, after being diagnosed with cancer. A family friend said: ‘Anne was lovely and, luckily for her and everyone else, she had a good sense of humour. She quite enjoyed her moment of notoriety and she definitely saw the funny side. It’s sad that she’s gone but she has left us with a memory that will always bring a smile to people’s faces.’ Anne was working as a part-time cleaner at the Best One Shop in Tonteg when she was taken for the unexpected ride in March 2024. The video shows her waiting out the front of the store as shopkeeper Amir Akram – who is out of shot – begins opening the shutters. Anne’s coat then gets caught and the shutters start to lift her up. She tries to unhook herself but with no success and keeps rising – the whole time holding on to her shopping trolly. After hearing Anne’s cries Amir rushes out and manages to lower her safely down to the ground. The store later posted the video on its Facebook site, with the caption: ‘Don’t hang about like Anne, come down to best one to get the best deals!!! The only thing going up in this shop is our staff, not the prices!!’ Anne told the media at the time: ‘It could only happen to me. I was embarrassed, who wouldn’t be? But looking back I can see the funny side. And I’ve quite enjoyed the fame, people ask me for selfies next to the shutters.’ In honour of Anne and her unexpected adventure, a graffiti artist spray painted an image of the granny in her famous upside down position on the shop’s shutters. Although she took all the attention in her stride, Anne also wanted to get on with family life and turned down numerous appearances to appear on shows like Good Morning Britain and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year. 

BBC host Nick Owen has returned home after undergoing surgery after being diagnosed with kidney cancer. The 78 year old, who presents BBC Midlands Today, was hospitalised before  Christmas to undergo treatment. The news of his second cancer diagnosis comes a little under two years after he made a full recovery from prostate cancer. He returned to TV screens later in 2023. Nick has since admitted it had been a “tough” ordeal for the broadcaster and his wife following his most recent health announcement. The presenter also shared he was thankful he made it through the operation in a candid admission. He explained: “I am so relieved to have come through the operation after a traumatic time, especially after what my wife Vicki and our family went through when I had prostate cancer. It’s been tough, but things are picking up now.” Speaking about his recent treatment, Nick told the Flying Monkeys: “The NHS has been absolutely brilliant – from my GP, who was so thorough in getting me a diagnosis, to all the medics at Russells Hall Hospital. I am forever grateful.” Nick had been open about his prostate cancer treatment and encouraged men to get tested. Owen has been on screens for the past 50 years making his first appearance the very first Good Morning Britain in 1983, before forming one of the nation’s favourite on-screen partnerships with Anne Diamond on ITV and then for Good Morning with Anne and Nick on BBC One. 

On This Day

• 1922 – Leonard Thompson becomes the first person to be injected with insulin.
• 2003 – Illinois Governor George Ryan commutes the death sentences of 167 prisoners on Illinois’s death row based on the Jon Burge scandal.
• 2020 – Municipal health officials in Wuhan announce the first recorded death from COVID-19.

Deaths

• 2013 – Tom Parry Jones, Welsh chemist, invented the breathalyser (born 1935).
• 2014 – Ariel Sharon, Israeli politician, 11th Prime Minister of Israel (born 1928).
• 2015 – Anita Ekberg, Swedish-Italian model and actress (born 1931).

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jason Connery (63), Jemaine Clement (52), Evan Handler (65), J.K. Simmons (71), Joely Richardson (61), Imelda Staunton (70), James Acaster (41), Cynthia Erivo (39), Michelle Forbes (61), Amber Benson (49), Nicolas Cage (62), Jeremy Renner (55), Linda Kozlowski (68), Erin Gray (76), Lewis Hamilton (41), Rowan Atkinson (71), Eddie Redmayne (44), Kate McKinnon (42), Norman Reedus (57), Genevieve O’Reilly (49), Bradley Cooper (51), Robert Duvall (95), Clancy Brown (67), January Jones (48), and Vinnie Jones (61).