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Post by francegas on Aug 23, 2019 19:09:46 GMT
Hi guys. City fan in peace. I Promise I won’t hang around on your forum too long, but i just felt the need to say how truly gutted myself, and lots of my fellow red friends are at hearing the tragic news about ex gas striker junior agogo. Rivalries firmly put to one side, he was a cracking player for you guys, and just one of a long list of excellent strikers you’ve managed to recruit over the years, but more importantly, he always seemed a genuinely nice bloke who thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciated being a professional footballer. I know you’ll show your respects prematch tomorrow so give the young man a good old Bristol send off. Thank you. |
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Post by blueblood1883 on Aug 23, 2019 19:49:09 GMT
Hi guys. City fan in peace. I Promise I won’t hang around on your forum too long, but i just felt the need to say how truly gutted myself, and lots of my fellow red friends are at hearing the tragic news about ex gas striker junior agogo. Rivalries firmly put to one side, he was a cracking player for you guys, and just one of a long list of excellent strikers you’ve managed to recruit over the years, but more importantly, he always seemed a genuinely nice bloke who thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciated being a professional footballer. I know you’ll show your respects prematch tomorrow so give the young man a good old Bristol send off. Thanks Brisboy... You've summed up everything perfectly. I'm at an age where I was watching Bannister and Warboys as a kid but Junior is right up there and gave me so many happy memories. I've read some of the messages on OTIB in the Junior thread and have to say I was touched by the very kind words from your fellow reds. Respect to you and all of them... RIP Junior.. |
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Post by brisboy on Aug 23, 2019 20:14:45 GMT
blueblood1883, those names you mentioned are before my time but I’m sure they were fine players.
you guys have historically always seemed to produce gems from nowhere.
Re junior, yes, he was a fine player and has been taken from his friends and family far too soon.
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Post by markczgas on Aug 23, 2019 22:55:07 GMT
We've just published this to our website - A Tribute To Junior Agogo
A Tribute to Junior Agogo
1st August 1979 – 22nd August 2019
Everyone associated with the Bristol Rovers Former Players Association was saddened to learn of the death of former Rovers striker Junior Agogo at the age of 40. Manuel Junior Agogo was born in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on 1st August 1979 and was with Chelsea as a schoolboy footballer, although he signed for Sheffield Wednesday in October 1996. There followed loan spells with Oldham Athletic, Chester City, Chesterfield and Lincoln City before a move to America saw him turn out for Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids and San Jose Earthquakes. On his return to these shores he signed for Queens Park Rangers and, in June 2002 joined Barnet for what became just a solitary season. It was at Underhill though where he became a prolific scorer (19 goals in less than 40 appearances), earning a move to BS7, joining Rovers, initially on trial, in June 2003. The deal became a permanent one after the trial period and, in three years with the Gas he scored 45 goals in 120 starts and 20 sub appearances. Nottingham Forest paid £150,000 to secure his services in June 2006 and he later played for the Egyptian giants Zamalek and Apollon Limassol in Cyprus before appearing briefly for Hibernian in Scotland before retirement. Blessed with blistering pace and a striker’s predatory instinct Junior scored a number of memorable goals for Rovers and after his move to Forest he scored his first league hat trick. Along the way there were also 27 international caps, and 12 goals, for Ghana, including a stunning performance at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, the highlight of which was scoring the winner in the quarter final against rivals Nigeria. Ghana came 3rd overall and Junior was the Black Stars’ joint top scorer in the tournament (alongside Sulley Muntari), and the joint 5th highest scorer overall. Junior was hospitalised in January 2015, after an apparent stroke, and in 2017 featured in a BBC TV programme about how strokes affect, amongst other things, speech and language. We had some contact with his rehabilitation team, and progress was being made, so to hear of his passing at such a young age comes as quite a shock and our thoughts go out to his immediate family and friends. by Keith Brookman, with contributions from Martin Bull
 Great photo ! very sad to hear of his passing, he'll get a big send -off tomorrow. Think it could be quite emotional and I hope the players will feed off that and get 3 pts. |
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Post by Gassy on Aug 23, 2019 23:37:04 GMT
I have to admit, every time I think about this I get really down. Junior was at Rovers when I was 12-15 which IMO are probably the most vital years of falling in love with Rovers and the beginning of what is now an obsession.
I was saying to the gf that I didn't even know about his stroke. After watching the video and seeing how he felt disappointed/upset how he wasn't in contact with any club/colleague/players since his striker genuinely broke my heart. I really had a few tears going. If only I'd have seen the video before and I'd have messaged him, if we can bring Francisco form Argentina, we could have done something for Junior.
Honestly when someone within Rovers passes, I do mourn but I move on quickly. After all, I didn't know them. But this has really got to me, it really has. I can't shake the feeling of guilt that we could/should have done more for Junior since his incident.
At the very least I hope that this will raise awareness of mental health of players post-football. Is there any way that I can help with other ex-Rovers players? Do we have a foundation or something? I know John Kayes is big on this type of stuff - this story has really touched me and I'd like to do something and help where I can.
I won't be at the game tomorrow, I'll be watching on iFollow and whilst I'll be applauding in my living room without a doubt please give Junior the reception he deserves and sing goodnight to him tomorrow on my behalf.
RIP Junior.
Gutted.
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Post by Windmill Hill Gas on Aug 24, 2019 7:12:56 GMT
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Post by gashead1981 on Aug 24, 2019 7:35:20 GMT
I too remember that. Good game of football too. Who knows if those allegations played out the way the girl said, but ultimately he wasn’t guilty by a jury and it never soured my memory of him and I always hoped he would return one day, especially when we were struggling in L1 and then back in L2 and he seemed to be bouncing around Greek clubs. What I remember of Agogo is a player who was lightening fast, so strong on the ball with good feet and an ability to always find the far corners of the goal. His shots never seemed overly powerful it was just his accuracy that rewarded his attempt on goal. Most of all he seemed to play with a smile on his face as most of the tribute photos seem to show. |
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Post by rovers5charlton5 on Aug 24, 2019 17:28:25 GMT
Today's results of his former UK clubs
Rovers won
Forest won
QPR won
Barnet drew
Sheff Weds lost
Hibs drew
I think Junior would've enjoyed today 😊
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Post by gashead1981 on Aug 24, 2019 18:32:24 GMT
Big thanks to the Oxford fans for joining in with his tribute too.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2019 20:07:16 GMT
Thanks to all concerned today.
A fantastic tribute. Our club for all its faults, really does these things well and the number nine shirts were the icing on the cake, a fitting tribute to a great player and lovely person.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2019 20:14:26 GMT
I have to admit, every time I think about this I get really down. Junior was at Rovers when I was 12-15 which IMO are probably the most vital years of falling in love with Rovers and the beginning of what is now an obsession. I was saying to the gf that I didn't even know about his stroke. After watching the video and seeing how he felt disappointed/upset how he wasn't in contact with any club/colleague/players since his striker genuinely broke my heart. I really had a few tears going. If only I'd have seen the video before and I'd have messaged him, if we can bring Francisco form Argentina, we could have done something for Junior. Honestly when someone within Rovers passes, I do mourn but I move on quickly. After all, I didn't know them. But this has really got to me, it really has. I can't shake the feeling of guilt that we could/should have done more for Junior since his incident. At the very least I hope that this will raise awareness of mental health of players post-football. Is there any way that I can help with other ex-Rovers players? Do we have a foundation or something? I know John Kayes is big on this type of stuff - this story has really touched me and I'd like to do something and help where I can. I won't be at the game tomorrow, I'll be watching on iFollow and whilst I'll be applauding in my living room without a doubt please give Junior the reception he deserves and sing goodnight to him tomorrow on my behalf. RIP Junior. Gutted. Yeah I want to say it doesn’t reflect well on the club, but maybe that is slightly unfair...either way my heart goes out not only to Junior but to everyone who is going through what he did or even is just feeling isolated and cut off due to circumstance. For all the technology we have at our disposal it seems to be making us more disconnected as a society. There but for the grace of God go I... |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2019 0:07:21 GMT
I have to admit, every time I think about this I get really down. Junior was at Rovers when I was 12-15 which IMO are probably the most vital years of falling in love with Rovers and the beginning of what is now an obsession. I was saying to the gf that I didn't even know about his stroke. After watching the video and seeing how he felt disappointed/upset how he wasn't in contact with any club/colleague/players since his striker genuinely broke my heart. I really had a few tears going. If only I'd have seen the video before and I'd have messaged him, if we can bring Francisco form Argentina, we could have done something for Junior. Honestly when someone within Rovers passes, I do mourn but I move on quickly. After all, I didn't know them. But this has really got to me, it really has. I can't shake the feeling of guilt that we could/should have done more for Junior since his incident. At the very least I hope that this will raise awareness of mental health of players post-football. Is there any way that I can help with other ex-Rovers players? Do we have a foundation or something? I know John Kayes is big on this type of stuff - this story has really touched me and I'd like to do something and help where I can. I won't be at the game tomorrow, I'll be watching on iFollow and whilst I'll be applauding in my living room without a doubt please give Junior the reception he deserves and sing goodnight to him tomorrow on my behalf. RIP Junior. Gutted. Yeah I want to say it doesn’t reflect well on the club, but maybe that is slightly unfair...either way my heart goes out not only to Junior but to everyone who is going through what he did or even is just feeling isolated and cut off due to circumstance. For all the technology we have at our disposal it seems to be making us more disconnected as a society. There but for the grace of God go I... I personally attempted to get in touch with junior last year after seeing his troubles, I invited him down as a special guest of the clubs and to the memorial charity game, junior read my message but never came back to me which is a shame but In his position understandable. I think that the FPA also attempted to make contact if I recall correctly, not at all bad words against junior of course but there were offers made and I can only assume he didn’t feel up to it. On a plus note the agogo shirts from today are being sold and the cash being donated to juniors family to help with his funeral costs. UTG |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2019 1:35:04 GMT
Yeah I want to say it doesn’t reflect well on the club, but maybe that is slightly unfair...either way my heart goes out not only to Junior but to everyone who is going through what he did or even is just feeling isolated and cut off due to circumstance. For all the technology we have at our disposal it seems to be making us more disconnected as a society. There but for the grace of God go I... I personally attempted to get in touch with junior last year after seeing his troubles, I invited him down as a special guest of the clubs and to the memorial charity game, junior read my message but never came back to me which is a shame but In his position understandable. I think that the FPA also attempted to make contact if I recall correctly, not at all bad words against junior of course but there were offers made and I can only assume he didn’t feel up to it. On a plus note the agogo shirts from today are being sold and the cash being donated to juniors family to help with his funeral costs. UTG Good to hear that attempts were made, I can't bring myself to watch the video but it sounds like he was in a bad way and may have subconsciously not had the confidence to be in a public setting at Rovers with his post stroke issues. I really hope he is at peace now. |
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Post by stapletongas on Aug 25, 2019 10:03:11 GMT
I met Junior once.
Back around then I had a hand in organising the Bristol Fans Derby between Rovers and City fans on the end of each season.
Leading up to a game one year we had a fundraising event in the bar at the Mem. Junior gave up his time to join us for the night, mingled with everyone, did the raffle draw and was an absolute star and a gentleman.
40 is no age and his passing is such sad news.
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Post by Gassy on Aug 31, 2019 9:03:07 GMT
Any updates on the auctioning of the Agogo shirts used in the warm up?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2019 14:57:47 GMT
Any updates on the auctioning of the Agogo shirts used in the warm up? The shirts are now available in the club shop, signed by all the current squad for £140. All proceeds to Juniors wife and family. |
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Post by BRFPA on Sept 6, 2019 15:58:40 GMT
I personally attempted to get in touch with junior last year after seeing his troubles, I invited him down as a special guest of the clubs and to the memorial charity game, junior read my message but never came back to me which is a shame but In his position understandable. I think that the FPA also attempted to make contact if I recall correctly, not at all bad words against junior of course but there were offers made and I can only assume he didn’t feel up to it. On a plus note the agogo shirts from today are being sold and the cash being donated to juniors family to help with his funeral costs. UTG Good to hear that attempts were made, I can't bring myself to watch the video but it sounds like he was in a bad way and may have subconsciously not had the confidence to be in a public setting at Rovers with his post stroke issues. I really hope he is at peace now. This seems to be a fair summary. Yes, we tried to have contact and had contact with his speech therapists and via a very brief Facebook message, but it never went further. Offers of help were there. Sadly I suspect the unusual lack of confidence in a previously gregarious and globe trotting man may have had a real impact. Some people / families also prefer not to receive help. Not suggesting this is how Junior felt but it has happened before with us, when a family wanted to deal with a former legend's declining health themselves, without any help or publicity. |
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Post by Gassy on Sept 7, 2019 1:11:05 GMT
Any updates on the auctioning of the Agogo shirts used in the warm up? The shirts are now available in the club shop, signed by all the current squad for £140. All proceeds to Juniors wife and family. Cheers! I saw this, of I wasn’t out of the country I reckon I’d geuunely buy this |
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Post by BishopstonBRFC on Sept 7, 2019 7:32:17 GMT
One of my fondest memories of Junior was at an away game at Mansfield, ripped their defence to pieces with two great goals RIP Junior you gave me some fantastic memories Great day out this. Everyone singing "we are going up" after 1 game. Didn't quite work out though! |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2019 7:35:18 GMT
The shirts are now available in the club shop, signed by all the current squad for £140. All proceeds to Juniors wife and family. Cheers! I saw this, of I wasn’t out of the country I reckon I’d geuunely buy this I’m sure if you called the shop and made the payment they would put one aside for you until you get back? |
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