Tottenham coach and former England international Ugo Ehiogu dies at 44

Tottenham Hotspur Under-23 coach and former England international Ugo Ehiogu has died aged 44.

The former Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and England defender was rushed to hospital after collapsing at the club's training ground on Thursday (20 April) afternoon after suffering a cardiac arrest. The former defender received immediate treatment at the club's training facilities in Enfield before being transferred to hospital in an ambulance.

He passed away in the early hours of Friday morning.

A statement from Tottenham read: "It is with immense sadness that we announce the passing pf Ugo Ehiogu, our Under-23 coach. Ugo received immediate treatment after suffering a cardiac arrest at the training centre yesterday before being transferred to hospital, where he passed away in the early hours of this morning. The club sends its deepest condolences to Ugo's family."

Tottenham have announced both teams will wear black armbands during Saturday's FA Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea at Wembley to mark the passing of their coach. All academy matches scheduled to take place over the weekend have been cancelled, while the Premier League 2 match between Tottenham and Manchester United's Under-23s has been postponed.

Tottenham's head of coaching and player development John McDermott who worked alongside Ehiogu said: "Words cannot express the shock and sadness that we all feel at the club. Ugo's immense presence will be irreplaceable. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife Gemma and his family."

Ehiogu had a 20-year playing career with West Brom, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Leeds United, Rangers and Sheffield United, winning four caps for his country between 1996 and 2002. The Londoner was appointed Tottenham's Under-21 boss in 2014.

After beginning his career as a trainee at West Brom, Ehiogu would go onto make over 300 appearances for Villa between 1991 and 2000, winning the League Cup twice with the Midlands club. He was also part of the side that reached the FA Cup final against Chelsea in 2000.

The former centre-half then spent seven years with Middlesbrough after joining the club for a then-club record fee, winning another League Cup medal in 2004 under Steve McClaren.

He scored his only goal for England in Seven Goran-Eriksson's first game as Three Lions boss in a 3-0 friendly victory over Spain in 2001.