{"id":2653,"date":"2026-04-19T16:18:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T16:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=2653"},"modified":"2026-04-19T16:18:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T16:18:39","slug":"graham-thorpes-son-hails-hero-gareth-southgate-for-actions-after-cricket-icons-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=2653","title":{"rendered":"Graham Thorpe&#8217;s son hails &#8216;hero&#8217; Gareth Southgate for actions after cricket icon&#8217;s death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_fd7405\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">England cricket icon Graham Thorpe tragically died in 2024 after taking his own life at the age of 55 and his son Henry has opened up on the support he received from former England boss Gareth Southgate<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37039151\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Graham Thorpe \" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039151.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-1237527895.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039151.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_GettyImages-1237527895.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039151.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_GettyImages-1237527895.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039151.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-1237527895.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Graham Thorpe tragically passed away in 2024\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Graham Thorpe tragically passed away in 2024<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty Images\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The son of England cricket icon Graham Thorpe has opened up on a message of support he received from \u2018hero\u2019 Gareth Southgate after his dad\u2019s death. Thorpe heartbreakingly passed away back in 2024 after taking his own life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He died aged 55, just two years after losing his job as England assistant coach. His son Henry has since admitted how hard he found it coming to terms with his dad\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Speaking in an interview with <a aria-label=\"The TelegraphLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/gift\/596071b5dadcb37c\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">The Telegraph<\/a>he revealed that he didn\u2019t learn of the true circumstances of his death until six months after, while he also said that he &#8216;spiralled&#8217; and &#8216;was in a really dark place&#8217; afterwards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">But he has revealed how a touching message from former England football boss Southgate helped him get through one of the toughest moments of his life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He said: \u201cGareth was at my dad&#8217;s day at the Oval last summer. I wasn&#8217;t having a great day, to be honest, it was a really tough day. I really wanted to talk to him but it just wasn&#8217;t right. I was on edge.<\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_918ad2\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Ben Stokes reveals how close he was to life-changing injury &#8211; &#8216;Might not be here&#8217;<\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_918ad2\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Shane Warne&#8217;s son blames Covid vaccine for Australian cricket icon&#8217;s death<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">JOIN US ON FACEBOOK!<\/strong> <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MirrorSport#\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"\/><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><u>All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI sent him a message on LinkedIn a couple of months later, not expecting him to ever see it. He wrote me an email of about 500 words.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cHe was so kind in sharing his number and linking me up with other people that I&#8217;ve connected with since. From a leadership and a transformational culture perspective, he is a genuine hero of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Following his father\u2019s death, Henry eventually left his job with M&#038;C Saatchi Merlin. And while he is aware of the emotional toll of his passing, it has actually given him a fresh perspective of Thorpe\u2019s career and achievements.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37039147\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37039147\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Gareth Southgate\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039147.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2222944739-1.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039147.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_GettyImages-2222944739-1.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039147.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GettyImages-2222944739-1.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37039147.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2222944739-1.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Gareth Southgate sent Thorpe's son Henry a touching message\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Gareth Southgate sent Thorpe&#8217;s son Henry a touching message<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty Images\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Henry added: \u201cNo one ever prepares you for death, no one ever prepares you for your dad to die. No one ever prepares you for a suicide death. No one ever prepares you for your dad to be Graham Thorpe and to die like that. You could sit and talk about it for hours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cAt different phases of your life you wish you had done it all differently. All these feelings that it can create within you; anger, resentment and sadness. Also just genuine pride that my dad was who he was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Thorpe represented England between 1993 and 2005, earning 564 caps in the process. He scored a stunning 16 test centuries during his time playing for his country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Thorpe moved into coaching immediately after his career with England ended. He was announced as the new head coach of Afghanistan in March 2022 but fell ill before beginning the role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>England cricket icon Graham Thorpe tragically died in 2024 after taking his own life at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}