R.I.P

: Ex-Arsenal player died in a car crash, aged 35

Former Arsenal, Sevilla and Real Madrid player Jose Antonio Reyes has died in a car crash, aged 35, Spanish club Sevilla have announced. Jose Antonio Reyes was the first Arsenal player I met outside of a match. Very sad to hear he has sadly passed away today. I was 15, in Wood Green’s Footlocker when I saw him walk in with his family. He’d just joined Arsenal and I was excited beyond reason. By the time I summed up the courage to ask for this autograph, he’d already left the store. I was distraught. Quickly, I asked one the members of staff for a pen and chased him down the street screaming “REYES! REYES! WAIT!” After catching up with him, he looked a bit perplexed… He didn’t speak English so i just pointed at the pen. Again he looked confused, so I took off my jumper to reveal my Arsenal shirt. He said “Ohhhh” and something else in Spanish that made his family laugh, with that cheeky grin of his. Of course he signed it. Genuinely one of the happiest moments of my life  Also, I kinda looked like him growing up. Back in secondary school, a lot of younger kids called me “Reyes”. Very sad day today.