Gary Speed memorial 'Talking Bench' to be unveiled at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Everton will unveil a Gary Speed Memorial Bench at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday, a lasting tribute to one of the club’s most admired former players.
The announcement comes on an especially poignant day for the Everton Family, as today marks the anniversary of Gary’s passing, 14 years ago.
Everton’s bench, dedicated in honour of Gary Speed and with the full blessing of his family, bears the message:
“IN MEMORY OF GARY SPEED, EVERTONIAN, CAPTAIN, LEADER 1969–2011.
A place for what is often unspoken. A place to sit, share and listen.”
Located centrally on the Budweiser Fan Plaza, the bench includes discreet signposting to professional mental health support services and crisis resources. A QR code provides direct access to the mental health programmes delivered by Everton in the Community, including The People’s Place, the first purpose-built mental health and wellbeing hub created by a Premier League club when it opened in March 2023.
Talking benches have been introduced across the UK as a simple but powerful way to encourage conversation, tackle loneliness and isolation, and signpost people to mental health support. They offer a space where individuals can pause, speak openly, or simply sit alongside others without judgment.
As part of the Club’s commitment to the Premier League’s ‘Together Against Suicide’ pilot, trained Everton in the Community staff will be based in the area around the bench before every home fixture. Supporters who wish to talk, seek support, or learn more about the services available will be able to approach staff confidentially and without appointment.
The installation of a talking bench was proposed by the Everton Fans’ Forum, who wanted to create a meaningful and positive legacy in Gary’s name. Its unveiling comes ahead of Saturday’s fixture against Newcastle United - the closest home game to the 14th anniversary of Gary’s tragic passing, and a match between two clubs he represented with distinction.
Gary’s family will visit the bench ahead of the game as part of the unveiling.
Reader Responses
Selected thoughts from readers27/11/2025 23:00:20
Full marks for this. If it saves one life it will be well worth it. RIP Gary, you won't be forgotten.
28/11/2025 00:41:04
This is just so right with tact and taste. A lovely memorial to a lovely fella with tragic dark demons, but, and this is so fitting and valuable, a resource for anyone who shares Gary's pain today. Well done everyone who worked on this from conception to completion.
28/11/2025 15:30:49
I can't bear the way these gobshite organisations cloak themselves in worthy causes. 'Arent' Everton wonderful? So concerned about mental health'. A place to sit, share and listen. You mean when you're not pushing gambling and porn on us?
it reminds me of FIFA and their 'non, to racisme ' for Blatter to hide behind. That's 2025 all over.
28/11/2025 16:18:01
Kevin (4) In a far from perfect world surely this is a positive initiative by the club in response to a proposal by the Fans’ Forum.
28/11/2025 16:29:45
John
good point about the proposal coming from the fans forum. That does put a different gloss on it. I still don't like the way these tragedies are appropriated. None of us know for sure why Gary Speed did what he did, putting these warm words next to a bench in his honour, it implies we all need to alter our behaviour and maybe such an occurrence may not have happened. But there is no way to know any of that.
28/11/2025 20:19:27
Kevin, first of all this is a memorial to a former player who mattered to many of us. There are quite a few of them.
And, second, suicide is the second biggest cause of death for UK males aged under 50. There will be people who will find this resource - it is a practical resource as well as a memorial - helpful. If it helps just one person it will be valuable. In any week, one-in-six people in the UK will be struggling to cope with a mental health issue.
Kevin, I have no idea what you are trying to say with your '. it implies we all need to alter our behaviour and maybe such an occurrence may not have happened'.
No it doesn't. There is a radical difference between raising awareness and altering behaviour. And if someone does pay more attention to this aspect of their life as a result of this bench, then I'm sure that you would agree with me that this is a good thing.
28/11/2025 20:55:00
Hopefully it gets used for the reason(s) it's been put there for and not for 'selfies' to put on Instagram/Facebook.
I was made up when we signed Gary, used to bore my mates to tears saying we should buy him, well before we actually did.
28/11/2025 23:11:35
Paul
I'm dubious about the whole thing I have to say. A memorial to someone who committed suicide, offering advice by providing a bench for people to 'pause, or sit with people without judgment'. It t sounds quite loaded. 'Yeah, don't judge me, you might make me suicidal'. You could argue that the whittling away of our group morality where people are 'judged' has helped move us to the catastrophic mess our societies are now in, including the disastrous rise in male suicide.
And even if something is done with good intentions it doesn't mean it can't also be a bad idea. Grand old team have a stream dedicated to people with depression. People go on there and unload. It's one of the most depressing things I've seen on the internet. They may think they are doing good, I'm not sure they are though. Preserving for posterity negative thoughts of people from five or ten years ago.
also look at Sepp Blatter's campaign against racism. For myself, I'd rather not be walking around with all these messages in my eyeline from some pretty dubious sources. People may not want to be reminded of suicide when they go the game, they may not want to be lectured to about racism from Sepp Blatter. Doesn't matter, they're gonna get it all the same.
29/11/2025 05:31:32
Fourteen years ???? My God. Seems like yesterday.
A beautiful memorial for a great blue brother
"Oh Lord,Please don't let me be misunderstood"
29/11/2025 12:05:54
I think when you try and understand your point of view then you make sense Kevin, but I also think having a little poignant place which pays homage to Gary Speed, alongside messaging that might just help people, also makes a lot of sense.
Suicide rates are unfortunately massive, and I often think of the saying “there but for the grace of god” and when I try to understand it, I often question how many people would still be living, if the hours before their death, had been just a little bit different?
Maybe someone in the future might be feeling suicidal and might decide to go and sit on this bench, and meet another like minded person, already sitting there. Maybe they get chatting and they both decide to meet each other next week?
A little bit deep, I know, but I’m not sure there are many things deeper than a person taking their own life because they’re feeling a little bit lost.
I will definitely visit this bench and reflect on the wonderful gift, which is life itself, and everything that goes with it.
29/11/2025 12:20:46
Different website, same reactionary bullshit from Kevin Molloy.
Are the wokerati still forcing you to watch women's football Kevin?
29/11/2025 15:15:43
Everything about the 21st Century encourages us to take up cynicism as a default position & I am not immune from that.
However I am firmly in the the Antony Abrahams camp on this; it is good for our mental wellbeing to take altruism at face value.
The bench is a gesture for 'good' & for me the acid test has been passed.
The family approve & that will do me.
Long may it remain in pristine condition to provide succour to whoever finds comfort there.
29/11/2025 22:49:30
Tony yes we’re not all going to agree. Gary Speed’s suicide is probably one of the saddest events in the last 20 years. I just don’t see the clear
Benefit for other people who may be struggling to be
reminded of it when they go to watch Everton as a bit
of escapism. If there was to be a tribute to GS it would have been better in my view for it to be a happy one.
30/11/2025 03:54:07
Kevin, its not that Tony doesn’t agree with you. It’s that nobody agrees with you.
If you think that you are going to persuade any of us to agree with your perspective on this, then let me tell you that you are wasting your time.
The memorial bench will be meaningful to Gary’s family and many supporters. It will also be put to use as a place where people who feel isolated or lonely can come and talk to another person.
You made your point, and you only have to make it once. You do yourself no favours by constantly coming back to arguments only you hold.
30/11/2025 09:22:25
I thought I had signed off on it in my last point Steve but thanks for the clarification.
01/12/2025 06:48:05
Kevin - 'If there was to be a tribute to GS it would have been better in my view for it to be a happy one'.
Think of what you are saying and think also of what Gary's family think of the emotional and practical value of this tribute. They, I know, value the fact that this memorial is also a resource for the many, yes, Evertonians - our brothers and sisters - who suffer Gary's pain.
This memorial/resource is 'happy'. We can smile with memories and fall sad at the same time, yet be happy that Gary's memory and life is being used in this way to help people who need help.
On this score, Kevin, you're in a minority of one. Your point that it detracts from matchday escapism is, quite frankly, ridiculous. We don't forget ourselves when we go to the match.
I will not be able to go to HDS until next year when, like Tony, I will sit on Gary's bench.
Genuine question. Will people be able to walk into the plaza whether or not it's a match-day to, if they wish, head to Gary's bench, or are the old BMD gates slammed shut when we are not playing?
01/12/2025 10:08:26
People can walk onto this side of the plaza, every day Paul, but you can’t walk right around the ground on non match days, you can only walk so far.
Also Paul, thanks for giving a reasonable response to Kevin, mate, because even though you got a bit blunt in the end, at least it came after you had given your own reasons for disagreeing with him.
Sometimes we learn a lot more from people we initially disagree with, but this can only happen when people treat each other with respect to begin with, imho.
01/12/2025 10:33:27
Paul
at the risk of infuriating Steve I'll expand on my view on it. I am sure a lot of people are supporting this, who wouldn't want to show their appreciation of a wonderful player who lost his life in such shocking circumstances. I just don't think this is a good way to do it. Gary Speed lived for over forty years, and achieved a lot more than most. And yet the memorial to his life will link us back to that last horrible day. I see no good from that. I think there is a reason historically people didn't highlight suicide, it is a depressing subject. 'Raising awareness' does no good, in fact there is a contagion element. Often if there is one suicide in a town, and it is publicised, it can lead to a spate of them. Also sharing negative thoughts, or a reminder of a tragic day, I don't think it serves a good purpose. The people who go the game I think would have en joyed a memorial which linked to his achievements and his enduring popularity, and the people who are struggling I am stone cold certain, will derive no benefit from sitting on that bench and thinking of Gary's last day. 'That his family support this I think is just because they were asked. it would be hard for them to say no, they probably like the idea of a memorial (which is a good idea). I just think it's a shame it's linked to suicide.
01/12/2025 13:58:18
Kevin, when you post on football it is interesting.
You bore me rather than infuriate me when you pivot onto your curious world view.
Which is far worse to be honest.
01/12/2025 14:25:15
Curious AND boring eh Steve? I'll take that, I seem to have all angles covered.
01/12/2025 14:44:24
I tend to agree with your view about this bench, Steve, but some of the things that Kevin, talks about are very real mate, and I’ve actually encountered something along the lines of what he his saying, first hand, mate.
What’s good for me and you, is not always so good for the next person and I do believe that some people who have been affected by suicide, might need to get away from the subject, rather than being reminded, which is maybe what Kevin is trying to say?
Through his writing, I often think Kevin, has lived a lot of life and this makes him interesting to me, (I find it boring, when people just dismiss others, with their main rationale being that they have a polar opposite view) but when it comes to football, I often find that Kevin’s total approval of David Moyes, can become a bit of a sticky point, if I’m being really honest!
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27/11/2025 19:33:32
Fantastic by the club,as men we keep everything bottled up. Chapeau.