Dalian Atkinson

Early career

Atkinson first came to prominence at Ipswich Town as a teenager, impressing seasoned experts with his speed and daring, which included a hat-trick against a Middlesbrough side containing Gary Pallister and future Ipswich captain Tony Mowbray at the heart of their defence, in the 1987–88 season. In 1989, manager Ron Atkinson (no relation) brought him to Sheffield Wednesday for £450,000 where he formed a fine front partnership with David Hirst for a single season. He was an ever-present in the league for Sheffield Wednesday in his only season there, scoring 10 goals but being unable to prevent them from being relegated. After relegation he was sold to Real Sociedad for £1.7 million. The San Sebastián-based team had recently broken a tradition of only signing local players in order to bring British player Kevin Richardson and Ireland international John Aldridge to the club, making Atkinson their third foreigner and also the first black player in their history. He was nicknamed El txipiron (The squid) by Sociedad fans during the 1990–91 season. His team did not have a good year, although Atkinson made a good contribution over the season, scoring 12 goals in La Liga. Atkinson was racially abused by opposition fans during his time in Spain.

Aston Villa

The 23-year-old joined Aston Villa for £1.6 million in July 1991, and formed a strike partnership with Dean Saunders when Saunders arrived from Liverpool a year after Atkinson arrived there from Real…

Atkinson represented the England B side in a friendly 4–1 loss against Republic of Ireland B on 27 March 1990. He scored England's only goal in the game.

Following the end of his professional football career, Atkinson returned to Telford where he ultimately lived at Little Dawley. He formed a sports consultancy for clubs, players and agents called "Players Come First", but the business was dissolved in November 2015.

Death

In his last years, Atkinson experienced heart and kidney problems. He died on 15 August 2016 after being tasered by police near his father's house in Trench, Telford. Police had responded to a call as Atkinson threatened to kill his father, Ernest. Atkinson's older brother Kenroy said "My brother had lost it. He was in a manic state and depressed – out of his mind and ranting. He had a tube in his shoulder for the dialysis and he had ripped it out and was covered in blood. He got dad by the throat and said he was going to kill him. He told dad he had already killed me, our brother Paul and sister Elaine and he had come for him." Officers deployed a taser three times, the first two being ineffective; after being successfully tasered and kicked in the head by a police officer, Atkinson went into cardiac arrest on the way to the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, where he was pronounced dead at about 03:00. He was 48. The incident was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. His former manager at Wednesday and Villa, Ron Atkinson, called the incident an "out-and-out tragedy" and noted that Dalian "had terrific ability". Dalian Atkinson's Humanist funeral took place at Telford…

Aston Villa

Football League Cup: 1993–94 Fenerbahçe

Süper Lig: 1995–96 Individual

BBC Goal of the Season: 1992–93