Jack Collison tragedy shatters West Ham days after Calum Davenport stabbing
By Laura Williamson
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... bbing.html
West Ham have been stunned by a second trauma in two days after it emerged midfielder Jack Collison’s father has died in a motorcycle accident.
Ian Collison, 46, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was on his way to see his son play against Spurs on Sunday when he crashed his red Honda bike on the M25 near Epping.
Emergency services were called to the crash, which happened just before noon, but Mr Collison, a roofer, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jack Collison of West Ham United
It leaves manager Gianfranco Zola having to deal with two shattering incidents as Calum Davenport had a second emergency operation yesterday following the stabbing incident which has left him fighting to save his career.
Zola had already talked of the shock among West Ham’s players about the horrific injuries to Davenport.
He said: ‘It was unbelievable. You don’t expect things like this to happen, especially people you know. Now all that is important is that he is all right, the rest about his future can be decided in the next days.’
Dealing with two such horrific personal traumas will be a severe test of Zola’s management skills, less than a year after he joined the club.
The Italian has fostered a close-knit atmosphere among his relatively small squad and has encouraged youngsters such as Collison to compete for first-team places.
A West Ham spokeswoman said: ‘Our thoughts are with Jack and his family and we ask people to respect his privacy at a very difficult time for them.’
Collison, 20, had played all but the final minute of West Ham’s 2-1 defeat, which kicked off at 1.30pm.
The Wales midfielder did not learn of his father’s death until the early evening as Essex Police had difficulties establishing the identity of the next of kin.
Mr Collison and Jack’s mother, Amanda, separated when the player was young.
