Dalian Atkinson will now tragically be remembered for an incident off the pitch rather than the player he was on it.
Regardless of what went on last night at his Telford home, it should never diminish the player he was.
One half of the ‘D-men’ partnership up front with Dean Saunders, the striker scored 23 goals in 85 appearances for The Villans.
Born in Shropshire, Dalian always worked best when paired with another Atkinson.
Big Ron was always fond of the centre-forward, working with him at Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa, to such an extent that when the manager left to join Coventry City, Dalian was quickly offloaded to Manchester City.
It seems quite fitting that his tribute is the most poignant, and it’s quite clear from his words that the two got on.
His finest moment came against Wimbledon, when the forward made a dazzling run to beat two Womble defenders before casually chipping keeper Hans Segers.
It was the moment the striker delivered on years of promise at The Owls, and launched him into stardom.
The following season himself and Dean Saunders scored 20 goals between them, 25 if you count Dwight Yorke as the third D man, in the last season Villa launched a genuine bid to lift a division title.
A classic target man, Damien possessed power and pace that pull defenders out of position and allowed another striker to score.
His performances for Villa in the 1994 League Cup also typified the striker he was, first scoring twice over two legs to deny Tranmere Rovers a place in their first major cup final; he then had his best performance in a Villa shirt against Manchester United at Wembley stadium.
Playing on the wing that day, Atkinson put in a performance that will still leave full-back Denis Irwin with nightmares, as the Irish left back was undressed by the forward.
Dalian also opened the scoring, and was key in Dean Saunders’ move that put Villa two ahead
Like most target men, it means his goal scoring tally doesn’t reflect the player he was; Kevin Keegan is the ideal case in point for this, however it doesn’t take into account the ‘passive assists’ he made by
Dalian also scored Villa’s first ever Premier League goal, after equalising against Ipswich Town in the 84th minute.
It seems weird saying this due to his questionable loyalty and ability, but you can see elements in his style of play in Gabriel Agbonlahor, another player who possessed pace and power and an eye (although Gabriel’s glazed over time) for goal.
It’s also a shame that his career quickly faded after he left Villa, following a spell at Fenerbahce, Atkinson would go on to play in Saudi Arabia and Korea before retiring.
This was a man who at one point was one of the hottest prospects in English football, and played at the highest level in Spain to learn the continental way, when Eric Dier did the same thing after a spell at Sporting Lisbon, Spurs and England fans clamoured to the idea of what he could bring to the English game; it’s a shame that Atkinson didn’t get the same respect, since if he had the first part of his career today, fans would be a lot more excited.
