Former Newcastle United goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek has died at the age of 47, nine days after suffering a cardiac arrest his native Czech Republic. A big favourite with fans during his first spell at St James' Park between 1991 and 1998, Srnicek collapsed while jogging on 20 December. He was taken to a hospital in Ostrava and placed in an induced coma. Srnicek, who also played for Sheffield Wednesday, Portsmouth and West Ham, made 49 appearances for his country. The son of a woodcutter, he joined Newcastle at the start of the 1990s and played under Jim Smith, Ossie Ardiles, Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish. While Keegan was in charge, Srnicek helped the Magpies win promotion to the Premier League and was an integral part of the squad that came close to winning the title in 1996. please log in to view this image Srnicek made 150 appearances for Newcastle during his first spell with the club in the 1990s, including this Charity Shield defeat by Manchester United in 1997 The Magpies led by 12 points in January but tailed off badly to finish four points adrift of champions Manchester United. Srnicek returned to the club on a season-long deal in September 2006 as cover for the injured Shay Given but was released in May 2007. He was in Tyneside recently to promote his autobiography. Following his collapse, Newcastle supporters chanted his name during their Premier League match against Everton on Boxing Day. please log in to view this image A fan wears a Pavel Srnicek shirt during Newcastle's match against Everton on Boxing Day 'Keegan lost his head a little bit' Srnicek spoke to the BBC's Sportsworld in 2013 about the Toon's 1995-96 Premier League title challenge. "We had quite a young team and we didn't have the experience," he recalled. "We had never been in that situation before. "We probably didn't know how to hold off the pressure when we started losing the points. We tried to do so many different things. "Kevin Keegan lost his head a little bit and in the end I was playing one game and [goalkeeper] Shaka Hislop was playing the next game. "Maybe looking back, this was one of the bad things. All of these little things together, maybe that's why we didn't make it."
Can the mods close my thread please RIP Pav will always remember him in one typically 90's keeper top or another
Seriously, you hear all the stories about Joggers falling over with a heart attack. Jogging is *not* good for you.
Genuinely gutted. I remember sitting in the stadium as a child watching him. Seemed like a nice bloke too.
RIP. Lucky to have seen him play and also to have met him. Truly a lovely bloke taken very young! RIP pav
Hearing that a guy younger than me, a guy who's job it was to be as fit as ****, died from jogging, knocked me sideways a little. There's just no logic in this is there. There's a lot of warmth for a great Mags goalie on here, and it's a privilege to be amongst guys who recognise the qualities of a good man, irrespective of who he played for.
