Sheffield United owner breaks silence on shock death of George Baldock
The 31-year-old was found dead in his swimming pool in Athens this week
The owner of Sheffield United has broken his silence on the shock death of former player George Baldock, who died this week at the age of 31.
He was found in his swimming pool in Athens, after joining Greek side Panathinaikos in the summer.
In a statement released through the club, owner Prince Abdullah and chairman Yusuf Gianisiracusa said they received the news with "overwhelming sadness".
They said: "George played every minute on the pitch with passion, commitment and the ability associated with our Football Club sic and his role in our campaigns to achieve two promotions will live long in our memories and the history of the Club sic."
"George served United with distinction - he remains a Blade."
It came as Greece midfielder Dimitrios Pelkas revealed the team did not want to play their Nations League game with England, which came just hours after Baldock's death.
He won 12 caps for Greece, after being eligible to represent them through his grandmother and was last involved in their squad for the Euro 2024 play-off defeat to Georgia.
Greece paid tribute to their team-mate in the best possible way as they beat England for the first time with a stunning 2-1 victory at Wembley, with Evangelos Pavlidis scoring a winner in stoppage-time.
Pelkas, who came off the bench, said his side did not want to play but could not postpone the game because there was no room in the calendar to rearrange.
"When these things happen in life, football is the second part. The most important thing is that our friend George passed away.
"We will never forget him, I was sure today that he would be with us from upstairs and he would celebrate with us and force us to take this victory.
"I don't want to speak about football, yesterday was very hard for all of us, we couldn't speak, we couldn't laugh, we couldn't eat in the hotel.
"It was a really hard day. I want to send my condolences to his family, for them it is the most difficult period.
"It was really difficult, it was one of us, he was an excellent guy, it is like he was with us from a very young age."