RIP Ludo

We knew it was coming but it's still heartbreaking to hear of the death of Ludek Miklosko, who came from (quite) near Moscow. I met Ludo twice and he was as everyone says a really good guy. The first time was in 2005 while in Prague to give a talk for the British Council after a youth game between Sparta Prague and West Ham (James Tomkins was in the Hammers youth side that day). 

I had a good chat with Ludo and his wife on the touchline of Sparta's vast array of training pitches. We had a laugh about his song (bizarrely he claimed that Banik Ostrava was not that near Moscow being 1000 miles away). I also got the impression that he regarded fellow Czech Tomas Repka as a bit of a headcase, like we all did.

The next time we met was at the end of the Europa Conference League Final in Prague in 2023. He happily posed for photos with my pal DC (pictured above) and myself and again he was great with us two delirious fans. Another memory of Ludo is when I was writing for Fortunes Always Hiding fanzine and we published the exclusive Ludek Miklosko column — it was written in indecipherable Czech apart from odd phrases like "Ford Escort Turbo", "Romford Market" and "Benjy's nightclub". 

Ludo was Lou Macari's best signing and played 374 times for the Irons and of course we all remember his performance against Man United in 1995 that sent the title to Blackburn. He was Mr Consistency and it's hard to remember him making many mistakes. And of course there was the "Ludo Launch" when playing out from the back wasn't a thing. At 64 cancer got him much too early.

If St Peter is asking, "Oi Big Boy what's your name?" we will all know the answer. Rest in Peace Ludo.