The former Aston Villa footballer Dalian Atkinson has died after being tasered by police in Shropshire.
The 48-year-old died on Monday morning after officers responded to an alert “for the safety of an individual” at an address in Telford, Shropshire. Atkinson died about 90 minutes after a taser was deployed when officers entered the address.
The police said the case has been referred to the Independent Police complaints Commission (IPCC).
Atkinson will be mostly remembered for his career at Villa but he was also well travelled having played in countries from Saudi Arabia to South Korea.
Aston Villa
The striker joined the Birmingham club in 1991 and played for them for four years. While at the team, Atkinson scored 36 goals in 114 appearances.
His time at the club is best marked by events such as scoring the opening goal in Villa’s win over Manchester United in the 1994 Coca-Cola Cup and his Match of the Day goal of the season against Wimbledon in 1992. This goal was the first ever 'goal of the season' after the creation of the Premier League. He also scored for Villa at Wembley in 1994 which resulted in them winning the League Cup
Other teams
Atkinson began his career at Ipswich Town before moving to Sheffield Wednesday in 1989. He later joined Real Sociedad in Spain before moving to Aston Villa.
Post Villa, Atkinson re-located to Turkey where he played for Fenerbahce and was loaned to French side FC Metz and Manchester City during his time there. He also played for the England 'B' side.
He ended his footballing career with spells in other foreign teams including Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia and Daejon Citizen in South Korea which he joined in 2001.
Retirement
After retiring from football, Atkinson set up a sports consultancy in Shropshire called Players Come First
Neighbours have reportedly said Atkinson was well-known in the community and close with his father Ernest.
Tributes from the footballing and sports community have flooded in on social media. The social media accounts of Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich town have all paid tribute to the footballer as have the Professional Footballers Association, the body who look after professional footballers.
Gary Lineker and Atkinson’s former teammates Ugo Ehiogu and Ian Taylor also shared their tributes on Twitter.
Additional reporting by the Press Association.
