A 33-year-old football coach who was killed in a motorbike crash in Malaga has been named locally as Javier Gallardo Garcia.
Tributes have poured in for the much-loved figure, who had just secured a place as a local police officer.
Gallardo died in the early hours of Monday in the Pedregalejo area of the city following the accident, which is understood to have happened as he was returning home.
He was a coach at UD La Mosca, one of the most respected youth academies in the city, where he had been training a junior side for the past two years.
Club president Andres Martin described him as ‘very loved, an absolute gem with the children’.
Gallardo had been at the club just hours before the crash, watching a youth match alongside fellow coaches.
Some believe he was heading home after the game, while others say he had stayed out with friends to celebrate recently passing his exams to join the Local Police in Ojen.
The club paid tribute in an emotional message, describing him as ‘much more than a great player – a teammate and a great person who always gave everything’.
UD La Mosca has announced two days of official mourning, saying: ‘Today we lose much more than a coach, we lose a great person who gave his time and heart to our players.’
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
