Leicester City duo pay tribute to Keith Alexander

Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson and player-coach Chris Powell have paid tribute to Macclesfield Town manager Keith Alexander, who died suddenly this week.

Alexander died aged 53 on Tuesday night after being taken ill following a game at Notts County, and the England team wore black armbands in the match against Egypt on Wednesday as a mark of respect. City and Sheffield Wednesday will be doing the same today.

Powell said Alexander was a hero of his and spoke of his delight at meeting his role model after City's Carling Cup game at Macclesfield earlier this season.

"Keith was a hero and an inspiration, especially where I am now in my career because he was the first black manager," said Powell.

"His results were always one I would look for. I wanted him to be a success.

"I always had heroes and role models as a young player, and I have always wanted to be a coach and manage.

"It is an area where there aren't many black players who have made it.

"I was so pleased to see him when we played at Macclesfield. Afterwards I hung around outside his office because I wanted to shake his hand. I had admired him from a far.

"He was a man who loved football. He gave me some advice and sat me in his room, and I cherished that moment. At last I had met Keith Alexander.

"Then I came across him eight weeks ago at a coaching forum. He spoke about being, sometimes, the only black manager in the game. I just loved the guy.

"It is a sad loss and it really hit myself and Jack Hobbs, who was a young lad with him at Lincoln. The boss knows him well and speaks highly of him too. The respect he had in the game was second to none."

Pearson met Alexander during his work for the FA and said he was shocked to hear of his death. "He wasn't just a good football man but a really top bloke and somebody that everyone in the game had a lot of respect for," he said.

"What it does do is put life into perspective somewhat. I hear he had some health problems and they are still waiting to hear what the circumstances are. But we send our condolences to his family. I think it is a very sad loss to football.

"I cast my mind back to when we played Macclesfield earlier in the season and it is very hard to think that somebody who is as popular and decent is no longer with us. It makes you think about your own circumstances.

"It is huge loss on the professional side of it but my thought are more with his loved ones."