Remembering sports stars we lost in 2025, from Diogo Jota, Dickie Bird to George Foreman

The sports world lost a number of familiar names in 2025. We have said goodbye to legends of football, boxing, horse racing, motorsport and more – most enjoyed a long life, but some were taken too soon. Footballers Diogo Jota and Denis Law, former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman, the influential horse owner and breeder Aga Khan IV, and F1 legend Eddie Jordan were among those who died over the past 12 months. Each left a lasting legacy in their respective field and the Post has compiled a list of some of the most notable figures we lost this year. Football Diogo Jota: died on July 3, aged 28, in a car crash in Spain. The Liverpool forward was killed in the accident alongside his 25-year-old brother Andre Silva just days after he married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children. Jurgen Klopp, who brought the Portuguese international to Liverpool in 2020, said he was “heartbroken” at the death of his “great friend”. Capped 49 times by Portugal, Jota moved to Liverpool from Wolves for £45 million (US$62 million). His goalscoring prowess quickly made him a fans’ favourite, as he netted 65 times for the Reds in five years and lifted the League Cup and FA Cup in the 2021-22 season. Jota scored nine goals in all competitions last season as Liverpool cruised to their record-equalling 20th English league title. Denis Law: died on January 17, aged 84 of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Law was part of Matt Busby’s legendary Manchester United side. He, Bobby Charlton and George Best became known as the “Holy Trinity” as United dominated domestic and European football in the 1960s, peaking with the 1968 European Cup triumph. The charismatic Scot missed the final through injury, but his nine goals played a major part in getting United there. He also had two spells at Manchester City and famously declined to celebrate scoring a goal for his new club that all but condemned United to relegation in 1974. “He was a great Scotsman. Cantankerous, a troublemaker and he loved beating England,” Alex Ferguson, the former United manager, said. John Robertson: died on December 25, aged 72. Dubbed “a Picasso of our game” by Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough, the wily Scottish winger was a key member of the side that won back-to-back European Cups. He scored the only goal in the 1980 win over Hamburg. A year earlier, playing despite the death of his brother Hughie in a car accident just days before, Robertson’s cross set up Trevor Francis to head home against Malmo. Capped 28 times, he went to the 1978 and 1982 World Cup finals. Robertson was later to be a successful assistant coach to former Forest teammate Martin O’Neill, particularly at Celtic. Leo Beenhakker: died on April 10, aged 82. Beenhakker was a hard-as-nails Dutch football coach who never held back whenever his credibility was questioned, as he had never played professional football owing to injury. “You don’t have to have been a cow to be a milkman,” was one of his retorts. He remains the only coach to have guided bitter rivals Ajax (1980 and 1990) and Feyenoord (1999) to the Dutch league title and shone in Spain by taking Real Madrid to three successive La Liga crowns from 1987 to 1989. Golf Fuzzy Zoeller: died on November 27, aged 74. The American was a two-time major winner who in 1979 became the first golfer since 1935 to win the Masters at his first attempt. The wisecracking Zoeller added the 1984 US Open, but in 1997 his attempt at humour landed him in trouble when discussing the then 21-year-old Tiger Woods. “Tell him not to serve fried chicken next year … or collard greens or whatever they serve,” he said, in a reference to the Masters champions’ dinner. Zoeller apologised, but he received death threats for years and in 2008 admitted it was “the worst thing I’ve gone through in my entire life”. Horse racing Aga Khan IV: died on February 4, aged 88. The Swiss-born philanthropist was bequeathed the title of Aga Khan aged 20 by his grandfather and became one of the most influential owners and breeders. Among his many star charges was the unbeaten Zarkava, who won the 2008 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Europe’s most prestigious race. The Aga Khan – who competed for Britain in Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics – suffered a hammer blow when his superstar thoroughbred Shergar was kidnapped from his Irish stud in 1983. The breeder’s death denied him witnessing a superb season for the Aga Khan Studs, with the highlight Daryz winning the Arc. “Dad would be over the moon every time he won the Arc, now I know what that feels like,” his daughter Princess Zahra Khan said. Ron Turcotte: died on August 22, aged 84. The Canadian jockey guided Secretariat on an electrifying Triple Crown run in 1973 – a sweep that ended a Triple Crown drought stretching back to Citation’s treble in 1948. Turcotte and Secretariat – or ‘Big Red’ as he was known – set pulses racing, especially the astonishing 31-length romp in the Belmont Stakes. Turcotte won 3,032 races in a career that ended in 1978, when he suffered injuries in a race fall that left him paralysed from the waist down. Motorsport Eddie Jordan: died on March 20, aged 76, of prostate cancer. The dynamic Irishman was a legend in his field and although he never drove in Formula 1, he did race in F2, F3 and Formula Atlantic, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1981. Ten years later he finally made it to F1 with his Jordan Grand Prix team and gave Michael Schumacher his debut in the elite in 1991. “He always knew how to make people smile, remaining genuine and brilliant at all times,” Stefano Domenicali, the CEO of Formula One Group, said. Boxing George Foreman: died on March 21, aged 76. Foreman was the last of the great quartet of heavyweights with Muhammad Ali, Ken Norton and “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier that produced memorable bouts in the 1970s. Foreman’s talent was evident early on when winning Olympic gold in 1968. He won the heavyweight title in 1973, inflicting Frazier’s first defeat but was to be dethroned by Ali a year later in the epic “Rumble in the Jungle” in then Zaire. While Ali was the people’s favourite, Foreman was perceived as sullen and unlikeable. However, 20 years later he had reinvented himself as a jocular personality and aged 45, astonishingly, was once again crowned heavyweight world champion, taking down Michael Moorer, 19 years his junior. “You want to leave something; you really do. I mean, in the end, statues and all those things, that doesn’t mean anything,” said Foreman. “Leave something that we’re all going to benefit from.” Joe Bugner: died on September 1, aged 75. The nearly man of a great era of heavyweight boxers, Bugner went the distance on two occasions with Muhammad Ali and once against Joe Frazier. While a world title eluded him, he was crowned European and British champion when he defeated ageing national treasure Henry Cooper in 1971. Bugner, who was a young boy when his parents fled Hungary after the Soviet Union invaded in 1956, later moved to Australia. In between a film career – including starring in “Street Fighter” with Jean-Claude Van Damme – there were a couple of comebacks, but he ended his days in a care home suffering from dementia. Bugner felt he never received the recognition he merited. “When I beat Henry Cooper I was no longer British, I was a Hungarian refugee and that was just ridiculous,” he said. Ricky Hatton: took his own life on September 14, aged 46. The popular English boxer’s funeral attracted the likes of Tyson Fury and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, and thousands lined the route in his hometown of Manchester. Hatton was a popular, larger-than-life character who unified the light-welterweight division and also won a world welterweight title. Hatton, who won 45 of his 48 professional bouts, admitted he struggled with drinking and drugs. “People say, ‘We remember the good times.’ Well I remember the bad times,” Hatton said in 2012. Cricket Harold “Dickie” Bird: died on September 22, aged 92. One of the best-known umpires of his generation, he stood in 66 Tests between 1973 and 1996 as well as 69 men’s one-day internationals, including three World Cup finals. Bird had a modest playing career for Yorkshire and Leicestershire but made his name as an international umpire, wearing his trademark white cap. He was given a guard of honour at Lord’s by England and India players before his final Test. Yorkshire and England batting legend Geoffrey Boycott, who knew Bird from the age of 15, described him as “comic and lovable” and “daft as a brush”. Robin Smith: died on December 1, aged 62. Known as the “Judge”, the South Africa-born batsman played 62 Tests for England between 1988 and 1996. He scored 4,236 Test runs, including nine centuries, and 2,419 runs in 71 one-day internationals. He was renowned for his fearless batting against the world’s fastest bowlers, but he struggled with mental health and alcohol-related problems in retirement. Bobby Simpson: died on August 16, aged 89. A former Australian cricket captain who skippered them in 39 of his 62 Tests, he then had an immensely successful spell as their first full-time coach in the 1980s. He answered his country’s call when aged 41, he returned to the national side after it lost several key players to the Kerry Packer World Series competition. “Bob’s decision to come out of retirement to successfully lead the Australian team during the advent of World Series Cricket in 1977 was a wonderful service to the game,” Mike Baird, Cricket Australia chairman, said.

Remembering sports stars we lost in 2025, from Diogo Jota, Dickie Bird to George Foreman

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The year not only said goodbye to icons of their sports, it also bid farewell to younger stars who died too soon

Football

The year not only said goodbye to icons of their sports, it also bid farewell to younger stars who died too soon