Finally and tragically, Ray Wilkins found a battle he could not win.
Wilkins had faced many challenges in his life and handled them all with style and no little class. But the fight to beat alcoholism was one too many.
But the memory of Wilkins should not tarnished by one failure. There were too many successes for that to be the case.
He was mature beyond his years. He always was. That is why back in 1975, Chelsea manager Eddie McCreadie made an 18-year-old Wilkins his captain. Listen to recordings of interviews Wilkins gave then and it was like listening to Wilkins of recent times.