George Baldock narrowly missed huge milestone with his little boy as tragedy deepens

grieving family has opened up about the heartbreaking milestone the footballer narrowly missed out on.

The former was found dead at the bottom of the pool of his Athens villa on Wednesday, October 9, at the age of just 31. His fiancée raised the alarm after she couldn't get in touch with her husband-to-be, and asked his landlord to check on him.

Originally from Buckingham, George made the move to after being signed to Panathinaikos, and had been due to journey home to see his young family the very next day.

Now it has emerged that the football star, who'd represented the Greece national team on a dozen occasions, had intended to fly home to celebrate the birthday of his young son, Brody. Tragically, he never got the chance to mark this precious milestone.

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George's family have released the following poignant statement: "You were the most special father, fiancé, son, brother, uncle, friend, teammate and person. Your enthusiasm and infectious personality brought so much love to those that were fortunate enough to know you and those that adored you from the stands.

"We will forever cherish the special memories we have of you and you will continue to live on in your beautiful son. You were due to fly home today for us to celebrate his first birthday together, but instead we mourn your loss."

In a devastating personal statement of her own, Annabel, who had been looking forward to marrying George, paid tribute to the 'soulmate' who 'completed' her. Taking to , Annabel shared: "George, the love of my life, my soulmate. The perfect dad to our beautiful boy.

"You completed me. You were my world and I know we were yours. You are here with me in Brody's smile, giggle and infectious personality. My world will never be the same but I will find a way for Brody. I promise."

Police spokeswoman Konstantina Dimoglidou said on Thursday that there is no initial indication that George's death was suspicious, with the coroner having informed officers 'that there is no evidence of a criminal act'.

She continued: "The house too was searched by the criminal investigations directorate. It doesn't seem that a criminal act took place but the investigation is continuing for any eventuality." It's believed it will now be 'several weeks, if not months' before the full autopsy and toxicology results are released.

George joined Athens 'Panathinkaikos' team after seven seasons with Sheffield United. he had Greek ancestry, and qualified for the Greek national team via his grandmother. This week, ahead of their Nations League match at Wembley, the teams of England and Greece held a minute's silence in George's honour.

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