Sad News: Former Birmingham City player passed away at 26

Former Aston Villa, Wolves and Birmingham City goalkeeper Matija Sarkic has died in Montenegro.

Matija Sarkic, the goalkeeper, died this morning at the age of 26.

The Millwall goalkeeper, who rose through the ranks at Aston Villa and Wolves before playing on loan for Birmingham, had only received praise for his performance in an international encounter against Belgium on June 5.

According to Montenegrin reports, he was in an apartment in Budva when he fell ill unexpectedly.

Millwall Football Club issued the following statement: “Millwall Football Club is completely devastated to announce that Matija Sarkic has died at the age of 26.

“Sarkic, the Lions’ number one goalkeeper, has made 33 appearances for the club since arriving from Wolverhampton Wanderers in August 2023. Matija, a Montenegrin international, has proudly represented his country on several times.

“Everyone at the club expresses their love and sympathies to Matija’s family and friends during this extremely sad moment. The club will not make any additional comments at this time and requests that Matija’s family’s privacy be respected.

Sarkic joined Villa’s academy from Anderlecht as a teenager, and his development included loan spells at Wigan and Livingston. He was offered a new contract in 2020, but opted to join Wolves, where he saw a brighter path to the first team.

Despite his injuries, he excelled on loan at Shrewsbury, Birmingham, and Stoke City. Despite dislocating his shoulder in January, he was chosen Birmingham’s player of the year for 2022.

A permanent move to Stoke fell through in the summer of 2023, and he instead joined Millwall, where he played an important role in the club’s fight for Championship survival.