Former Wales football manager Gary Speed sent a text message to his wife days before he was found hanged in November and “talked in terms of taking his life”, an inquest heard on Monday.

The 42-year-old father of two, who played for Leeds, Everton, Newcastle, Bolton and Sheffield United before becoming a manager, was found dead by his wife at their home in Cheshire, northwest England, on November 27.

Speed’s wife Louise said she had a text conversation with him four days before his death in which he had talked about taking his life but then “dismissed it” because he was “excited” about the future with her and their two sons.

She said the text referred to their “ups and downs” but went on to speak of “how important the boys were” and about “moving forward”.

She also told the inquest, the official inquiry into a death, that she and Speed had an argument the night before his death, after going out to a dinner party at a friend’s house.

“We walked in the house and we had an exchange of words about something and nothing,” Louise Speed said.

The inquest was opened at Warrington Coroner’s Court in November, when police said there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding Speed’s death. A post-mortem examination found he died by hanging.

Speed’s death stunned the world of football, with former teammates and fellow managers at a loss to explain why he killed himself.