The 23-year-old Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed with several minutes remaining in the first half of the FA Cup tie between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton
Players rushed to his aid and looked on in horror as medics worked to resuscitate the former England Under-21 star in front of a packed crowd of 36,000 fans.
Muamba has a young son called Joshua and got engaged to Shauna, his girlfriend, on Valentine's Day this year.
Players gathered and a defibrillator was used on the star, who has also played for Arsenal and Birmingham.
The midfielder, who was born in Zaire, was taken off on a stretcher as fans held their heads in their hands, with some in tears.
Reporters at the scene said the player had stopped breathing.
It is understood that Mr Coyle and Bolton striker Kevin Davies accompanied Muamba in the ambulance to the London Chest Hospital in Bethnal Green, east London.
According to some reports, paramedics managed to get the star breathing again during his journey to hospital.
Bolton confirmed this evening that the player is 'critically ill' in intensive care at the heart attack centre of the hospital.
There was nobody around Muamba when he went down and he was not involved in a challenge.
As a message was relayed around the stadium that the game was off, the fans applauded and chanted Muamba's name.
Commentating on ESPN, John Barnes said: 'From the players' reaction on both sides it seemed that things were pretty serious.'
Kevin Keegan added: 'Jermain Defoe seemed absolutely distraught.
'The fans are in a state of shock. I've never seen anything like that on a football pitch before.
'Our hearts go out to his family.'
Bolton Wanderers released a short statement on the club's website, which read: 'Bolton Wanderers can confirm that Fabrice Muamba has been taken to hospital following his collapse at White Hart Lane this evening during the FA Cup quarter-final. There is no further information at this stage.'
Fabrice Ndala Muamba is a talented player with a dream to one day earn a doctorate.
The 23-year-old Bolton Wanderers midfielder was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then known as Zaire, before his family fled to the UK.
Born on April 6 1988, Muamba grew up in Kinshasa to the sound of gunshots ringing out.
His father, Marcel, worked for the regime of former Zaire president Mobutu Sese Seko, who was overthrown in 1997.
Hunted by anti-Mobutu forces during one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern history, Marcel was forced to flee the country.
His wife, Gertrude, and four children were taken in by his brother. However, they too had to leave when Muamba's uncle was killed.
In 2008 he told the Daily Mail: 'It was very, very tough.
'I saw the war. I saw people die. I grew up with it. It was scary.
'I didn't live far from the gunshots and the sound of them going off. It was difficult to get used to, especially hearing guns at night. It did have an effect on me.
'It stopped us going out to play football because we were scared we would get killed. One or two of my friends were hurt, one or two of them have since died.'
Muamba was granted asylum in the UK in 1999.
Coming to a new country as an 11-year-old, he could not speak a word of English.
However, the intelligent youngster quickly picked up the language and excelled at school.
He attended Kelmscott School in Walthamstow, north-east London - just three miles away from White Hart Lane, where he collapsed during tonight's FA Cup tie against Tottenham.
He had ambitions to one day become an accountant and be referred to as 'Dr Muamba'.
Muamba has more qualifications than any of his teammates in the Bolton dressing room, having earned 10 GCSEs as well as A-levels in French, maths and English.
A tall man at 6ft 2in, his passions off the pitch include listening to opera music, academia and spending time with his son, Joshua Jeremiah.
The player is also said to be deeply religious. He also represented England at every youth level.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news
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