Diego Maradona presented the purest form of passion for football in many ways. It was at Napoli that it was best encapsulated.


After a wretched spell at Barcelona, Maradona could've easily waited for a mega club to come along to fish him. But Napoli, who found themselves in the relegation zone in the top flight, managed to come up with enough finances to sign Maradona. It came after some of the club's fans paid from their own pockets to make sure that the fee was enough. Impressed by how much the Napoli fans wanted him, Maradona made the move.


Right from the start, an unbreakable bond was form. Naples was a city which was barely as prominent as Milan, Roma, Florence or Turin. A working class city which had ghettos spread out, Maradona had seen similar towns back in his home at Lanus. South of Italy was seen as the land of immigrants and was never considered superior. Even in football prominence, the south of Italy and Napoli barely had a standing. It was always them against the prestigious north.


In Maradona, Naples and Napoli the club found the messiah to overturn these fortunes. He lead from the front and became a larger than life figure for the Neapolitans. They had never seen anything before, as Maradona took them from being a relegation side to league winners and UEFA Cup winners. They outstaged the north of Italy, as Maradona lead from the front.


Maradona had his flaws. Everyone does. But the Argentine's flaws made him even more human, when football was entering a very sanitised era and the real personalities of players never shine through.


For all of that, there will never be another Diego Maradona ever again.