Thread by @TheDevilsDNA1

[A Thread]

Although we had planned for an article on our website on this topic in near future but we are making a thread as a Tribute to the legend #DiegoMaradona and his impact on @sscnapoli and #Naples (even though words may not be enough to explain his impact) (1/n)

#DiegoMaradona joined @sscnapoli for a then world record fee from @FCBarcelona in 1984. Swapping the glamour of Barcelona with one of the poorest cities, not only in Italy but in Europe was a decision lamented by many (2/n)

#Maradona's arrival at the San Paolo in 1984 from #FCBarcelona can be seen as the catalyst for Napoli's ultimate success, but it took the club 3 years to win laurels. Diego was the the most important piece of that puzzle (3/n)

The ambition showed by the perennial underperformers from the south of #Italy eventually proved to be fruitful and put the holy city of #Naples on the pantheon (4/n)

Becoming the first club ever from South of Italy to put a fight against the richer clubs from Northern Italy and deliver a "Scudetto" for the "Partenopei"- looked over by the #AmalfiCoast on the South and #MountVesuvius in the North. (5/n)

The Neapolitan side finished at 8th position, 10 points shy of eventual and shocking champions @HellasVeronaFC in his first season at the club. (6/n)

His brilliant form in 1985-86 season took #Napoli to 3rd place with him ending up with 11 goals, taking this form to the #WorldCup (and rest is history as we know it) (7/n)

Going into his 3rd season with the club, the missing pieces in the puzzle finally were filled and it clicked. Coached by a fiery but pragmatic Ottavio Bianchi who won plaudits by bringing @Atalanta_BC back to Serie A a few years back (8/n)

the club was led by "El Diego" and hometown hero Ciro Ferrera with new signings of Fernando De Napoli and Andrea Carnavale also clicking instantly (9/n)

De Napoli along with fellow teammate Salvatore Bagni ran the Midfield which allowed El Diego to create his magic further up the field. Along with Carnavale and Bruno Giordan, (10/n)

El Diego contributed to 10 goals with further contribution of 8 goals from Carnavale and 6 goals Bruno Giordan which made up of a good chunk of overall goals scored by the team (11/n)

The faithful supporters of the club became the "12th man", supporting the club and their main men through thick and thin. #SanPaolo became a fortress with the club going unbeaten at home in 1986-87 season of #SerieA (12/n)

@en_sscnapoli recorded 2-1 wins against fellow scudetto rivals @juventusfc and @acmilan at #SanPaolo which helped them catapult to 1st place on the table. (13/n)

Then came the date: May 10th, 1987. A date forever etched in the history of the club and the city.

"The world had changed. The noisiest, the most crowded city of Europe was deserted" (14/n)

These were the words of #Italian anthropologist Amalia Signorelli when describing the city of #Naples in early hours of May 10th, 1987 (15/n)

In the shadow of dormant Mt. Vesuvius, the city would eventually erupt as #Napoli secured their first ever #SerieA title in their then 61 year old history. This was the start of a fairytale journey of #ElDiego and #Napoli (16/n)

@sscnapoli further won 4 trophies including @EuropaLeague (then called UEFA Cup) in 1989 and another "Scudetto" in 1990 followed by Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup. This period of 6 years was the most successful period in club's history, still to this date (17/n)

There has been a mentality in #Naples of waiting for a saviour. The people in the city always feel that they have been robbed off the people in North and someone will come to rescue them
(18/n)

Diego Armando Maradona proved to be that "saviour". He became the enchanter, the talisman, the wizard the club and the city wanted (19/n).

The 'messiah' departed in 1991 and the city couldn't recover from this. One person wrote, the day after his departure, wrote on the walls of Forcella quarter: "Diego Facci Angora Sognare" which meant "Diego, make us dream again"

#RIP "El Pibe de Oro"
[End of the thread]