Museum honor to Maradona, ‘patron saint of Naples’

FOR some Diego Maradona is the greatest footballer of the 20th century, for others, mainly English, he is the cheating possessor of the hand of God. In Italy, however, he is the patron saint of Naples. And just as saints have their altars so Maradona has his museum, an extraordinary treasure trove of artefacts that includes the left boot with which the Argentine scored twice against Belgium in the semifinal of the 1986 World Cup.

You can also find his first contract with Napoli and even a sofa from his Naples apartment where singer Julio Iglesias once sat.

Maradona arrived at Napoli as a world record US$10.48 million signing from Barcelona in July 1984. He was to stay seven years, captaining the team to their first-ever Serie A title in 1986-7. They did it with him again three years later and also won the Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup and Italian Super Cup. It was a golden age Napoli have never come close to repeating.

Massimo Vignati’s museum, though, is one of a kind. It does not appear on any map of Naples or travel guide, and entry is free. And yet, this basement of a typical building in Secondigliano, a tough neighborhood in the north of the city, breathes all things Diego.

It is a delightful melange of Maradona mania with photos, pennants, balls, armbands and shirts, some washed or signed, others not.

Some items equate almost to holy relics : The bench on which Maradona changed at the San Paolo stadium and the K-Way jacket which features in the memorable footage of him balljuggling to the sound of Opus’ “Live is Life” during a warm-up before facing Bayern Munich in 1989.

“I was fortunate that for 37 years my dad was the caretaker of the San Paolo stadium and the Napoli changing rooms. And my mother was Maradona’s housekeeper and cook,” Vignati said.

His sister babysat Diego’s daughters Dalma and Giannina while Massimo, as a child and then adolescent, rubbed shoulders with the city’s idol on a daily basis.

“We were with Diego from Monday to Sunday,” Vignati said. “He and his wife gave us all these things because they knew we had a lot of children, five boys and six girls.

“I was a ballboy during Maradona’s seven seasons. On Mondays, I went to play five-a-side, I did not go to school. And on Tuesdays, sometimes he took me to the Napoli training session ... ‘Diego, let’s go in the Ferrari!’”

For a long time, the wonders now on display in the Vignati cellar were locked away at the San Paolo.

“My father had two rooms,” said Vignati, whose second son is called Diego. “One for all these memories and one for drinking a good Neapolitan coffee.

“After his death, I brought everything here. But the club knows that this place exists.

“If they make a museum, I will always be ready. I hope everything can go back to the stadium, it was my father’s dream.”