Davide Astori: A Feeling Of Loss I Will Never Forget

It was around 11 am English time when I heard the news that Fiorentina captain Davide Astori had died. The Viola were due to kick off away at Udinese in just three hours, and it seemed like there must have been a mistake, that such a terrible rumour had perhaps spiraled out of control on social media. Picking my phone up to check, I found the confirmation that this was indeed the truth, and I am not ashamed to admit that I crumbled.

In those few brief moments, it seems like the mind cycles through a thousand thoughts, unable to comprehend that Davide Astori would never be seen playing in a Fiorentina shirt ever again. I am not one who goes all-out to mourn the deaths of celebrities – even those who I have admired – as seems to be the norm in modern-day culture.

But the pain felt and the tears cried for the Captain of my team was real on Sunday morning, a feeling of loss that I will never forget. When the news began to sink in, I almost felt bad for my reaction. Why had I felt this way? After all, I did not know Davide personally, and anything that I felt was nothing compared to the grief that must have enveloped his family and those who did.

I began to consider why I couldn’t shake off the feeling of sadness for the loss, and realised that being part of a football club makes that pain so real. It is not what occurs on the pitch so much as the sense of belonging and community that binds you to a team, it penetrates your heart when you laugh, cry and celebrate all together with a group of people.

Being present at matches gives you a small window into the personality of those who represent you by wearing the shirt, and nothing about watching Davide Astori gave any indication that he was anything other than a genuine exemplary character. He took the Captain’s armband at Fiorentina this summer with grace and dignity, after supporters were so incensed that its previous owner Gonzalo Rodriguez had been forced out of the club.

Astori never tried to be anything other than himself as a Captain, going about the role in a quietly professional manner. As a footballer, he lacked the ability to make it at a club that was challenging for a title and remained a fringe player in the Italy squad, yet the 31-year-old seemed to relish the responsibility of the captaincy, nurturing his young team-mates as his own performances had vastly improved this term.

It was obvious that his smile and gentle nature were infectious to all those around him, from the happiness of children that holding his hand as mascots, to the tributes that flooded in from those who knew him. Astori was a man described by Italy team-mate Gianluigi Buffon as “an expression of an old-fashioned world,” one where values such as “altruism, elegance, politeness and respect towards others” were more important.

Fiorentina owner Andrea Della Valle revealed that the defender was due to sign a contract last Thursday – an extension that would have meant he saw out his career at the Stadio Artemio Franchi – a meeting that was postponed until Monday due to bad weather. Yet Davide Astori will now forever be the Captain of Fiorentina, alive and well in the hearts of all those that follow the club.

There is no doubt that he will be remembered in the most special of ways by the Viola supporters, fans who are notorious for valuing heartfelt pride in the city of Florence and the football team above anything else. I personally will travel to Turin for the match between Torino and Fiorentina a week on Sunday, safe in the knowledge that the Granata – who hold a special friendship with their Tuscan counterparts and are well-acquainted with the feeling of loss – will also honour Davide in the best possible manner.

But even this does not fully address the question of why I felt such a sense of loss on Sunday. The answer instead lay in a message received from a friend in Florence, checking that I had heard the awful news just minutes after it had been announced. The very fact that he – a man who had lived in the city all his life – would check on me was both incredibly touching and demonstrative that at Fiorentina they look after their own.

Those fans feel everything as a collective unit and in truth you just can’t be truly emotionally invested in a team without everything that comes with it. On this day sport didn’t matter, but the shocking death of one of us refocused our minds to our friends and loved ones, a reminder to be grateful and to cherish each other in this precious and short life.

Football gives us an outlet to celebrate what is important, and Davide Astori will forever be just that. To his family, to Florence, and to me.