Thousands of Bari fans gathered at the Stadio San Nicola on Friday to bid farewell to club legend Igor Protti. Jonathan Grade was there for Football Italia to cover this tribute-filled evening.
Friday evening was hugely emotional in the southern city of Bari. Following the deeply moving scenes at Livorno earlier in the week, this time it was the turn of the Barese to pay tribute to Igor Protti- a player who gave so much to the club in far happier times.
Bari as a club are in one of the darkest periods in their history. Recently relegated to Serie C, the fans make no secret of their dislike of the club’s ownership. They are run by the son of Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis, but feel their club is being neglected by the family.
Protests have been a constant in their sadly near-deserted San Nicola stadium and boycotts have regularly been taking place.
On Friday though all that was put aside as the club’s passionate fans paid tribute to a man they regarded as one of their own. It was a hugely moving ceremony led by a highly emotional Michele Salomone.
Salomone is regarded as the voice of the club. He’s been associated with them for almost 50 years as both a commentator and author. He was joined on stage by most of the famous 1993 promotion winning squad. Former captain- Bari born and bred Emanuele Bigica also paid tribute to Protti, as an emotional montage of the late striker’s goals with the club was played on the big screen.
Before the ceremony started Bari Mayor Vito Leccese unveiled a plaque at the Curva Nord- renaming it the “Curva Igor Protti.” It is where Bari’s ultras are situated on a match day- and where Protti would always run to celebrate goals he scored at that end of the stadium.
For the Bari fans Igor Protti symbolised everything the club stood for. He lived among the fans in the Poggiofranco district of the city and lived a very private life away from the media frenzy that is ever present around Serie A.
He joined the club in 1992 from Messina and after two seasons in Serie B (the second blighted by a cruciate ligament injury) he would finally reach the Italian top flight after eleven years as a professional.
His first Serie A season saw him score seven goals in a campaign that would see strike partner Sandro Tovalieri take most of the attention. That year Bari upset some of the biggest clubs in Serie A- winning at Inter, Milan and Lazio.
The 1995-96 season though saw Igor’s Serie A career really take off. It started with him winning 1,000 bottles of wine after scoring the first goal of the Serie A season- a stunner against Napoli. It would be the first of an astonishing 24 as he shared the season’s capocannoniere title alongside Lazio legend Beppe Signori.
It was bittersweet though as Bari would be relegated that season, Protti becoming the only player in Serie A history to be crowned top scorer and suffer relegation in the same campaign.
There was talk that summer of a call up to the Italian national side for Euro 96 but it never transpired. He was now though one of the hottest properties in Italian football and there was no way Bari could hold on to him following relegation. He would in fact join Signori at Lazio for around €3.6m- a hefty fee back then!
In 1999- after a disappointing time in the eternal city and later with Napoli- Igor found a new home- returning for a second spell with Livorno and earning legendary status there too. He remains only the second player in Italian football history to be crowned capocannoniere in Italy’s top three divisions- Dario Hubner being the other.
Last Friday though was all about his achievements with Bari. His mural in Poggiofranco has been decorated with flowers from visitors. He was a man who resonated so much with the barese that he was afforded the freedom of the city in 2007.
The fans of Livorno and Bari have now both beautifully paid tribute to a player they will always regard as one of their own. Now it is time for him to go to his final resting place. His ashes will be distributed into the sea in his home town of Rimini.
Grazie mille Igor. You lit up calcio more than you could ever imagine.
Jonathan Grande is the author of Golazzo: The Football Italia Years.
