Today is the 58th birthday of Napoli legend Diego Maradona, who led the Partenopei to the only two Scudetti in their history.
The Argentine joined the club in 1984 for 13.5 billion Lire, equivalent to around £7m and a world record fee at the time.
Over 75,000 people packed the Stadio San Paolo to welcome him to Naples, believing El Diego was the man to help them overthrow northern powerhouses Juventus and Milan.
Despite Maradona’s impressive performances on the pitch though, his first season brought only a mid-table finish.
Today is the 58th birthday of Napoli legend Diego Maradona, who led the Partenopei to the only two Scudetti in their history.
The Argentine joined the club in 1984 for 13.5 billion Lire, equivalent to around £7m and a world record fee at the time.
Over 75,000 people packed the Stadio San Paolo to welcome him to Naples, believing El Diego was the man to help them overthrow northern powerhouses Juventus and Milan.
Despite Maradona’s impressive performances on the pitch though, his first season brought only a mid-table finish.
The Partenopei continued to improve their squad though, finishing third in 1985-86.
In the following season Napoli won their first-ever Scudetto, beating Juventus in Turin in Week 9 for the first time in 32 years.
Despite some late season jitters the Vesuviani went into the penultimate round of the season knowing they only needed a draw with Fiorentina.
Andrea Carnevale opened the scoring after half an hour, and while a young Roberto Baggio made the Neapolitan crowd sweat with a fine free-kick – his first Serie A goal – they held on to take the title.
The draw sparked wild celebrations in Naples, with fans holding mock funerals for champions Juventus.
A famous mural in the city depicted a kneeling Michel Platini handing the Scudetto over to Maradona, who ended the season as top-scorer with 10 goals.
The Partenopei also won the Coppa Italia that season, the third time they had lifted that trophy.
Napoli finished as runner-up in the following two seasons, with Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan and then Inter taking the Scudetto.
The first of those was controversial, as the Neapolitans lost four and drew one of their final five games to finish two points behind Milan.
There have since been unproven allegations that the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, stood to lose millions in clandestine bets if the team retained the Scudetto, and bribed the players to throw the league.
Those allegations, made by a former Camorra member in 1994, have always been denied.
In the latter of those two seasons though Maradona and his teammates tasted European success, beating Stuttgart in a two-legged UEFA Cup final, Diego scoring a penalty in the first leg at the San Paolo.
Maradona scored 16 goals in the 1989-90 season as Napoli once again won the Scudetto, which remains their last title win.
Despite his brilliance on the pitch though, Diego had always been something of a difficult character off it.
His use and abuse of cocaine was well known, and his party lifestyle began to catch up to him.
In the second round of the 1990-91 European Cup, Maradona failed to travel with the team to face Spartak Moscow.
He hired a private plane and arrived in Russia the following evening, playing only the second half of the match as Napoli went out on penalties.
On March 17 1991 he failed a drug test, testing positive for cocaine, and he never played for the Partenopei again, joining Sevilla after his 15 month ban expired.
There have been several conspiracy theories over how Diego could fail such a test, having successfully avoided doing so throughout his time in Italy.
Some suspected foul play from the big northern clubs, while others felt his behaviour had become too much for his club to deal with, alleged links to the Camorra and a public lovechild scandal adding to his less-than-professional lifestyle.
Despite the way things ended though, Maradona remains Napoli’s greatest legend, and murals of him can be seen throughout the city.
In 2000 the club retired his number 10 shirt, and he still receives a rapturous reception whenever he returns to Naples.