Franco Mancini

Franco Mancini
(October 10th 1968 – March 30th 2012)

It is hard to believe, but it has been a year since we received the inconceivable news that our brother, Franco Mancini, had passed away at the tragically young age of 43. From very humble beginnings in Matera, in the deep south of Italy, Franco went on to have a long and distinguished goalkeeping career with, amongst others, Foggia, Lazio, Bari and Napoli. Whichever club he represented, Franco was always extremely popular with the tifosi, the fans on the terraces, who appreciated his combative, expressive style of play and humility, borne out of his tough upbringing. What he lacked in stature, 5′ 9″ (1m 76cm) is extremely short for a top-class goalkeeper, he made up for in agility. Indeed, one of his nicknames was ‘il giaguaro’ – the jaguar.

After hanging up his gloves, Franco attended coaching courses at Coverciano, the headquarters of the Italian Football Association. In July 2010, he joined his mentor Zdenek Zeman at former club Foggia, as goalkeeping coach, then followed the maverick coach to Pescara the following season. The club were to gain promotion to the top flight after securing the Serie B championship, though tragically Franco did not live to see this success confirmed.

Off the field, Franco was a devoted family man and huge reggae fan. He was well known in our community as an enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector, and loved nothing more than organising trades or tracking down rare vinyl and memorabilia. He was also an accomplished drummer, applying the same intensity that he took onto the football pitch to the drum-kit, creating rock-solid roots riddims.

On a personal level, Franco was one of the most generous and down-to-earth people I have ever had the pleasure of befriending. Though our sense of loss has been profound, we can only imagine the pain that Chiara, Francesco and Alessandro have had to endure. All we can do, as Franco’s reggae family, is to continue to offer our support to them, and celebrate the good times we shared. We miss you, bro’.

Sempre con noi, sempre nei nostri cuori

By Glen Lockley And The Midnight Raver Blog Crew