Darren Orme: The tragic history of the Wigan fan still shows that the concept of football family still exists
Darren Ome was a family figure on toll on the streets to work, the supporter known as “Mr Wigan Athletic” due to a devotion for his beloved lactic who extended for more than 40 years.
He was almost always first on the coach of supporters who traveled towards away games, happy to wait in the early hours that the ticket office opened for great occasions as the largest day of the club – the final victory of the 2013 England Cup on Manchester City in Wembley.
When it was reported disappeared on March 5, the supporters, the city and the respective clubs of the football league and rugby gathered in the search for the 54 -year -old in the midst of a huge public response.
Unfortunately, His body has been discovered About fifteen days later in the shade of the Brick Community Stadium, where he always sat in the east stand.
It is a story that tears and moving, as it has allowed the people of Wigan to demonstrate that there is still the powerful concept of football as an extension of the family.
The life of this beloved supporter will be commemorated and celebrated in the home game of Wigan Athletic against Barnsley Saturday (15:00 GMT), when a minute of applause will be held, while a shirt decorated with “Darren 1 of our” and a scarf will be positioned on the seat.
From the news of Darren’s death, a carpet of flowers grew around the statue of the former president and owner of Wigan Dave Whelan, while a condolences book was opened.
Among the sadness, the response of Wigan’s supporters and the city as a whole, have shed light on the fundamental role that a football team can play in its community and how as regards your club as an extension of the family it is not an emotional exaggeration.
Mick Wimsey, president of the travel club and supporters of the club, organized a research by Darren in the days following his disappearance, even guiding in the early hours while taking free time in an attempt to find the friend who had followed Wigan Athletic with him for more than four decades.
“We live in a bad world,” he told BBC Sport. “But the quantity of goodness that came out of this is surprising. When there was no word on Darren after a few days, we organized a search on Sunday after it disappeared.
“I only expected that some people showed up, but we had more than 100. All those people looked for Darren from 10 to 16.30 – then some returned after having had a break.
“That Sunday morning were people who didn’t even watch football, but they had seen him go to work on his bike and they felt forced to come looking for him. He was heartbreaking, but there was also a good.”
He added: “The football teams are like your family. It was part of our family to the Latics. Once you saw it you would never have forgotten it. His smile was contagious. If I could bottiate what Darren had, Armani would have done millions.
“Sometimes you saw more than him than you did members of your family. He was one of my best friends. I looked at Wigan for 46 seasons and manage the supporters club for 44 years. I know Darren so long. I met him in a game against Walsall when we were both children of about 14 years.
“I was asked to write to him a tribute in the local newspaper. He just poured me and I found myself with tears who tightened me on my face. Everyone loved Darren, even if it was certainly the worst ticchietti seller I ever knew.”
The Wigan Athletic Supporters Club official made an emotional tribute to “A recognizable and loved character” who “lived and breathed blue and white”. He will pay a posthumous tribute with a Fan of the Month award – a framed certificate passed to the Darren family before the match on Saturday.
He added: “He had numerous nominations for our fan of the month, including” to be the strongest singer in any stage “and for having brought programs from games spent for fans who could not participate. Darren was kind and caring”.
