Hard as it is to believe, it has been almost a year since the tragic crash that took the lives of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. The season has been marred with the grief of it, and the ripple effect stretched not just to Liverpool but to the wider sports world.
Last month the club released the plans to install a permanent memorial to Jota and Silva at Anfield, placing the statue on 97 Avenue outside the stadium, where fans had taken to leaving tokens of remembrance in the aftermath. The
statue will commemorate both players, standing on a rock-faced stone plinth that included many of the flowers, scarves, kits, and other tokens left behind. This is in addition to recycling many of the flowers towards the end of July last year to be composted for the pitches at Anfield and the AXA training grounds.
Local journalist GreyBeard Media posted a video earlier this week showing that preparations for the installation have begun at Anfield in anticipation of the one year anniversary of their deaths.
The first support slabs have gone down on the ground for the piece, and the grass surrounding the area has been replaced in preparation for a potential Tuesday, June 23rd installation.
That statue will also include lyrics from the fan song for Diogo etched into the metal, and a game controller detail on the plinth.
Though it seems small compared to the loss that this was, a permanent place to honor both Diogo and Andre at Anfield is a touching addition to the grounds. No doubt it will be decorated much as the avenue was last season, with scarves, flowers, kits, and gaming controllers, in tribute to the joy that Diogo brought us all.
