Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:00 am
Emiliano Sala's boyhood club unveil special commemorative home shirt as family attend emotional season opener
21st March 2019
The family of Emiliano Sala have turned out to watch the striker's boyhood Argentina club begin their season by unveiling a special commemorative kit to pay tribute to the town's most famous son.
News of the Cardiff City striker's death sent shockwaves throughout the football world, with tributes pouring in from some of the game's biggest names.
Sala's former club FC Nantes have taken the step of retiring the club's number nine shirt in honour of the forward, who was unveiled as Cardiff's club record £15m signing just two days before a private plane he and pilot David Ibbotson were travelling in went down over the English Channel.
Mr Ibbotson remains unaccounted for.
Last month, Sala's hometown of Progreso turned out to pay tribute at his funeral, including those from local side San Martín de Progreso - where Sala began his career before moving to Europe.
Having already named their 2,000-capacity stadium after the man that first joined the club at the age of four, San Martin unveiled a special commemorative shirt ahead of their clash with Libertad de Nelson at the weekend, a game they went on to win 4-0.
The shirt keeps the club's traditional red and black stripes, but also includes 93 lines to remember the number of goals scored by Sala during his career.
The back of the shirt then features a picture of Sala along with the words 'Toujours Emi por Siempre', as well as the badge outlines of all the clubs he represented during his career, including Cardiff.
Members of Sala's family were involved in the unveiling during the Liga Esperancina match, which saw San Martin's opponents don jerseys with his name on the back.
San Martin took to Instagram to pay further tribute to one of their former sons, adding that their local league is set to be renamed after the player.
The club wrote: "San Martin started on the right foot, won 4-0 but it did not matter much because what really interested us was the special day we all lived.
"Emiliano Sala was an emblem for San Martin, ambassador that will remain in everyone's memory. Starting this weekend all the Esperancin Football League tournaments will have a new name and Emiliano will surely always be with us.
"Thank you Emi."