By Matt Eastley
Local journalist and BBC Radio Kent commentator and reporter Matt Eastley remembers Devonte Aransibia who will be honoured at Angels game v Chippenham tomorrow.
During the football season, every Saturday and quite a few Tuesday nights sees me covering a match somewhere.
This means seeing hundreds of players at many different clubs on what we call ‘the circuit.’
Even though working for the BBC requires total impartiality and never favouring any particular club or any player, every so often someone catches your eye and you take a close interest in them.
So it was with Devonte Aransibia and I. I first saw him wearing the colours of Welling United and I immediately noticed a beautifully balanced creative midfielder who seemed to have more time on the ball than other players.
My BBC Kent duties see me covering many Tonbridge Angels and Maidstone United games so I was pleased when Devonte’s footballing journey took him to both clubs.
He was a player I always enjoyed watching. There was a simplicity to his game, a neatness, linking play with accurate and well-judged passes but also in his armoury was the ability to spot a teammate’s run and play the defence-splitting killer ball.
And ‘Dev’ had an eye for goal too and I saw him score with both feet and his head on different occasions.
As well as managers, players who have had particularly good games are also singled out for interviews by we reporters.
I was fortunate enough to interview Dev on two or three occasions and found him slightly shy but always courteous and with a ready smile, always greeting me when he left the changing rooms at Angels ground, Longmead, where he had won over the fans.
The last time I interviewed him was after he had given a man-of-the-match performance for Maidstone at Chesham in the qualifying rounds of the Stones epic Cup run of 2023/24.
He had been brilliant that day but he was his usual self-effacing, unassuming self, not a hint of arrogance or conceit.
He returned to Angels where his family say he spent his happiest times but I wasn’t to know that Dev had mental health problems which he was struggling with.
The news of his death just over a year ago had a profound effect on me and I struggled to process it. I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness that such a talented young man, who had so much to offer, should die so young.
I have been hugely impressed by the dignity and humility shown by Dev’s family and his partner who will be at Longmead on Saturday for the game against Chippenham which has been designated ‘Devonte Day.’ Devonte’s six-year-old son, Santiago, will be mascot on the day and will lead out the team. His family have asked that everyone wears a touch of green, Dev’s favourite colour.
There will also be a bucket collection in aid of Devonte’s Foundation, a charity the family are in the process of establishing to support young players with their mental health and wellbeing.
I don’t think a game has gone by since Devonte’s death when the Angels fans have not sung the now famous chant in his memory about him always being an Angel.
His parents Andy and Michelle and his partner Amy say the chant has been of great comfort to them as they come to terms with his death.
I am sure this will be sung with extra gusto and passion on Saturday as we remember a talented footballer and a kind, caring young man who was taken too young.
