From Charlotte to Senegal, everyone ‘felt like they knew’ Anton Walkes
Mo Kambe was just beginning to explain why he was here, at this somber and teary gathering just outside Bank of America Stadium, when he stopped himself. His voice cracked. Tears welled.
Kambe owns a food truck just down the street. It’s called Jolof On Wheels and serves West African cuisine. Anton Walkes, the smiley England-born Charlotte FC defender, was a weekly customer there. Lamb Jolof was his order. It was his daughter’s order, too. Kambe and Walkes had just seen each other a few days ago.
“With his British accent, after he came back from England last week, he said, ‘Man, you know I had to come back and get my lamb!’” Kambe recounted. “And I was like, ‘OK bro.’ And he said, ‘I’m going to Florida tomorrow, but when I get back...’ “
Kambe then stopped again, slipped out his phone and began scrolling to find a photo of him and Walkes, biding time and emotion, before finishing his thought: “It’s just crazy.”
By nightfall on Thursday, several hours-that-felt-like-days after the news of Walkes’ sudden death reverberated across the country, throngs of Charlotte FC fans and city residents had trudged up to the stadium’s east gate just off Mint Street to pay their respects. Some left CLTFC scarves. Some offered candles and a Walkes No. 5 jersey. Charlotte FC owner David Tepper left a bouquet of white flowers. So did CLTFC president Joe LaBue and starting goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina. One young, bleach-blond boy, with the help of his father, hung a flag of England high on the gate.
And once they did, they all walked about a hundred feet back to the sidewalk and stood in a quiet shock — which was the prevailing emotion on this Thursday defined by overcast skies and “did you see this?” text messages and blue heart emojis.
They all, in their own ways, had reason to be there.
“When he was playing for Atlanta, my cousin owns a restaurant in Atlanta, and he and Anton were good friends,” Kambe said. “So when he moved here, my cousin told him to come check me out. And ever since his first days, he used to come see me every week.”
Added Kambe: “There’s a new guy from Senegal on the team (No. 1 overall pick Hamady Diop). And he told me that he was going to bring him around, because I’m from Senegal, too. I didn’t know that was the last time I was going to see him.”
Walkes, 25, was a welcomed addition to Charlotte from the beginning, back when he was acquired by the team in the 2021 expansion draft. The defender was a graduate of Tottenham Hotspur Academy and later played for Atlanta, and he endeared fans everywhere he went with his smile and the joy he played the game with. He started in 21 of his 23 appearances in Charlotte.
“Those of us who have been supporters from the beginning, we’ve been following this team since before they started,” said Heidi Underhill, a leader of the Southbound & Crown supporters group for Charlotte FC. “So we feel like we know him.”
Underhill is also a Tottenham supporter — she had the lanyard on her keys to show for it — and still remembers when the team drafted Walkes. She said she remembers the “constant smile on his face” and “his dancing.”
In many ways, as Underhill said and as Thursday felt, Charlotte lost a member of its family.
“We’re all just in shock,” she said.
Petey Powers, a Charlotte resident, had reason to stand in the crowd, too. He also was a Tottenham fan and knew Walkes back when he played for Atlanta. Powers was part of Atlanta United’s social media staff.
“When I moved to Charlotte, Charlotte ended up getting a team, and Anton was the first expansion pick, so I was obviously really excited about that,” he said with a smile. “It seemed like the guy kept following me everywhere I went, with the teams I supported, so obviously was a huge fan. Got his jersey when he came here.”
He added: “He was a really good player, that’s one thing, but getting the chance to know him, just a little bit from working with him, he was a great guy. And yeah, it really is heartbreaking to see.”
Charlotte FC’s inaugural season was one of joy. Of parties. It saw a “soccer city” finally get its moment. It saw the lower bowl seating behind the end zone become a cultural mirror for the international city Charlotte truly is — one of Latin American flags waving, of tifos floating, of drums booming, of people from all walks of life and from all parts of the world singing the star-spangled banner without any background music, a tradition borne from a technical difficulty on home-opening night, a blemish-turned-beauty.
On Thursday, these same people were together again, all with their own special connections to Walkes, the player and person.
“Charlotte FC’s been playing for one season, we’re about to start our second season, but we’ve been a family since before that,” Underhill said. “We’re a close-knit family. We celebrate with each other, and we mourn with each other. So I’m glad that we put this vigil together so that people can have an outlet to come together and pay their respects.”
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "From Charlotte to Senegal, everyone ‘felt like they knew’ Anton Walkes."
