CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Football Club organization, teammates and devoted supporters are continuing to deal with the sudden death of defender Anton Walkes.
Walkes, 25, died Thursday after being involved in a boating accident in Florida.
In statements Thursday, the team said Walkes was a tremendous son, father, teammate and partner.
Other professional players and Major League Soccer expressed sympathy and grief on social media Thursday and Friday.
In Charlotte, there is a growing memorial at the supporters’ entrance at Bank of America Stadium, the side of the stadium facing Mint Street.
Meanwhile, supporter groups and Charlotte FC-supporting businesses, like Salud Beer Shop, were dealing with their grief as well.
“Shock at first, somebody so young and vibrant and part of the community, the first thing you think about is his family, his teammates, coaches,” said Jason Glunt, the owner of Salud Beer Shop.
Glunt’s NoDa beer shop is the Mint City Collective’s supporter bar for the NoDa chapter.
“We’re the NoDa headquarters for the Mint City Collective, which is a local fan group here in Charlotte. We host home games, away games, we play soccer all day actually. We play all the European games, MLS games, if there’s a soccer game on, we have it on,” Glunt explained.
Glunt is also a season-ticket holder for Charlotte FC and was looking forward to the team’s second season. Now, he said the focus should be on supporting the team’s players as they deal with the death of a teammate and friend.
“It’s horrible, it’s the last thing you ever want to happen. You know, you don’t worry about the team or how good they’re going to be or anything like that anymore. You just worry about their well-being,” Glunt added.
Glunt says fans across the city made a special connection and lots of memories with the city’s first MLS team and its first-season players, including Walkes.
He said it is why the news of Walkes’ death is even more upsetting.
“He always had a great energy, I noticed after every match he would go give a big hug to the goalie, (Kristijan) Kahlina, he was always really engaging with the fans. I mean the whole team was. It’s a huge loss,” Glunt said.
With the new season just a month away, Glunt says he knows the fan groups and team supporters will make sure Walkes is honored and remembered.
“The support that everybody gave the team last year was incredible, and it will only be stronger now. But, I 100% believe that we will go all out. All the fan groups, there’s multiple fan groups that all bring their own energy. I think everyone will come together and memorialize Anton properly,” Glunt said.
Another Charlotte FC supporting organization said it was going to wait for more guidance from the team before deciding how it would honor Walkes. The group said it would wait to discuss it until the appropriate time.