Harry Kane, Antonio Conte and Tottenham players dedicate emotional Brighton win to fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone

Tottenham dedicated their 1-0 victory over Brighton to the memory of their fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone, who died during the week from leukaemia.

As the news broke on Thursday morning, reports were filled with mentions of Ventrone’s impact on the Tottenham squad, and the high place he held in their affections. And there were emotional scenes before and after tonight’s match.

Tottenham coach Antonio Conte, who had known Ventrone since his playing days at Juventus, was especially hard hit by his assistant’s passing.

Before the match, Conte was asked about the impact of Ventrone’s death on him and his squad.

A clearly emotional Conte took a moment to answer. He said: “To find words for Gian Piero is very difficult at this moment. We are really devastated by the pain of what happened. Also because no one expected this situation. But sometimes you know life is not always positive situations. For this reason we have to cope in the best possible way because I know Gian Piero wanted to stay strong and continue to do our work in the way that he taught us.”

The players and supporters gave a minute’s applause before the match for Ventrone, after which television cameras showed Conte apparently overcome with emotion and covering his face with his hands.

The Tottenham squad had warmed up in special shirts bearing the message: ‘Always in our hearts – Gian Piero’.

When Harry Kane put Spurs ahead in the first half, he pointed skywards in a gesture he later confirmed was for Ventrone.

After the final whistle, Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris produced a Spurs home shirt with ‘Gian Piero’ on the back and held it up for the away fans who responded by singing: “there’s only one Gian Piero.”

Kane, seemingly on the verge of tears, and team-mate Ryan Sessegnon told Sky Sports after the match that the victory was dedicated to the memory of Ventrone.

The England captain sais: “It’s been a difficult week.”

Asked if the victory had been for Ventrone, Sessegnon left no room for doubt. He said: “100%. We knew we had to perform today and obviously we wanted to win because of him. Thankfully we did that today.”

Speaking to the media after the match, Conte was clear that his players had been motivated to win for Ventrone.

He said: “Many times we tried to find the motivation to push these players and to create a situation and to increase the tension. Today honestly I did nothing under this aspect. I left them to face the situation and they showed me to be really good people, top men. I said to them just now that I’m proud to be the coach of this team because first of all we have top men and really good players.”

Conte went on to detail his final conversations with Ventrone, revealing the dedication that helped endear him to his players.

He said: “I spoke with him last week on Thursday, the last time, when I arrived at the training ground he wanted to speak with me. And to ask to stay at home because he had a bit of a fever. And it was incredible because he was really, really worried about missing training. And I said: ‘Gian Piero, we are talking about your health’. And that moment he told me about his illness. And I said: ‘this is your health, you have to try to have the right checks, and don’t worry’. His first problem was about missing training!”

Ventrone had become something of a cult hero among Spurs fans thanks to the punishing workouts he put his players through over the summer. When Heung-Min Son broke his goal drought in the recent win over Leicester, Son was seen sharing a long and emotional embrace with the coach nicknamed “the marine.”

Ventrone had been a trainer at Juventus, the Italian national team, Bari, Atalanta, Siena, Ajaccio, Catania, Jiangsu, Guangzhou, and Tottenham in a 30-year career.