Diego Maradona was an icon, not only in his homeland of Argentina but around the entire world.

Revered by almost everyone that was lucky enough to watch him play, and even most of those who weren't, the Argentinian is in the history books as one of the greatest to ever grace the field.

Maradona won the league in Argentina and Italy, multiple cups with Barcelona, a World Cup with Argentina and an endless number of individual awards throughout his career. 

But the attacking midfielder was praised for his work off the pitch as much as on it, by the time of his death in 2020, Maradona was supporting as many as 50 families financially. 

In a report from Marca, it was revealed that Maradona was spending around 10 million Argentine Pesos every single month, with much of it going to "his entourage, employees, structures in [Argentina] and abroad."

Maradona himself even stated: "I'm feeding 50 families. I'm providing for 50 families." 

And that wasn't the only charitable work Diego was involved in, he was also an ambassador for Football For Unity, a project arranged by the British charity TUFF.EARTH. 

The aim of the project was to "teach children of different cultures and backgrounds education in human values through football".

TUFF.EARTH co-founder, Anna Bornholt-Prior, told La Vida Liverpool: "There’s a common notion that Diego Maradona was anti-British but he actually did great things for our charity. 

"We spent lots of time with Diego and it soon became clear that he was a very kind-hearted man. 

"He had a really big heart and not everyone knows that and we were honoured to have him as an Ambassador — particularly given that we are a British based charity.”

But one of the most incredible stories of the Argentine's charity work involved a local football match in Naples that was arranged to help raise money for a sick child in need of expensive medical care. 

According to a report from The Big Issue, Maradona was approached by a reserve team player, who had been contacted by the child's father. He asked the legend if he would play in the match to help raise the necessary funds and of course, the 23-year-old was happy to oblige.

However, Napoli's president at the time Corrado Ferlaino was supposedly less happy with the idea of his superstar signing playing a match with amateurs in a suburban playing field.

But according to Corriere Della Serra, the icon went against the team's wishes and forked out the insurance cost from his own pocket to allow himself to play in the match.

Corriere claimed the pitch was more like "a potato field", and footage from the match shows that they were hardly exaggerating. 

In the video, Maradona can be seen warming up in a cold car park and taking photos with fans and his team before the start of the game. 

As you can see from the footage, the star then put on a show for the thousands of locals that attended, unafraid to get stuck in and roll around in the muddy field. 

He scored some brilliant goals and raised a reported £8000 in the process to cover the travel expenses and medical care for the child. 

The clip certainly makes you wonder how many of today's footballers would be willing to go to such lengths to help out in their local areas.