· , ' ons, has been wildly celebrated In The ~evlval of Real OViedo, who were relegated three divisions In two 5easlea9~e clubs in Spain the City, but their recent plight has highlighted the problems fac .. glower

OWN N THE aepths, bryond ill. '''S! and Socood DIvisIons (Primora and Sogunda A) 5P<1mYl lootball < a ...... compllCaled and almosl lorgon." 'hey may nol have gone m for England·. lud~",", Premlmhlp.

Champ"""h p and th"" leagut One nonsense, bill It'. nol mal much dearer And It'S far less succtSsful

The Socond DMSloo B (Segund. 51 IS In faci lour dlVl!lons, 2O-team groups ()(ganlS!d more or less rtg10naUy and made up of hf' odd fallen 91ant. th~ oc(aSlonal B tealfi frnm th(' bn dlJb~ Jlnd

Iinft sides thai many hawn'l ..en heard of - between Ihem the 20 _ WI Group " haw Sllfot lust f1vt It.sons In the 1011 fl.ght In ... ClOf history wIIiIo IPIR &om Royo VIIlecJno and laS P.lma~ ... eN .. &om Group I has ., the Pnmt"

1111 ,,*d DMsIan. . IS split intO I 7 groups. again ..... 0120 _ -. wartd ","I" ,au "" fargtllbout mtdll __ .. l1*li ........ CIMfI!II, ""*' many matches

.... in PIfb. SOMebmts rNdIlIIt low

cleM" wiler. most CIUlls gel abandoned and forgonen ~ ""Ie~ who are .merg'ng from the dark tunllt(

~I""an, WD.j :' "'"I" ihemStlw' 10 th., fate A club on the" way up al .!St - ma" • to the supporter>.

0Md0 ... no WC 'II mb/eden, they are nol • fan, cO/leaNe 1fCeed, a new T.JjOf sharehOlder has Just appeared They are, heM.... • c'Jb ... ho would have long • 'l(e 90"" under had 'I '107 be.n lor the '.1(1"'" 01 their supporter~ the 00([19 of a commun ty thai lhoucJ~: 'iley deserved bener

'hat OvIedo were In the wrong place ha, be.n prov.n by gam. an.r gam. th" season and lasl For two years, lans have lurned up and ,qu .. zed ,n at flItche, all CM!r the provin" that had no 'tands and could bar.~ deal With hundreds. let alone Ov,edo, while aga"sl their hlstonc fLva'~ Sporting GIJon, thiS S(lason, 16,000 attended· despite the lact :hat OvIedo were in fact playIng Sporllng a rather than SportIng themselm (OVIedO a versus Sporting B In Segunda a, I d",Slon abo •• UStd 10 attratt a couple of hundred fan •. )

Aga,nst Club A'M Ihe city's other team and one fasl be<ornlflg the targel of <eal hatred, lhe scenes were even more b,zan. Astur play on Ih. counc, l-owned astroturf pitch behllld Real OvIedo, 2S,OOO<apaCity Carlos Tart"r. 'tadlum, a ground wltn a "'pacify for 200 VISiting ,upporo" (around 1,000 In 10tal), plus a few hundred more on the grassy banks above 'I

Nol nearly enough for the "traven ng" suppot1. so OvIedo 0jIened up the Tartlffe. allowing over 2, SOO fa~ Ply'ng a wluntary entrance f .. , to watch the game from the gangways of the,< own stadIUm .... l1ooIdng the pnch next door An tNfily match watched from horne

All of wIlich Undert,nes iusl how big June's play-off f nal ... as. wIlIt a relief. OvIedo had by th.n Itcured a Itay of oxecutlon, their Immtdlatt tcOnOml( SUMVII, but Ihey had 10 esca~ Ihe11"rd DtvtsIon - known as lhe WIll beaUIt It'S UIY enough to fall,nlo but Ublmt!y difficult 10 dimb OUI A Yfar btfore, they had walktd IIItIr ,It'41 only 10 be bNten on the play-olk by GahClan ~de An."o.

,.... MInueI t.fuentt admitted thai his economIC plan to ItCIIt lilt -. 01 tilt dub could only wor1t " Ov,edo won "_!lint thtydld, Thty dtftaled AVila ~,1 awa) ,n

..... lIrtiert IIIItch beame a party, • IIISlgunda8

IUIhId on to tilt The teal"

ot_e"'~ bIIcony of tO\\ hall

nol a tYiXl9raptliral .. /Of Sulferlng ma' .... dtbt> MIl amod conlldnt bi!ltits b, tw .. n Ihe m<ly1l< of 0vI0d0, Gabino Oolore-zo. hom Ihp Pan,do Popular. and Iht 'hen Soc,,1 Sl evb presdPn1 fuytlnlO Pm·to. CMtdo v.. .. re rf'~'P.d from, f3-yt¥ "t tf'I '.he f 1"1 0"""00 .It Mallo"a on tho f naJ day of the 2000-0 I SO""" 1lN!y then f.,lod In IhM i!tempt to go s"a.ght bacJ \41, f: !lSI: 'l9 ""'nfh in the Se<ono D"",IOO VI 2001 02

Wilh PritlO and Celso GooZ.Jlel. who had cootoll<d ~he d:b "11(0 • <loe mark" flotaDon n 1999, crmlJnuon<j ,~ 1qu.l'Xlef

""",ey WOfSI' was 10 Corne IhtIr on-golng pol ucal bi!~ M"e stgnlfKant. too, In a fragmented (ourtry of deep reglOra l ldell ~ t 50 .....neff' clubs are (OnSI<itrM the representatives of theIr pTcw:nce5 Of

(Itle~, and where OviedO'S ground, the NNI Carlos Tartlere, to w!"1Ch thfY movPd 10 2000, was owned by the (ounCII Institutional \upport was Vltdj - and It was about to bt" taken from them.

'This is a banl<ruptcy the size of a cathedral- the only thing left is to sign the death certificate'

........... ... ......

........ ........... ......... -

So was the" fOOlballing hfellne OViedo were running up debts of 0Yff £ 13mlilion and desperately needed 10 get baCK up to the F,rst DivISIon Instead, the follOWing season, 2002·03, having been forcod to "II a number of players, including goa lkeeper Esteban to Atlttico Madnd and mldflelder Bons to Real SOCiedad, they finished 21st out of nteams and were relegated - to the Thrrd Divi Sion

Yes. thf Third DIVision; two dlVIS!Ons III one go On the pitch, Mre relegfted to Second D,VIS,on S, off It they fell a

MIon funhet; to theTh"d A ...,.. of (Modo player~ including capt'ln Oli, had not been

Iheit CIS. to the players' Union, the AFE. Despite puttmg tog~ther a 16-man consortium,

II'kInight deadline to meet the players' II I hoIel 1lN! fatlureto pay the squad

relegatIOn to the Third DIVision, SItuation meant they minus six points.

IIIInIId the players. but their money ISked h,m,

the debts

"",,ctod. 100. thatll>e"! had deIlbmlt'y lailed to .'~ Some" P ,.leijO'~ to a ~""'.., longer pan i!gI"",.n~ t>y 9f!lrng ~-. l "oj CMedo ' j no! , !he JP (l'r_ • ...soona! Foo .... " fig.. , ~

tt., ciub ~obe"o Losada WOS "51 or>! of 'l1ost -M'c OCI P'":::~ !he club to be<:0ITl' • fr .. aqen~ I11CJW'og '0 act". de dubs Ooded the"'!!:". S.les would ~ SMd Ovrodo but Ott~ "oe tw<Hl MS."'" drop _ confirmed. o:Ioor dubs wa!lJng""

, off " l! , playe" lor free ?K A. f .. g:ea!eI' hate fIgUre was, hoWE o'tf., abol.i~ to etTI(ige 'I

-, o . .,.." Gonzalez One who would :::Joron. .. _~ ;;: ~:a!:s lor 0. edo's players ro el'd up '. e ' ''lQ , 'mpn I,om the town ... I balcony s Su",me:r un,., figu," "as Mayor De lor,,"zO Ovledo's relegatiOn to '" rd D~ISIOr1. h. decreed,s goalled • the end of 77 years ~ 'hslor/ eN edo are trl the [essentlalty amateur! nll~ DIVISIon ~ ,eve 0'

, t the same and the players don t bolong to the c Jb any cap,ta, IS no [£28 ) T '

Th e 's a d~t of 7 000 mIllion pesetas m 0 an"<Ga ~ more, er I t:'u, . ,. • lub alive would be to can the Qv,edo fans yet agar" Th, ,eep t"ec d h I th h' IS' bankruptcy the Size of a ,athod.al an t e on y In9 t at s left IS to Sign the de.3th certificate·

The man who was set to Sign It was the mayor himself If h,s words mfurlated, his actions had fans In rabid fits. but h~ madvertentfy ended up Infusmg supporters With the crusadmg sP "It they needed to keep therr club ali .. H,s may have been a loglCa' even realistIC appra,sa l but the fans rebelled - football IS not ju:! any old busmess_ Some even saw De Lorenzo's stance as d grasp to" the one area of publK life m the AstUrias region. that evaded hi"· football If so, he miscalcu lated spectacularly

·Wp need to start from scratch,· De Lorenzo announced, and he was as good as his word, removrng the City counCil's suppon for the club and rnstead throwrng Its werght behind Its other team, Astur Club de futbel, provldrng them With £60,000·a·year backlOg

That was lust the stan Astur changed thell name to OViedo Astu. (Oviedo AFC, 10 other words), changed the ir colours from red shilts with blue shom to OViedo's traditional blue shilts and socks With white short~ altered therr badge to look suspICiously Similar to OViedo's and even Signed a couple 01 former OViedo players

Astur qUICkly became known to OViedo fans - Real (and real) OViedo fans - as ,I engendra roughly, the freak foetus or ugly brainchild, a kmd of Frankenstem's monster

Fans rally round Real OViedo fans took to the streets In mass demonstrations They beyconed counol·run liestas T·shlm declaring "I didn't abandon OViedo 10 the Th"d D,vIS,on' sold 10 the" thousands OViedO bnng. and·buy sa les sprung up at the stadium, fans selling old shim, scarves and memorabilia, with all the proceeds gOing to the club, A real CIVIC reaction had been sparked, whICh many local bUSinesses backed - the spons shop that now sells OViedo shins on behalf of lhe club does so Without taking a cut.

And, abeve all, season·tlCket sales rocketed, over 10,000 With" i couple of month~ SOon IISing to over 12,000 _ more than many First OMSlon clubs and unheard of down In the Thlld D,VlSlon ~ Lafuente, who has recovered much of the credibility 10$1

hlndling of the double-relegation, puts it "WithOUt tl1<' be dead. They knew It was In danger and they

1I1ht front of ~rythlng and ,n fronl of everything have repeated the now fan ,us

. AI" .. - the club s ,v 1ht names of the .. me"lbe,

"Juan" aco foetus W11 barely att:

bulla r 10 ' sea

11

'I\IliI1g ahtad of Astur despite the s 'il<>Int pena The d!ffat was a setback, although off the field the ckil wete ~-q'j ."uds solvency. With some Success a ~ deal " k.

tile Pnoopallty of Astunas, of which Ovie«> G the ca:' ;d

De Lorenzo realised his mistake - polillcaUy. at least _ and IJI(!1JaCked Finally apprec,atlfl9 that he could not bea' ~ 'fchan9ed hIS posture entlfely in the autumn of 2()()4 Tc 'ho ,;wosoon III the City counCil It appeared little lI""e "., if' OIt'llr to dean up hIS Image In front of Oviedo fans.1'erha;ls. ru

Io':!t was vltdl for the club Survival was at last secured Haw1g negotiated the suspenSion of debts totalhng £24", C!fd t~ Lafuente succeeded In persUading De lorenzo to

m agam recogmse Real OViedo as the City'S represen>.a'· ,'e C: £60,000 funding was removed from AsM and De l~'el12O

qetd to foot the bill for the Ca~os Tartlere. as well as p;.: .... as:1!J i4ll.IlOO-worth of tICkets for each game. whiCh would :ne" be rid out to schoolchildren and agreeing to s~ a share

to'ilSe funds. Hopping on to the bandwagon, he Mn

~, =If a member of the dub. "I neither forg;ve 'lOI' forget lad iafueue. "but f needs be, I'll pact Wit~ the de • t's good

Real Oviedo. " lit ".ad a poUlt A deal wah the cOUflOI was certamly 'JeCessary

IIJ • - the year Ov edo were '1lak1ng :ne~ f~s! tema: i/e s'eps :act De lorenzo InslSli09 that he, too. was delig 'ed to see

~.al'Nay out of the well. Few were under iII1Y ~ ~ .~~ a back mg confirmed sU!VIVal butR was roo:ed

And nor are OviedO entICely safe yet f ~!'ley won promotion at the second time 0 asl:Illg,

'1e backdrop of those 25,000 fans. a TI> d 0I\'lSI0I1-ned; >( ~ one of the dub's captains. Alto! A\deOI1dO, pnx aJ

lit ioed at lots of dubs, but I have nevfr see,n anyttung q s. 'Jviedo's fans are the best In the ~ J1rltr WI a

• :;e lie. meanwhile summed up OvIedo s p., witIt ' fi . the one that u.ue

~ 'actrearrsm 'OUr IfSlloy, "en theY 9 SUMVaI, IS Ilice the leelrng a pnso1fC ~ .. WlIS IiIr2 tNI

Cl off !!tath row. Our second. !hiS ptOI~' IIId being released on parole. " .... -.ad_r I11III* 90 but OvIedo 11M fIIIIIIIId /Iape. ....

SIOr-y his shoWII ._ all iIId hI5 9'W" hapf 10 ItIrfI

&jonl, it_ \IIdIIIinI5

d\ainnao Da-ro tAou;ls' <N.tdo S 1Kt!1111fStay

p: o?!: ¥f lit can be 10 ,~' ac-.

~I

(MtS thr

IhClrbti).

tNt awnership

t ::.Jtfrd .ht fIoIy (jr aoI c.l

Ipl1' ... ......... .. 4 ; __

•

_. 5 I I. 51 11 ..... --

- I " as i

DIll i"'_ .. ..,-

loI't .. rty ... Chlilio fII .. ... Into ... ...... CJf tlelnl' 'Ali tMlaltPc,li1 iN 2Il Ulln

L""!! . ''''' r MKh~tl Rob 1\On has carelully and .. ~~ stef'cf(j (adll bacl from n!~IS to the flnt DIVISion . In th~ mal" 'hough the AD IJw has bten an abiOCl1atlur ..... nh comb,ned c ub ct.bt, 'fa<hmg fl.08Om and having opened up SP<J' \h c to lho wi: mSlhat Manthest., United fans now feJ/ w,th Malcolm GI.lm At thf mo\t t\tlt'lTlf find. an undercover telFVIs _ , programme \howtd Ont footbJll.~.nt e'platn'ng ho ... my ,t would bt '0 buy up lpo",ng u,/on and u .. ,t as a Ironl/or

rtng fTIOneJ !Nt is an ISOlated .,ample. of course. and nany clubs are

I .m txtr well .nd With $tns1tlVlty towards thf tans. But even among thosl' who M'Vt supportt'd thE."lr dubs there are serious Q~tlOr' marl '!i .bout rna/or shart"holdt'I'l and presidents lnotmally ~ and Ihe !<Ime)

8ft ') Mtnut" RUll dp tOpt'Id, who nlad(l hiS fortune from ono "'nd 'PI s.or" Wllh huge rat .. 01 101 ..... t. ha, managed

to 9" ed In as p'Mldent ,n perpetuity deSPlt. an t t on b; the Inland RPVtnuP a "umbO! of .. "ou, t_ made agaln't h.m and a 'J< l oltllnsparen,y In the

c<Jb account>. Meanwhile. hI> oppo'lte numbO! alle~",. ~ Ma ct.1 N ha, a sound oconoml< pohcy but hI> claim t bt"thf "lOSt ""por"nt "",n <IT StvIIIf .h.r the Pope" says muctt ibOut ~r many btl .... dub pr.wency can Ixmq

And t ,mor. M aga' prMident Soralin RoId.Jn I' a SfIf-conmIfd BMcelona Ian an Argenlinlan named Dan,.1 GrlnbInl tool< owr lP9' ..... kist ,eason. brought lIT " ArgonM,an ..,., IIId .... gent Wlth.n ~, mondl< when It lurned out .. dldnl" .. "" monty.her .til. and btner shar.holder IIIaIIs _ tilt __ "1!Of1 V.IfIXllItost the _t ,uem,ful

... ~ fllWllIertOz. who ha. now won .. 01 CIIUIII. d." " Domt1rI PitermMI •• bogeyman for

5pIII/III pIW (l1li., hIrshIy.o) lht Uk .. "" .. 26 Nrt 01 R«tng

It be CIIIdI 50, lit IICbd "lui SpenisII ruin

":;'." .",if t a f .... • _ ..... --+r f'll .• ~~ -~ ..

,jQ \0 """""" • cooct :catJOn 1 • ~:.-"Anv oid idIOt QIl un. count:)'. ~ VOl! e • ~.tr of paper ,.. So" on a bt:JX:I •

\0 f 'e"""'" iW ed to be RaCIn!i' day tlf!tga1t Tho fede .taI re used flo aWM!d to be. -man lht fedel o::::c e!tJstd ~e th'tatentd tD buy up PIe"l SII1if.e t--•. row se

and ~- orders through a ""9apllott<. btlore hat&. "9 • ~ ~e named 'II/nsel! the dub's c~ c.al phOtographer and. cornpitte with orange p>totograp~.r's b.b. grabbed a prune tOU<': • 'lext to the dug-out \\ (:nout a came-a.

P,'ennan was por1r.l~ as a "IIa 1 But 'Ie ~as a lot of "'"' and letms :0 knov. more or loss what "" ~ dOing >jaw at AIM, having sold ~~ shares at RaCIng. he has led thom back to the I " o .= H. IS also ttIe '!lOre than a product of 'he SAD law. _eone who IS brutally honest about the way 'Ie WlOr/u Many presidents "Y to !.lie SpOrting polICY. but .lit a few do t \0 ~

Power still the key One .f 'he stokmg lealUres • '!he coverage of "Iazer s re<ent takeover of Maoch .. ter vntted ha, been the way ,n wlllclt B"t~h reportS have held up Real Madnd and Barcelona a. a romantIC altema" .. model, ooe of true identity ano belong.ng

In pnnople. they are. of course. nght Madrid. Barcelona. Ath/tVC and Osasuna J/e owned by therr fans, they are democratIC Inst,tutlOns Supporters nted not. as Real Madrid preSIdent FIorentino Perez and much of the press have constantly \~Ist~, fEldf the arrival of -some 011 magnate". Should their presjrjpF'i' do something thaI goes agarnst the club. they can be vOled Oul

But in practice, faced With elections every tOUf yeari. the p'esidenDal rnod<>l ",,'t pertee! Power ,s stliliho key. t IS lust ~' tical rather than economIC POW'" TI'e med.a gelS man."",,tf<! and elect"'" campa.gns can bt d,rty. ""I dirty fans on bt '.""",d from what's 'ealry go'"g on .t the" club. thoy can be pnced ~- of the,r seats and cao still .... tch the., dub run .nto the 9rO'.:.'ld

The political pressure can prove too 9reat. prompting presidents to letk .mmedlate •• lectlOnwlnntng solut.Ofl< WI a "mlled 'helf Me. fanner Barca preWent Gaspa" blew 0Ye1 f • )()rr. ,n "ule more than a sea.on trying to 'ecover from the shock of lOSing luIS flga to Real Madr,d and Win back 'a"- ~ot ooe of Ihe playe" he bought du"ng the spree IS 'till at th<! 'Iub

As Ont lormer Madnd player (and n could lUst as easily have been a Barca player) confided • Because the pre'. dl"'l think' he m.ght get only fOUl ye.rs he '''es to SIgn supe":' n ano do b.g th.ng, \0 that people remembtr him and ' Iklt ho can make an Impa<I'

That IS not always gOOd news for the club The fact ''''1 Rr Madrid have WlDn noth'ng for two season, IS not d ~'11l( e ""el. "ke Pltflman. IS more than happy to have a h~nd selectIOn He JUSt wouldn'l m.t II And nor are de!r.s • fIIr(oJ or Mldtlel. who do not have the same oconorr - "."", pfICId,~ dttm mud1 to the annoyance of the SAf'c hid It MIl .... trIInlng ground 10 SUfVIW Bare.IoM ,.~c ktID .... ..,. .

..... 'sCUlllntPf'Sldlnt, Joan Uporta who ...... It~.tlltdlb.~ •

.. • luulllil "*' IfiDIIscnhop with tilt

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