Juan Manuel takes the floor and goes back fifty years. “They only scored 14 goals against us in 37 games.” Mendoza responds. “No, Juanín, there were 19”. Juan Manuel hesitates, but he insists. “I think there were fourteen. Lombardía, Carrete, Tensi and I went to Madrid to collect the trophy for the team with the fewest goals scored. Those of now almost are”. The truth of the dialogue between the two Oviedo players is told by Mendoza. There were 19 goals against, no defeat at home and a final promotion to First as the cup of a pine.
That was in May 1972 and today, in April 2022, there are some coincidences. Namely: fifty years ago, Oviedo had seven consecutive seasons in the Second Division. Too much without tasting Primera for a very demanding fan. In 1971, tragedy struck: there was no miraculous relegation after a horrific season.
In 1972 the sky was touched with that decided promotion against Zaragoza. Today, Oviedo, like then, has also been in the Second Division for seven consecutive seasons. It is also closer than ever to getting a ticket to play the promotion and, like those of 72, being able to go up to First Division and turn a city upside down.
“I see them very well, very well, but let’s not shoot flyers, there are 18 points left,” says Javier Álvarez, leaning out of the balcony of the City Hall with Vicente, Juan Manuel, Prieto, Mendoza and Manolín. All rose with Oviedo. From that vantage point, they felt like heroes celebrating a feat.
Gathered with LA NUEVA ESPAÑA as a witness, they analyze the current season of the Ziganda team. As in the fans, optimism is breathed. “The team is very good, you have to believe in them”, they agree. “The last games are essential for the team to become strong,” says Mendoza, an elegant midfielder who played eleven games that season.
Vicente, a legendary captain who is also the president of the Veterans Association, calls for calm. “Let’s see, let’s see, they’re fine. But the important thing is that the players don’t raise their voices too much, as they are doing”. There is an important fact to keep in mind. The fifth of ’72 achieved six wins in a row, a record that Oviedo only achieved three times in its history. If those from Cuco beat Mirandés, they will match that streak. More reasons to believe. “I see them playing the play-off, but you have to be calm and continue like this”, says Prieto, a striker, who adds: “It is very important to win even when you play as badly as in Alcorcón”. And so much, the rest seems to say. On the balcony is Manolín, substitute goalkeeper that season. “My rival was Lombardy, so imagine. Sitting on the bench all year.”
Veterans have codes that only they understand. A kind of language of its own. It is exemplified by Juan Manuel, a seasoned defender, who points to Javier, a midfielder, and says: “We once tried him in Valladolid.” It’s real: the former players simulated a hearing at the concentration hotel at half past four in the morning. Javier had played a prank, hiding some mattresses, and he deserved punishment. Sistiaga was the prosecutor. “He was guilty, we were going to sentence him to a cold water bath and Toba (the coach) caught us,” explains Juan Manuel. You can see the good vibes, like the one that those from Ziganda have now. “It is very important that there is unity in the group”, remarks Manolín. The truth is that Javier is the target of anger. “Javier, how many goals did you score with your head?” Prieto asks him. And this one, unchanged, smiles like 50 years ago, when he put up with the same joke. “Head? The head is to think”. And so the veterans leave, thinking about promotion and having a glass of wine together.
In the retina of that glorious season, an indelible anecdote: that of Lombardy in Elche, on the last day of the League. The protagonists prefer not to talk much about that chapter. On the penultimate day of the League, Oviedo needed at least one point at the Tartiere against Zaragoza. He got it. A week later he traveled to Elche with nothing at stake. The visitors, on the other hand, needed to win to go up to the First Division. Oviedo did not come out relaxed, quite the opposite. And Lombardy, blue goalkeeper, stopped everything that could be stopped. In Elche they suspected that Oviedo was favored by Zaragoza and that the previous tie was agreed. The blues deny it and speak of a bonus in case of being champions.
Elche, nervous, offered money to Oviedo for letting themselves win. Even the box office receipts. The answer was negative. And a deception was attempted, photographed by Perfecto Arjones and carried out by the local delegate, Joaquín Vidal, who approached the Lombardy area and shouted: “Let yourself be marked, Lombardy, everything is arranged!” Nothing was fixed and it didn’t click. “Wow how we ran that day,” Mendoza recalls, referring to the fact that the squad went to the race because of the local anger, who could not go up to First Division. The blues could. And now they can again.
