GironaWhoever enters the Pencil can’t help but laugh. A first glance serves to testify that the place is a place of worship in Girona. It is filled with dozens of football shirts that have left their mark on Montilivi. Two of the most symbolic names, however, have done much more for the shield than just hitting a ball: Jota, the material manager, and the protagonist of this story, the white team delegate. i-red. “We won more than one game in here,” says Javier Galiano (Valladolid, 1959). “They say I’m part of the furniture, imagine. I have seen the children of Dani Mallo, Jandro Castro or Chus Herrero learn to walk, for example. We always have a table. If this bar talked … ”.
The secret of the union of the dressing room of Girona must be sought between these four walls. “If someone has a problem, we all help each other, also in the personal aspect. Society is not the same, but if they used to ask me who could fix a puncture in the wheel, now they ask me where they can buy a new one. What does not vary is the essence of the group. How many times have we not needed a beer after a bad match and our shutter has been lowered so that we can be together and expel the rage! Like they did when we had to celebrate joys … I’ve lived nights that we went straight from here to go to train, eh. But we already had the job done and we could do it “, continues Galiano, who arrived in Montilivi in 2008, coinciding with his return to Segona almost five decades later. “Gusó and Sierra, the president and vice president of the time, made me an offer that I could not refuse and here I am.”
A lifelong referee because as a footballer he lost 25 games – although he has prescribed, it is better not to make public the reason for the punishment – when he set foot in the club he already knew everyone. In fact, he boasts of having created the Josico Supporters Club in the Montilivi rostrum, a player who must be searched with a magnifying glass to find out who wore the white-and-red shirt. “He played a Catalonia Cup match in Blanes, he was very nice.” He also went out for a minute in Vila-joiosa. “Time gives and takes reasons, but if Girona has become what we know it is thanks to Gusó’s madness. The story is very long and many internal things have happened. There was no money to travel. In fact, Raül Agné and Arnau Sala, the existing coaching staff, paid out of pocket for the balls to train. We went to a thousand camps, always with the money in advance. Otherwise, we could not exercise. Today all this is unthinkable “, he confesses.
As in any story, there is always a turning point. That magical moment when you feel like you’re doing things you’ve never dared to do before. The one in Montilivi took place in the 2012-13 academic year, with the final of the play-off to go up to First lost against Almeria. “There we discovered that life was not just about thinking about saving ourselves, we were the envy of the category.” Galiano’s love for Girona is beyond doubt. Able to take a ferry while whistling in Mallorca to support the Girona club in Maó (Menorca), he would do everything for its colors. “I feel very full because I feel loved. And I love them too, of course. I am always there: for better or for worse, playing the role of confessor. Who listens to me when I don’t have a good day? Jota, who do you want me to be! ” Their relationship deserves a point and a part: “On trips we dine twice; in the hotel with the staff and then we escaped. When Machín wanted to do it, he always said that he would do a Galianada that night ”.
La señera, in Madrid
One of the most memorable moments was when Girona played in Valdebebas against Madrid Castilla with the equipment of the flag. “It simply came to our notice then. And what the hell, because she was so beautiful, ”she explains with a smile. But if we talk about special moments, it is like the promotion to the top category. “The whole club was paralyzed, after the blow against Lugo. When I say everything is everything: workers, players, managers. It was very hard, very beast, but we managed to get overweight. I enjoyed it as a child, waking up and saying, “We’re first class.” The feeling was beautiful. ”
What will the future hold for Girona, which this Monday hosts Real Sociedad B in Montilivi (7pm, Movistar LaLiga)? “I assure you that I will retire in the First Division and I do not plan to move from here. What has happened to us lately is terrifying and I think football owes us one. And football is better for us than for us, ”he said. Hopefully, Galiano, hopefully.
