The legendary Bill Shankly, coach and builder of the great Liverpool, once stated with all his phlegm that “there are people who consider football as a matter of life or death; In reality it is something much more important.” Surely something similar is now being thought in Girona, a city in which football has been able to place it on the map more clearly. Don’t miss the report that this newspaper published over the weekend with the Roca brothers dressed in their club’s shirt, and the long string of lovers of the team that has managed to trigger queries about Girona in the world’s great search engine, the Internet. .

Girona is a special city, an enclave with prudent people who form a calm society despite the overheating that the Procés exerted on it and on its condition as the headquarters of the purest independence movement, in the image and likeness of former president Puigdemont.

Over the last few decades, many notable people from around the world have highlighted the virtues of Girona. Some even partially or definitively established their residence in it or in the province but never before has such effervescent interest been unleashed. Montilivi now shines with sparkles that forty years ago were non-existent. In fact, the only time the stadium was filled in the 80s was with RockandRios, by Miguel Ríos, in the summer of 1983. It was the time of the gray Girona, the cold and fog, the one that in the Fires of Sant Narcís, alcohol consumption was essential to be able to walk down the street and he followed his soccer team with affection but without excessive enthusiasm.

In 1983 the team returned to the third division after a year in hell in the Regional Preferente. The stadium, huge for the category, had an attractive dilapidated appearance that turned into heroes those who dared to occupy its stands. The fever for the team that many pro Girona fans now exhibit was not so widespread then. And it was normal. To be from Girona you had to want it a lot. It was easier to follow the Sant Josep basketball team that later became Valvi Girona, a club that is now Básquet Girona. They played in the first national category and on the other hand, football fought in the Third Division with Olot, Lloret, Blanes, Banyoles and a multitude of clubs from the rest of Catalonia with bad grass or worse soil. There were no figures like now but there were Arredondo, Morata, Mulero, Bou, Aroca and coaches like Alfons Muñoz or Waldo Ramos or even the guy with the most rabbits in his hat that I have ever seen on a bench: Xavi Agustí.

The gray Girona made its journey and now football has managed to make it shine more strongly. Just like the Rocas who went from waiters in their parents’ magnificent restaurant to running the best restaurant in the world. Long live football and its consequences.