Vista Alegre kicked off a Cup round that never seemed to end. Girona, who had finished third in the Second Division – the competition ended in March – got tired of playing friendlies in preparation for the tournament, which did not start until May. The first match was played on the 12th and was won by Osasuna (1-2). Trujillo put the Catalan team ahead, led by the legendary Fèlix Farró and Manel Trias, but the visitors turned the score around. On the 19th, in Pamplona, Girona won 2-3, and was one step away from qualifying, as the locals scored the goal that equalized the tie in the final minutes. And that the white-and-reds played the whole duel conditioned “by a very partial referee – that of the ineffable Mr. Jáuregui – which deprived him of solving the classification right there ”, according to the press of the time. Masós, Barceló and Rancel scored. And as the goals in the opposite field were not worth double, Girona and Osasuna were summoned to Zaragoza, neutral ground, to define the winner. This is where the real mess begins.
The blackboard of Can Muntanya
A couple of days later, more than 2,000 Girona fans gathered at Can Muntanya, on the Rambla de Girona, to find out if their team would face Real Madrid, who would be the rival in the next round. There was a blackboard on the premises that read the match score, which was updated at the end of each game or after each goal, when someone called to report and the manager grabbed the chalk while the crowd chased him with the look. This is how the matches on the opposite field were followed, before. Surrounded by people, standing in the street and with their glasses in their hands. This is how El Pirineo described it: “Our Rambla was a human boiling pot that was anxiously awaiting the outcome of Zaragoza.”
The preliminaries were crazy and, at the scheduled time, only Girona was on the field. The Osasuna bus had broken down in Tudela and the players did not arrive on time. The consequence was that the people of Girona, who had filed a protest against the delay through their delegate, were classified, because before that only the railway delays could be justified. But let’s talk about Girona, and logical things never happen to Girona: the referee called Madrid and Madrid said we had to wait. When Osasuna showed up, hours later, the game was played under very strong pressure. The 90 minutes ended in a draw and the tie was decided in overtime. There, two goals from Navarre shattered the aspirations of a Girona player who left angry and frustrated, and rightly so. When the news reached Can Muntanya, everyone was disenchanted. Surely someone asked for another round. Or a couple.
