Last Sunday, May 15, the Girona branch said goodbye to the season with a new disappointment, after losing the regional final with a draw against Olot in Rubí (1-1) and being left without the opportunity to opt for promotion to Second RFEF. It was a very hard blow, especially for footballers like Pau Víctor, Jona Morilla or Àlex Sala who the previous year had already had an equally tragic experience in the play-offs with a defeat against Cerdanyola (2-3) that deprived them of access to the final. While most ended the course and went on holiday, there were a few players from Axel Vizuete’s squad who stayed in Girona to continue working. This time they would do it under the orders of Míchel Sánchez with the first team, to maintain the dynamics they had led for much of the course.
So young people Ricard Artero, Pau Víctor, Àlex Sala, Óscar Ureña, Èric Monjonell, Jona Morilla and Gabri Martínez they accompanied Girona in training at La Vinya to bring competitiveness to Míchel’s team and not only that but they were also part of the calls. First was the classification for the play-off in Burgos (0-0); then the two games against Eibar with a historic comeback in Ipurua (0-2); and then the final against Tenerife with an apotheosis outcome in Heliodorus (1-3). La Bisbal midfielder Ricard Artero and Figueres winger Óscar Ureña even enjoyed a couple of minutes entering the added time of the first leg against Lluís Miquel Ramis in Montilivi (0 -0). The biggest prize for all, however, was certainly thepromotion to First Division. No one can take that away from them. And beyond highlighting in their resume, they will be etched in their memory forever.
The happiness they gave off was contagious. Both at the Heliodoro, part of a dressing room that had just touched the sky, and at the celebration of the next day with a parade through the streets of Girona that ended with a party at the Montilivi stadium. The club had the detail of recognizing their merit and made them come out one by one out of the locker room tunnel so that they could win the applause of a fan devoted and grateful for what had been achieved. As said, “Girona’s future is assured” thanks to players like them. This year, the tears for not having achieved promotion to the Second RFEF with the subsidiary ended up being a joy to be part of the second promotion in the history of Girona to the First Division.
A place in Second RFEF?
Meanwhile, the club is also considering the possibility of acquiring a place in the Second RFEF. The promotion of the first team to Primera changes the scenario and therefore the higher the subsidiary competes the better it will be for white-and-red interests. Apart from being more demanding in the competition, playing in a higher category would open up the range of attracting young talent. A task for which the club has been working for some time and which is achieving obvious successes.
In order to be eligible for the Second RFEF, Girona will have to wait until next Thursday to see if there are vacancies in the category due to non-payment by clubs that cannot afford the costs and that, consequently, they would entail the respective administrative declines. In this sense, the people of Girona could go up for one of the places considering that they have the endorsement for sporting merits – they were eliminated in the play-offs – and, above all, financial solvency. If until now Girona had valued the option of transferring players to the Costa Brava, it might not be necessary in the end. The delicate economic situation of Barça, and other teams, could lead to the loss of the Second RFEF and, then, Girona could aspire to acquire the places they left empty.
