The fluttering of a butterfly in the shape of a tweet triggered a chain reaction that ended up becoming a blue tsunami. Sid Lowe was the one who fluttered in the networks and that gesture led in a few frenetic days to add almost 30,000 shareholders from 86 countries to buy shares of Real Oviedo in a process that is even studied in universities.
Ten years after that moment that saved the blue club, LA NUEVA ESPAÑA presses the opinion of five Oviedo shareholders with varied profiles: there is a descendant of a United States president, a famous British “youtuber”, a hotelier from Wuhan, a Russian journalist and a Sinhalese lover of the Premier.
Brenden Garfield (United States). The great-grandson of a former president who fell in love with Oviedo
James A. Garfield was the 20th President of the United States of America in one of the shortest terms in history: 6 months and 15 days. He died in September 1881, 70 days after being shot twice at the Washington train station. Brenden Garfield, a 38-year-old Chicagoan, is his great-granddaughter. And he boasts of being a proud shareholder of Real Oviedo.
“Why did I become a shareholder in Oviedo? The short answer is because of Sid Lowe,” he says via email. A Liverpool and Premier League fan, Brenden became interested through the British journalist and understood that “it was very important for the city and the community, and it seemed smart to me to help in the form of actions instead of simple donations.”
That is exactly when the blue bug bit him: “Since then I have followed the team, I have bought more shares in subsequent capital increases and I watch the games whenever I can.” Even more: he has been three times in Oviedo, also accompanied by his wife Liz his. Matías García, one of the fans who has selflessly served as a link with the “shareholders” in recent years (“our unofficial ambassador”, proclaims Brenden), introduced him to Oviedism. “It didn’t take me long to understand that Oviedo was a special city: it’s beautiful, with great people and a huge soccer culture,” says the North American fan.
The connection with the club and the city has grown over time. So much so that every time the couple plans a trip to Europe, the first question is: “Can we fit in a weekend in Oviedo?” Because, Garfield relates, “we’re always thinking of coming back.”
Jian Miao (China). The man in charge of bringing together thousands of Chinese followers.
“Being a shareholder of Oviedo changed my life. For me, it’s the club of my life.” Jian Miao is 29 years old and runs a bar specializing in teas and coffees in Wuhan, China, the town where the first case of coronavirus occurred. He is an Oviedista, he has known it since 2012 when, given the desperate call on social networks, he also helped with his portfolio. “I was in Canada and a friend told me about the situation in Oviedo. It only cost 10 euros to help, so I did it,” he says. “I looked up the history of the club on the internet and decided to buy 15 shares,” he adds.
But his gesture with Oviedo did not stop at that simple example. It was just the beginning of something more important. That was a crush that, as he says, would change his life. “In the next capital increase, together with a friend we used social networks to spread the message of Oviedo. The reaction was surprising, so we decided to create a fan association to share information and stay in touch,” he says.
Officially, the association of Chinese supporters of Real Oviedo currently has more than 1,000 members, although Miao estimates that there are close to 100 active ten years later. The follower has been to Oviedo four times, the most special being the 2018 derby against Sporting: “We won with goals from Ibrahima and Alanís. I have it so fresh that it seems like it was yesterday.”
For Miao, the landing of Pachuca last summer, taking over from Carso, opens hope for the improvement of the entity in various areas, including sports. “I think that with the arrival of the new owner, stronger teams can be made. Right now Oviedo is not in the position that it should be in the table, but I am confident that it will end the season close to the play-off positions, because it is where it deserves to be”, he sums up.
Spencer Owen (UK). 2 million followers, creator of a club and chronicler of Oviedism
For Spencer Owen, the footbridge to the heart of Oviedism was built a little later than for the other examples cited. The 2012 expansion was historic, due to how people lived in the city and through the networks. But the process experienced in 2015 that allowed more foreigners from all over the globe to become shareholders was also important.
This is the case of Owen, an English “youtuber” who currently has nearly 2 million followers on his channel. Since in 2015 he encouraged his channels to help Oviedo, he became something like the official blue chronicler on social media. The “youtuber” became a shareholder, visited Oviedo to tell through his channel what was going on in the city and such was the connection that he occasionally collaborated with the entity in subsequent years. He was even named Oviedo’s “virtual manager” for the FIFA game.
I knew of the existence of Real Oviedo, although not in detail. It was especially from the 2015 process when he learned about the idiosyncrasies of the club. “I knew that he had trained great players like Michu, Mata and Cazorla. But it was there in Oviedo that I became aware of his history, which I was able to see in his museum. On my first trip we had some fantastic days. A special connection with Oviedo was created , which he had arrived at thanks to Sid Lowe and an article he had written in The Guardian,” says the Briton.
Owen’s success on the internet has intensified in recent years, with the creation in 2016 of Hashtag United, an English club that has even played in the FA Cup, the most traditional tournament. With his club, Owen visited Oviedo in December 2017 to, among other things, hold a friendly match against the club’s employees. “I’ve always been a West Ham fan, but Oviedo is the first team I’ve followed abroad. They’ve always made me feel part of the club, they were the first team to open their doors to me, I’ll never forget that. I feel lucky to how they have treated me”, defends.
Owen relates that “I’ve been to Oviedo three times and I love it. It’s not just football, I’m a big fan of its culture, food and cider, too. I find the way they pour it very funny.” And the British man is hopeful about the season: “La Segunda is an interesting competition, like the English Championship: you can be 14th or 15th and then suddenly get into the play-off. I trust Borja Bastón, it’s very good”.
Shakir Hashim (Sri Lanka). Blue shareholder thanks to the Premier League
The case of Shakir Hashim is a clear example of the good that that campaign did to have the shiniest batch in memory formed in El Requexón and triumphing in the Premier League, the most focused competition on the planet. Hashim, 34, is from Sri Lanka, although he lives in Australia with his wife and his two daughters, and in 2012 he saw a message on the networks with a hashtag as bait: “#SOSRealOviedo”. Sid’s hook was cast and the claim of Mata, Cazorla and Michu, brilliant stars of the Premier, did the rest. “I saw that they needed help and that it was a modest price. It seemed to me that it was cheap help for a good cause. So I decided to buy a share,” says the follower a decade later about a club that, in his opinion, has ” history and pedigree”.
A new vista opened up for Hashim. “What I liked was the Premier, I also followed LaLiga somewhat and I knew there was a club called Real Oviedo, but little else. Since then, although I don’t follow it every day, I do check from time to time how the team is doing” , comment.
Although at a distance, the Sinhalese offers some proposals for foreign shareholders: “They could send financial information by mail annually and other updates about the club. That would make us more involved.”
Alexander Vishnevskiy (Russia). The Russian journalist who spread the blue word
Alexander was another of those who had been there since that D-day, in which Oviedo, due to life circumstances, opened a path for the arrival of supporters with different accents. His case served as a focus. Vishnevskiy, 38, is a journalist and published various reports in Russian newspapers and television channels that encouraged other fans to invest in Oviedo. “It was a proud moment. For me it was a pride to be able to help attract more fans to a club that I liked,” he explains.
Alexander has been living in Vilnius, Lithuania, since March due to the war, and keeps up with results and standings. He has been to Oviedo three times, one of them to interview Michu. Now, from Lithuania, he celebrates Pachuca’s attempt to strengthen ties with the blue “shareholders” once again: “That party a year after the enlargement was a great idea. Why not repeat it now?”
