Ricardo Arana is the first president of Barakaldo under the legal form of sports limited company /
Barakaldo CF
The first factory administration council hopes to climb to the Second Division through a project that fully permeates the town with the club
Ricardo Arana was established last Friday as the first president of Barakaldo under the legal form of a sports limited company. This was approved by the shareholders’ meeting after being appointed by the investment group to occupy said position, due to his knowledge of the club, where he played as a player in the eighties. However, the man from Riotar who lives in Loiu shies away from the spotlight. He neither feels like a protagonist nor does he want to be, but instead insists on the idea of ”group work”, with which these businessmen seek to return the manufacturing entity to relive its great years of glory, when they were settled in the Second Division.
-How did the project of investing in Barakaldo come about?
Several members of our group had been thinking about the idea of investing in and managing a soccer team for some time, out of passion rather than financial gain. Given the situation of Barakaldo, with the debt it had and all the uncertainties that existed, they needed people to lend a hand so as not to disappear. So they start to get interested and start to link their friends to the project. They are all trusted. In my case, it was because a friendship unites us and it was related to Barakaldo. They needed people to guide them and show them what the town and the club are about. This is how a group of about 15 or 20 people got together, we had a lot of affinity and we are all very convinced of this project.
-Why did you decide to get involved in a club with 1.4 million euros in debt?
We are not thinking about economic issues, it is a more emotional issue. In fact, the word dividend did not come up at the meeting. There are people here who have very good financial situations and are looking for other challenges. Many are in love with football and they wanted to get into something like that. Illusion moves us. Then the greatness of this club also enters. A great story, with thirty years in the Second Division, which always creates a lot of roots, a city and a stadium with a lot of potential. So we see that there is a lot of room for improvement as soon as we solve the economic issue and do good management.
«We do not consider it a success to be in the Second Division with 1,500 members. We want more than 4,000 people to come down to Lasesarre to all the parties »
-What’s its purpose?
Our purpose is to establish Barakaldo in professional football. For this, our priority objective is to excite people again. We would not consider being in the Second Division with 1,500 members a success. It’s not what we want. We want to get along with the people, that everyone gets involved, that there is great enthusiasm and that more than 4,000 people come down to Lasesarre to all the parties. We want the Barakaldo to be the flagship of the city, to be its engine. For Barakaldo to be sustainable and stay in the Second Division, it has to be like that.
How do you get people hooked?
Doing social work in the city. We must be much more than a football team. We want to do many initiatives to help the people of the city who need it as much as we can. In addition, the first thing we are going to do is listen to all the estates that surround the club. This is a participatory project, where together we will draft the team we want to build. We want everyone to contribute their grain of sand.
“I can imagine Barakaldo in the Second Division in about seven years”
-How long can you imagine Barakaldo in the Second Division?
It will depend on how long it takes people to get hooked and excited about the club. I insist that everything is linked to it. We are not in a hurry. We have come to stay. Our project is medium, long term. The plan is called ‘Baraka 20 30’, so we expect it to be in about seven years. I can imagine it in that period of time. In two or three years we could be in the First Federation and then the most complicated part would remain. There everything will depend on what happens with the ball and many things cannot be controlled.
-Is Eibar a mirror where you can look at yourself?
The circumstances are very different. They started from a successful situation, with the club in the Second Division. We arrived here in Tercera RFEF and with the club on the brink of disappearance. Then, of course, Eibar has a lot of things that we are paying attention to, because we want to reach a point similar to theirs and there are connections between people from our group and theirs. It is an example of good management and work. They have done things very well.
-On the other hand, the great fear that exists around the SAD are those bad managements or the desire to sell that have ended up sinking many clubs. Can you ensure that this will not happen to Barakaldo under your command?
We have already shown our commitment by contributing a lot to join the club. It is seen that it is not for money. Now it is up to us, with humility, work, effort and determination, to continue demonstrating that our objectives are those that we are exposing. The only thing we are thinking about is taking Barakaldo to where it should be, because also only in this way will economic profitability come to us. Surely these years we will have to spend more than earn to climb the categories, within stability and the possibilities that our social capital gives us.
