Siurana (Alt Empordà)“4 defeats in a row. 3 points from the last 18. 18 goals conceded in 4 games. Yes, friends. we are back We embrace defeat as good Catalans. 1×1 of this last defeat today: Esplais 5 – 1 Siurana”. Thus begins the 1×1 (evaluation of the performance of each player and the coach) of the last match of the Unió Esportiva Siurana, which lost last Saturday in Castelló d’Empúries against Esplais. The Twitter profile of this 4a Catalana football club, which in April will be two years since they were created, has been a phenomenon from the very beginning. The first tweet got more than 1,500 in a few days I like and more than 500 retweets, and in two weeks they already had more than 11,000 followers. The humorous and ironic tone they use to assess themselves has generated sympathy and currently the profile of the football team of a town with less than 200 inhabitants has more than 20,000 followers. To compare, a hundred-year-old club in the same region with the solera of Unió Esportiva Figueres has just over 11,000. How did they start doing these 1x1s?
A LOT OF TWITTER AND LITTLE FAN
“We had an Instagram account and we sent each other memes until one day we said: “What if we create a Twitter profile for the team?”, explains Jordi Palagós, one of the four community managers of the team Said and done. The tone they use of loser with good humor caught from the first moment. “People like the figure of the anti-hero who doesn’t take himself seriously and is able to laugh at himself. In fact, we’ve found that when we string together a few positive results, the tweets are fewer likes”, explains Sergi Turró, another one of them community managers (Sergi, on the left of the photo on the side, together with his brother Dídac – with a cap – and Jordi Palagós; César García, a former player who is very involved in the profile on Twitter, is missing). “In the first games after opening the account, quite a few people came from outside to see us play at home, but when they saw that at game time the team on the field is not a laughingstock but tries to compete as much as he can and as he knows, they gradually stopped coming”, says Álex Hippie Guapo, who adds: “We were called: “A lot of Twitter and little fans!”” This is another characteristic: many players have a funny reason, such as Àlex Hippie Guapo, Jordi Hippie Gros or Messi. Yes, Messi. “This is no joke, he is the only one who lives in Siurana and his house has always been called Can Mesi, with a s. Therefore, it is logical that we call him Messi. In addition, he is left-handed, quiet and has a good touch. If you had to interview him, you would suffer”, explains Sergi Turró.
SIURANA D’EMPORDÀ (HIGH EMPORDÀ). 178 INHABITANTS. Located between the rivers Fluvià and Muga, oil and wine are grown in Siurana. In recent months, the Twitter profile of the village’s football team has helped give it a cute name.
THE JOKES, AFTER THE MATCH
That the squad is a group of friends and that they are a pineapple can be seen both on Twitter and on the field. But, as Àlex Hippie Guapo pointed out, when they go out to play they do it to compete as was seen on Saturday in Castelló, even if the result goes anyway. They were playing against Esplais, ranked second in the category. “We leave the joke for after the game, but on the field we do as much as we can. Now, afterwards we have a good time, that’s for sure”, says Sergi Turró. In fact, last season they finished in 6th place – out of 18 teams – and one of their players, Guillem Teixidor, was the top scorer with 46 goals. However, they are very clear that, even if some season they finish in one of the first two places – which would allow them to move up a category -, they would give it up. “We would do a tractor ride to Garrigàs, a good party and that’s it. We all have other things in life and going up a category would force us to take it in a different way, which we don’t want to do”, adds Turró.
SHIRTS WITH COMMITMENT
The Siurana’s success on Twitter led to a Berga company offering them a line of shirts of their own, in addition to the team’s official shirt. García, one of community managers, who is a graphic designer, designed them and they have sold over three hundred. “We also invoice – says Turró, referring to Shakira’s song -. Most in the regions of Girona and Barcelona, but we know that five or six have gone to the Valencian Country and two to the Basque Country. It’s exciting to know that even there we have some followers.” The shirt carries several messages; in one arm, the logo of the radio program the cassock, who interviewed them, and in the other a whole statement of the club’s intentions: “He loves Siurana, he hates fascism”. And on the back, under the banner: “It’s my house, it’s my heart”, referring to Siurana.
GOOD HUMOR THROUGH EVERYTHING
The public commitment of the political Siurana has generated sympathy and also some displeasure. A year ago, for Christmas, they made a tweet with the photos of three big clubs in Europe and Siurana; on the photo of Bayern Munich it said “Good attack”, the one of Manchester City “Good passing”, the one of Chelsea “Good defense” and the one of Siurana “Happy holidays”. And in the text above it said: “Happy holidays and fucking Spain”. Shortly after New Year’s they found that the goals had been sawed off, that the boards had been taken away – to make reconstruction more difficult – and that Spanish flags had been attached to the base of the posts. “Our real enemy does not play in 4a Catalana”, says Arnau, a Siurana fan who always follows them. With everything, good humor always ahead. “When the season starts, all the teams say: ‘Yes this year, yes this year’, and for us it’s: ‘Neither this year'”, says Turró.
