Carlos’s goals. The old Tartiere. That unforgettable tie against Genoa. The incomparable Luis Aragonés. When we were the best. The long-awaited nineties of Oviedo, in short, adorned with a sensational touch of modernity, with videos of the best plays and even open-voice contests, had their moment of glory yesterday at the Club Prensa Asturiana of LA NEW SPAIN, which hosted the presentation from “Mítico Oviedo” (Hoja de Lata), the first book by Nacho Azparren, a journalist for this newspaper who covers the blue team. The large room was even too small to accommodate the event, which was attended by countless well-known faces from Oviedo, from the offices to the benches, passing through the grass and the stands.
Oviedo was widely represented with a delegation led by Martín Peláez, president, who even modified his travel plan to Castellón for tonight’s Cup match so as not to miss the event. Manuel Paredes, vice president, was also present; César Martín, responsible for institutional relations; Miguel Sanz, director of the social area, and Antonio Rivas, director of the quarry. Toni Fidalgo, former president, did not want to miss the event either.
«The best thing about those years? “That we were a family,” said Carlos, one of the protagonists, sitting at the main table along with the author of the book, Javier Irureta, and the well-known journalist Sid Lowe. Azparren has related through his prism the best anecdotes of those years, in which Oviedo rubbed shoulders with the best in the First Division. The period of the book covers from the last promotion to First Division, in 1988, until 2003, the beginning of the fall into the abyss. The presentation was very atypical and modern, with several games with the audience and cinematographic references to the characters of those years. For Irureta, characterized as “Home Alone”, due to the fierceness that his team had in Tartiere, Oviedo is not just another team. «I have been very happy here, Eugenio Prieto came to sign me and I never regretted it. “I notice the affection of the people so many years later,” he said, before an audience that gave him a loud ovation.
Carlos Muñoz added a humorous note, reviewing old anecdotes and telling his story in Oviedo. «I didn’t want to sign for Oviedo and I found my place in life. We managed to be in the First Division and enjoy it and we hope to return soon,” said the former striker, current ambassador of the club, who insisted on what in his opinion is due to the success of those years. «There were great footballers and that was the main thing, but also a family atmosphere. That’s why I wanted to return when I was at Atlético. The people of Oviedo loved me very much. Even Futre asked me: ‘But Carlos, what have you done here?’ », explained the Oviedo player, who provoked laughter from the audience by recounting his adventures before football. “I was a butanero, a delivery man, a bricklayer, a painter… I did everything.”
Sid Lowe, a British journalist who fell in love with Oviedo when he did an Erasmus in Asturias, stopped to analyze the signing of Collymore, which has a well-deserved chapter. «Antic said that he could have been the best signing in the history of Oviedo and then he assured that he had nothing to do with his arrival. He came very affected and could not perform.
The presentation had a lot of rhythm, with several videos and a live contest that consisted of guessing the outcome of some legendary play from Oviedo in the nineties, with the audience enjoying every moment.
2023-12-05 03:00:59
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