MADRID, 24 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
‘I can’t live without you, there is no way…’ This is a verse from the famous song by Coque Malla and a common song in Benito Villamarín. Furthermore, it represents one hundred percent what Real Betis is for Manuel Ruiz de Lopera and what Manuel Ruiz de Lopera is for Betis. And the fact is that the leader (Seville, August 13, 1944-March 24, 2024), who died this morning, is history and part of the shield of the green and white club, which he promoted since he ‘saved’ it in the 90s.
Born in the summer of 1944 in Seville, Lopera had his first contact with football at the Salesianos Santísima Trinidad school, in the Santa Justa district. As a child, he could walk to a small track located on the roof of the educational center from the family house, where he lived until his death. A home that breathes Beticism in all its rooms, even with a meeting room crowned by a bust of the Great Power and the original trophy of the 2005 Copa del Rey, the only title he won during his mandate.
The relevant relationship between Lopera and Betis began in 1991, the year in which, in September, he joined the Board of Directors chaired by Hugo Galera as economic vice president of the club. A little less than a year later, on June 30, 1992, he set out to ‘save’ the entity when there were only two days left to become SAD and not disappear.
“Betis was going to die,” said Lopera, who deposited the necessary guarantees – an amount of approximately 850 million pesetas, more than 5 million euros currently -, making Farusa, his family’s company, the majority shareholder of the club. with 51%. In 1993, he solved his first crisis by obtaining, through an image contract with Heliopolitana, the almost 600 million pesetas demanded by the Professional Football League. A year later, Betis was promoted to ‘First’, a goal behind which one of the many essences of Lopera was seen.
“We were in the UVI. Nobody gave a penny for us. I give you a free, clean Betis, in the First Division, yours, long live Betis!”, the president proclaimed to the fans after the promotion, a ceiling that It almost caused him to say goodbye to the club, although it was quite the opposite.
And in 1996 he officially became president, beginning a term that would last a decade. Ten years that would change the history of the entity, with several considerable milestones at the sporting level. Lopera’s first ‘bomb’ at Betis was the signing of Brazilian Denílson de Oliveira in August 1997 for more than 5,000 million pesetas and a ‘galactico’ contract for ten seasons.
A transfer figure – around 30 million euros – that made the arrival of the Rio native the most expensive signing in history at that time – his clause was 65,000 million pesetas -, ahead of the additions of Ronaldo Nazario and Rivaldo on behalf of FC Barcelona.
Another of his star measures, also in 1997, was the expansion of the club’s assets, building a sports city. In addition, he changed, through a referendum, the name of the Betic stadium, removing that of Benito Villamarín – as the Verdiblanco fiefdom has been called since 2010 – to place his own name. A renamed fiefdom that was unlucky and saw the team relegated again, with a toll of a single season to return to the top competition.
An effort that wore down the green-and-white president, who confessed that he lost almost 20 kilos of weight, although he remained in office. He still had to see the most glorious time of his mandate, in the 2004-2005 season. It was in 2004-2005 when Betis won the Copa del Rey – the second in its history – under the leadership of Serra Ferrer, finishing in fourth place in the League and achieving the first classification of an Andalusian team for the Champions League. .
But ‘EuroBetis’ was short-lived, falling in the group stage, in a season in which they were also eliminated in the Copa del Rey and suffered in the League, even reaching bottom. On June 30, 2006, criticism forced his departure from the presidency, being replaced by José León Gómez, who had already been president previously.
That same year, in the darkest period of his mandate, he was convicted of a crime against the Public Treasury, which found financial irregularities in 1996 and 1997. For this reason, he was sentenced to seven and a half months in prison. , and the payment of a fine of almost five million euros. He even had his Betis shares seized, regaining control of it in July 2015.
A decade also marked by its eccentricities and iconic moments, of a president full of charisma, a common characteristic of Spanish football leaders in the 90s. The Betic player coincided with others of his kind such as Joan Gaspart (FC Barcelona), Jesús Gil ( Atlético de Madrid), César Lendoiro (RC Deportivo) or Ruiz Mateos (Rayo Vallecano).
With them in the boxes, outbursts and extravagances were common, turning them into absolute protagonists, especially in the media field. Lopera went with the 2005 Cup trophy to the wedding of Joaquín Sánchez – whom he ended up ‘ceding’ to Albacete because the player wanted to wear white -, he went to the house of footballer Benjamín, who organized a party Halloween, or helped a fan bring his deceased father’s ashes to the countryside in a juice container.
Indelible scenes for Beticismo and Spanish football that end this Thursday with the death of Lopera, who had been suffering for some time from diverticulitis, a disease that consists of the acute inflammation of diverticula in the colon, and which has already affected him in the past, with an uncertain prognosis.
The former Betis leader lived his last months in his lifelong home, where he connected forever with football and with the green and white entity, which he will never forget, nor will the club forget Lopera’s management, history of the Andalusian team, which always boasted that green-and-white blood ran through its veins.
2024-03-24 10:06:35
#Lopera #history #icon #charismatic #Betis
