The barge is no longer a legend, it is a feeling: Athletic puts Bilbao at its feet

No, it was not a legend. It was real. Wow it was. Hundreds of thousands of witnesses in the front row, millions and millions through the screens attending a huge and incomparable event of its kind. The the barge and everything that has surrounded her this Thursday in Bilbao cannot be explained with words, nor with images, nor with sounds. It is explained with the skin, because such an event cannot be read, nor seen, nor heard. You don’t even drink, although at times it seems like it was the only important thing. She just feels. And what does football consist of, the passion for a common pride, how do you explain the Athletic If not through thousands of hearts feeling the same?

Oh, the barge. The most revered piece of wood since the Holy Cross, a towable barge discontinued for genuine use converted into a Holy Grail by abstinence and desire. After 40 years, those that had passed since Athletic’s last title (two Super Cups aside), collecting dust and suffering from the erosion of the south wind that so frightens San Mamés, finally this Thursday, champion of the Copa del Rey Once again Athletic headed to the Real Club Marítimo del Abra, in Getxo, to welcome some new heroes. From there, 12 kilometers of navigation along the Nervión forever unforgettable for all of Vizcaya.

The champions of ’84, present

Athletic boarded the desired barge at around 4:30 p.m. to pay an unparalleled tribute, with the Cup champion footballers against Mallorca, dressed in the same outfit as their predecessors, the 1984 double champions, Dani, Clemente, Julio Salinas and companyalso present at these celebrations on an attached boat, white t-shirt, red-and-white t-shirt and black pants.

Because history, that is another key word to explain this madness, marked everything. Thousands of people thinking about the ‘aita’ who could not see the barge again, in the ‘amama’ who instilled in him the passion for Athletic and already left. The lump in the throat when the team reached San Mamés, already in the final stretch of the route, and threw white and red roses towards the Nervión in memory of the deceased. There was no way not to feel identified in that gesture, so simple, so symbolic.

Fans of all ages packed the 12 kilometers of estuary from Getxo to Bilbao City Hall. Such a concentration of people has never been seen in Bilbao, nor of jugs of kalimotxo, of bags from Eroski (which was in August, given what we’ve seen) full of sandwiches, beers and water and whatever else was available. Supplies ran out in bars near the barge’s route. Even some supermarkets liquidated their beer stock. We have come to celebrate, yes, but also to drinkBilbao seemed to roar.

Because there were hours of waiting until the Athletic team, at around 7:15 p.m., disembarked from the barge at the foot of City Hall. There were those who came at dawn to guarantee their place. Picnic tables and chairs with umbrellas stuck in and portable coolers to mark ground, as if this were Benidorm in August. The sun, radiant throughout the day, contributed to the reminiscence. There was no one who passed by City Hall, the end point of everything, already at 11 in the morning, eight hours before the ecstasy.

“This is the famous Athletic”

The barge, in reality, was only visible for a couple of minutes from the banks of the Nervión. Seeing her, accompanied by an impressive entourage of 160 boats, was almost the least of it. The celebration consisted of waiting shared with the family, with the crew, with the couple, with that guy over there whom I don’t know at all, but he’s wearing an Athletic shirt and, what the hell, it’s like he’s my brother.

“This is the famous Athletic, the famous Athletic Club. These are the champions, aupa Athletic txapeldun”, was the star song, rehearsed during the spontaneous street party that the team organized on Tuesday night in the center of life, of an unforgettable day, a working Thursday in which it seemed that no one in Bilbao had to work. There were companies that let their workers leave early, others that granted days off, some that simply turned a blind eye. Even those who saw the opportunity to take the step and resign from that job that was making their life bitter.

And all this for football? Well yes and no. It is obvious that what happened this Thursday in Bilbao far transcends football. That it was not about revitalizing the memory of a celebration that was not even traditional, only held twice before in history, in 1983 and 1984. The barge, in reality, is a metaphor for the pride felt by a territory that has suffered so much. during decades, first the Franco regime and then ETAfor the only thing that has united him and unites him without dissidence or conflict: Athletic and the genuine way it has to continue competing in the ultra-capitalist and impersonal football that we have had to live.

“The most fascinating club in the world”

“You don’t have to win to boast this unique philosophy. We have been without winning for 40 years and we have always boasted of doing things the way we do. But if you accompany it with a title like this, it confirms that we are on the right path,” captain Iker Muniain proudly defended at City Hall, when the chants gave way to speeches.

“We are the most fascinating club in the world”, summarized the coach of this Athletic champion, Ernesto Valverde, because the day was also going to boast of Bilbainism and bragging. What less, we are from Bilbao! “We hope to win again next year,” added legend José Ángel Iribar. It will be next year, the next year or in 40. But Athletic has already confirmed that it can win again, that the barge is real and that the feeling generated by a day like this is indescribable. Because words only go as far as they go, and apologies in advance if they don’t meet expectations. But you have to feel the barge. There is no other.

2024-04-11 18:13:20
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