The great contradiction of the "pride" that Girona proclaims
For the first time since its foundation in 1930, the red-and-white team does not have players from the territory it represents.
GIRONA"If I had been assured, a few years ago, that Girona would not have any Girona players in the first team, I would not have believed it. It was impossible to imagine," says Jordi Agustí, co-author of the book One hundred and fourteen. Ninety years of Girona in the First Division. "Now there are 125," he says. "There has always been a presence of footballers from the Girona regions in the elite. And Girona, wherever it was, was nourished by people from the territory. It is the first time that something like this has happened. It surprises me a lot, because it is one thing that there are no talented kids and another, as is the case." The region has given illustrious names such as Miquel Soler (15th footballer with the most games in Primera, with 504); the current president of the entity, Delfí Geli; or Joan Costa, the top scorer for Girona in Primera, with 41 goals.
There are currently nine players from Girona competing in the top flight of national football. From Estanyol (Pau Cubarsí, Barça), Campllong (Gumbau, Rayo), Figueres (Chavarría, Rayo), Caldes de Malavella (Balliu, Rayo), Lloret de Mar (Cardona, Villarreal), Palafrugell (Jordán, Alavés), Palamós (Álvaro Rodrígue) (Valery, Mallorca); the latter, on loan, precisely, from the Girona team. "Any of them could play for Girona. I also think that we are talking about a generation that, when they were young, were not fans of the club. The fever has exploded during the last decade. Perhaps the following generations will have absorbed it more, and will remember that their parents took them to Montilivi and bought them the shirt, forcing a negotiation or forgiving money, to defend your childhood club," explains Agustí.
"I would highlight two facts as the main reasons to explain how we have reached this point: the sporting level and the economic issue. The higher up Girona is, the number of players that exist for the level they aspire to is reduced; if we talk about players from Girona, even more so. Going to the market, looking at the youth team is more difficult. Before, I had no choice but to do it," confesses the historian, who yearns for the era of the trivote who achieved the unimaginable: bringing an entire city to the First Division. "How can we forget Pere Pons, Àlex Granell and Eloi Escondido. The first, loaned to Olot because they had no space; the second, who was signed thinking he would compete in Segunda B; and the third, who went and came back a thousand times and had to leave for Llagostera. With a home-grown midfield, created by accident."
He also stresses that "everything together must be related to recruitment in lower categories. With the promotion of the youth and cadet teams to the Division of Honor, Girona has fed on many kids who are not from Girona territory. It is training future footballers who, in a very high number, are not from the province. Joel Roca (Camprodón), Ricard Artero (la Bisbal de Empordà) or Ferran Ruiz (Olot).
Agustí provides data regarding the decrease in Girona footballers in the Girona dressing room, completely orphaned with the farewell during the winter market of goalkeeper Pau López. "Since returning to Second, in 2008, the team had started each season with at least one Girona player on the first day. This year is the exception: the first one debuts in the thirteenth." And he continues: "That first match in Vigo, in August 2008, is played by seven Girona players: Jose, Serra, Dorca, Matamala, Xumetra, Arnal and Duran, who scores the winning goal. But there are more. In the debut in Primera, in 2017, the number drops to three: Muniesa, Pere, in 2022, there are only Valery and Ureña."
The pride of Girona, disputed
"It is contradictory to boast of Girona pride if you don't have any Girona players, yes," he claims, "because you lose your identity. I think that, as a club policy, even if it wasn't made public, there should always be three or four talented players, which is not always the case, with a different intensity to those who are just passing through." At Montilivi, this role is occupied by players such as Cristhian Stuani (eight seasons), Juanpe Ramírez (nine), Cristian Portu (five), Juan Carlos (six) or Arnau Martínez (five but in Girona since he was a cadet).
"Having players from the territory also makes the fan feel that the club is more theirs. Because before you had dealings with some players, you knew them. Now that doesn't happen," sums up Agustí, who values the fact that at least one Girona player has played in the Champions League with Girona. It was Pau López, against Arsenal. "On the rebound, but he did it." He ends with a wish. "I hope the situation improves. I hope so. Because it is already sad that we aspire to conform with there being only one."