Ángel Castellanos, undisputed reference of Valencia CF in the 70s and 80s, dies

2024-01-02 18:37:22

Ángel Castellanos, midfielder of the Valencia CF for a decade between the 70s and 80s, he died at the age of 71, due to Alzheimer’s. With the death of the former footballer from Granada, Valencia loses an indisputable reference with 468 games from one of its great glorious eras, that of winning the European Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and Super Cup between 1979 and 1980.

In that legendary team in which the genius of Mario Alberto Kempes or the mastery of Bonhof, Subirats o Ricardo AriasCastellanos was the antihero, a defensive pivot who was in charge of covering up the rival attacking game, which followed the tradition started in Antonio Puchades and that over time he would inherit David Albelda. His not very precious style, on more than one occasion, was whistled by the Mestalla stands, but, as Castellanos himself stated in an interview in 2016 with Levante-EMV, from Prensa Ibérica, “I can say with pride that I had the honor of not “I never let myself down no matter how much Mestalla whistled at me.” A self-sacrificing, quiet and efficient professional, a Valencian player between 1976 and 1986, he left the club at the age of 33 after relegation to Second Division.

His image, already suffering from Alzheimer’s, supported by his teammate and faithful friend and squire Manolo Botubot, taking to the Mestalla pitch in the 2019 Legends Match, was one of the highlights of the club’s Centennial. And, at the same time, that applause from the stadium was the act of poetic justice for the incomprehension received during his time as a footballer. An ovation that Mestalla will give him again tonight, in the duel against Villarreal.

Castellanos was three times international with Spain and all three in 1974 (against Scotland, Argentina and Denmark) and all three times as a footballer for Granada, the team from his homeland. His former teammate Fernando Giner, as president of the Spanish Association of International Footballers, gave him a commemorative shirt last September.