Can you love a club from a distance? The answer is yes. “From a distance, everything is possibly experienced a little less intensely. The upside, so to speak, is that you don’t suffer as much; but the negative is that you don’t savor the good times in the same way. But it is clear that love for Girona I keep it I follow the games and I will always follow them, because I am from Girona and the football team is part of our identity”, he explains Pol ValeroErasmus student of political science at the Central European University (CEU) of Onea Austria. He is not the only Girona or Girona fan outside the Catalan lands. The growth of the entity in recent years and the addition of having achieved two promotions to Firsthave popularized the club beyond Catalonia. “What struck me the most about Montilivi, when I went there for the first time, was the family atmosphere that lives there. This caused it to become my favorite football club», he says Thomas Vallettaresident a Toulouges. “I have family in Riudarenes and my cousin, a member of the club, insisted that I go, because she sensed that I would like it. This was during Girona’s second year in Primera, in 2018. And I loved it, he got it right. The harmony there reminds me of theUSP, the club of my heart. You have to think that for us rugby is a tradition. As if it were a religion, it is part of us. But inevitably, Girona has now also made a place in my feelings».
Where do they watch the matches from?
Valero’s year of Erasmus has coincided with the return of the white-and-red team to the elite. “The safest thing, if I want to watch the games, is to go to an Irish tavern. They put international football there, basically for the Premier. I d’Spain they usually put Barça and the Madrid. But as there are many televisions, you can always try to trick them into playing Girona”, he comments. “There is also the option of going to a betting house, where they do it all for a multiscreen. But, hey, I’ve hired a platform and I watch them on my laptop, from my room or from the living room of the residence. What I can’t do is look Twitter at the same time, because the image comes to me late and then loses its grace. Of course, all my friends already know that we play pranks”, he adds, between laughs.
An hour and a half separates Valette from Montilivi, a journey that does not prevent him from being one of the regulars in the stands. “If I have to take the car and come alone, I do it, no problem. Nor is changing my working hours. But we have gathered a few followers, who, in fact, have founded a fan club Perpignan. There are about thirty of us. And when the team plays away from home, we stay at theArena (E)Sports Bar and we support together”, he acknowledges. At the beginning of the month they even moved to Cornellàin the tie at RCDE Stadium (2-2).
Permanence is feasible
Valero and Valette agree on the chances of salvation for Girona, stabilized in a comfortable position after the thrashing at Almeria. “We looked like him Brazil of Skin, Friday. I see the team very well, the truth. But after everything we’ve been through, we can’t trust each other”, says Valero. “The football we practice with Míchel is beautiful. I’m one of those optimists, one who thinks everything will be fine. Although I don’t know how we do it, we always end up suffering”, concludes Valette.