And there it is, watching time pass

Ana Belén and Víctor Manuel sang,

“I accompany my shadow down the avenue; My steps are lost among so many people; I look for a door, an exit; Where past and present coexist; Suddenly I stop, someone watches me; I look up and find her; And there it is, there it is, there it is; Watching time go by…” Mestalla stands.

Mestalla celebrates 99 years of history today. Almost a century of life and 2004 official matches for Valencia (via cyberche). It was the venue for the ’82 World Cup in Spain and the ’92 Barcelona Olympic Games. Ten Cup finals, European nights, the debuts in Spain of Di Stéfano, Maradona, Beckenbauer, Kempes, Baggio, Ronaldo or Zidane. A stadium where the best in history have played, from Cruyff to Messi, passing through those already mentioned and Garrincha, Wilkes or Müller. And there is Mestalla, watching time go by, currently being the oldest stadium in the First Division.

And that Mestalla should not exist anymore. That enclosure inaugurated on May 20, 1923 in a Valencia-Levante that was resolved with a goal by Montes should have been demolished at least three years ago and where its goals continue to have towers of houses or at least cranes for its construction. But there is Mestalla, watching time pass. Y Also presidents. Valencia began to say goodbye to Mestalla in 2007 and at this rate the stadium buries all those who laid the first stone of the Nou Mestalla. Of course, since in theory it was doomed to be rubble, he has seen up to nine pass from Juan Soler to Anil Murthy, and Lim will say if any more.

The audios of Anil Murthy, Lim aside, have tightened the rope more with the institutions, which, touched in their pride by the words of the president, begin to consider other legal measures to resume the works of the stadium, such as the change of the promoter, call it Peter Lim’s Valencia. At the moment, through a change of portfolio holders in the Generalitat, the meetings between the club and institutions are at a standstill. And meanwhile, there is Mestalla, watching time pass.

‘Canchero soccer players, also some tribunero. Braggarts who arrive inventing war. Homegrown players who resist the temptation to leave. And there it is, there it is Mestalla’.

Valencia has entered such a spiral that it is going to commemorate the birthday of its house in silence. Mestalla celebrates 99 years with sectors of Valencianism mobilizing so that the fans do not take their seats in the last League match against Celta, in a gesture with which they want to show their discontent with Lim’s management. It will be the way to close a season that began without an audience due to the pandemic and that has been recovering relative normality, although Mestalla is far from its old normality in terms of attendance and fort.

Mestalla is a stadium that in its 2,004 official matches averages a percentage of victories of 65.08%, 20.7% of ties and 14.2% of defeats. However, this season they have only won 5 of 17 league games. Waiting for what happens against Celta, Valencia can match the second worst season in terms of home wins. And it is difficult for what is the worst campaign to ever cease to be, because we are talking about the 1930s when only 9 games were played at home and the team only won four.

Valencia has played 1,425 First Division matches at Mestalla, 251 Cup, 88 Regional, 63 Champions, 92 Europa League, 49 Second, 9 Cup Winners Cup, 7 League Cup, 6 Intertoto, 6 Maximum League, 5 Super Cups and 3 President Cups. That’s without counting friendlies, such as the mythical Orange Trophies, or third-party matches, such as Real Madrid-Porto in the European Cup or all those played by the Spanish National Team.

In its 99 years of life, Mestalla has seen football pioneers, war tanks, fruit growers, builders and investors, the water and mud of a flood, concerts, rallies, cycling and athletics competitions, people from here and from there. They put an expiration date for 2011, then for the club’s centenary (2019), before the pandemic until 2022 and now they dare to say that in 2024. But there he continues, watching time pass. Mestalla turns 99 years old and those that remain.

Mirala, mirala…