In football there are rivalries of all kinds. The territorial one, in which two teams from the same city or territory fight to be the dominant club, is usually the most beautiful. Only the years, seasons and games dictate which team has the most prestige. However, in modern football, five years ago another type of rivalry was born, this time caused by an administrative decline.
We go back to the end of May 2015, when Eibar confirmed on the field their relegation in the first season in the elite. In the offices, on the other hand, he won to stay a year in First at the expense of an Elche that due to non-payments with the Treasury was demoted by decision of the LFP after finishing in thirteenth place.
“It is the greatest injustice that has been committed in Spanish football and we are going to fight until the last consequences,” he said at the time Juan
Anguix, president of the Elche club at that time. Despite trying actively and passively, resorting to all kinds of instances, Elche went to Second, a place occupied by Eibar. Since then, the gunsmith team is considered a non grato team in Martínez Valero.
On Sunday, somehow, the paths of Barça and Verdiblancos ended, after Elche agonizingly achieved promotion to the First Division. After descending administratively in 2015, Alicante hit rock bottom by falling to bronze status two seasons later. The goal of Pere
Mile in 95 'he makes Eibar and Elche meet again five years later. Although it is true that on Thursday – the day on which the LaLiga 20/21 draw is scheduled – in Alicante the visits from Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atlético de Madrid will be marked in red, they will also be pending to set a date for the return of Eibar to the Martinez Valero.
There the gunsmiths will also meet another old woman known as Patricia
Rodriguez. The Donostiarra, who in her day was the first woman to become general director of a First Club with Eibar and, one of the direct architects of administrative salvation in 2015 with her good management in the offices, now commands Elche. He arrived at the club from Elche in June 2019 and since then the economy of the entity has completely changed despite having the fifth lowest budget in Segunda. In the same way, the Gipuzkoan has recently become one of the vice-presidents of LaLiga, showing that the good work she did in Eibar was no coincidence.
It's already been six years
Yesterday marks the sixth anniversary of Eibar's first match in the First Division, against Real. On August 24, Ipurua exploded with joy with Javi Lara's solitary goal from a direct free kick in what was the first gunsmith goal in the elite of Spanish football. In just two weeks he begins his seventh season in First.
During this weekend several exarmeros have ended their season with different outcomes. Girona-Elche last Sunday left smiles in some and tears in others. The one who still has joy is Pere Milla, who after arriving at Eibar in 2016 as a clear bet for the future, scored the goal of Elche's promotion thanks to a header in the 95th minute when the hopes of Elche were already fading. On the other side of the coin is Riesgo, who will still wonder how he could not stop the Catalan's auction in a simple a priori header. Another who also did not get promotion with Girona although he could play with Eibar in the First Division is Jordi Calavera, who returns to Ipurua after his transfer in Montilivi. The right-back still has a year left on his contract.
Who was crowned in style was Joan Jordán. The midfielder won the Europa League championship with Sevilla on Friday after beating Inter Milan in Cologne. In his first season as a Sevilla player, the ex-gunman has become indispensable to Julen Lopetegui's plans in Nervión.