“He was a classy veteran. A gentleman in everything.”

On the occasion of the sad anniversary that will be remembered next Tuesday, March 9, celebrating half a century of the departure of the eternal captain of the UD Las Palmas Juan Guedes who, to this day, continues to leave an indelible mark for anyone who in some way or another coincided with his figure, Diario AS unites two prominent former players from the years after the death of the Gran Canaria idol. The talented midfielder during the 70s and 80s, Pepe Juan Suárez, who played for 11 seasons in the yellow club, and the midfielder of great honor Benito Morales, from 1980 to 1987, share with us how was their dealings with him in those little games between the Craftsman and the UD, how they experienced the fatal outcome and how his death affected the club.

“A father of Canarian players”

Both, with a common history, that transfer to FC Barcelona when they were youth, which was never executed in the case of Suárez, although it was in Morales' case. They speak with admiration of the captain of the UD, a mass idol at that time, highlighting above all his closeness to the player from the quarry.

“At 15 I was already playing in the Artesano regional and, normally, every Wednesday we would face the first team from Las Palmas. What we noticed the most was his support for young people, he encouraged you and advised you. At that moment, what they told me later, that he was a father of Canarian players, stuck with me.. His presence alone and his way of speaking imposed a lot of respect ”, comments Pepe Juan with admiration, to which he then adds Benito morales what “This kind of people is the one who is missing today, unfortunately. As a person he greeted you, like that, as he was tall, skinny, and he impressed you and made you firm. I never spoke to him, but he gave you the feeling of seriousness as well as closeness. Then you played against him and he never kicked you or had any bad gestures. He didn't bother that you could get over it, he admitted it and he saw you with wood. He was a classy veteran. A gentleman in everything ”.

“The only thing left of the club is the name and the coat of arms”

In this meeting, on the occasion of paying tribute to the first great yellow legend Juan Guedes, Benito Morales, he does not bite his tongue and considers that “If he were alive or had died later, not many things would have happened that have happened at UD Las Palmas. He had a lot of charisma and he would have set rules that today would have been carried out in the club. He was an exceptional man. Between his death and that of Tonono in such a short time, many things were broken ”.

Although he considers that in his time at the club there are also things that were done wrong, he believes that currently “The only thing left of the club is the name and the coat of arms. In the last 25 years things have been done … to be this club twice in 2ªB … Many more things could have been achieved if the guidelines of these gentlemen, who unfortunately are not us, could have been carried out ”.

“What if the team was about to disappear, change stadium, a club drugged up to the eyebrows … With this kind of people, surely they would not have happened. The club was them. They had an impressive aura. Values ​​have been lost “, tells us with considerable disappointment about the current situation that the entity chaired by Miguel Ángel Ramírez is experiencing.

Leaders like before

Both remember with longing also those types of soccer figures that the transition to modern football, with continuous market movements and little roots, has been leaving in oblivion. “There are already very few left and counted on the fingers of one hand. The cache of saying that I am here … that no longer exists. Puyol is one of the few that remained. That respect for the person before the player, as Guedes transmitted, that is why they called him El Mariscal. Everyone goes for the money and it's over, ”Morales tells us with a tone of certain detachment from what is happening today, to which Pepe Juan joins, commenting that “The leaders such as Guedes, Tonono, Germán, Castellano, etc; it is difficult for them to come back. Many passing players come today. In the last game Las Palmas had four captains, for example. I miss the leaders who in bad times pull the ears of the rest, advise and give the callus. Today there is more individual than collective pride ”.

A historic burial

Regarding his death, Pepe Juan remembers it as something unusual to date in Gran Canaria, since, although “it was already known more or less what was going to happen, it was not like Tonono's march in 10 days, But I have never seen a more massive funeral in my life like that and Tonono's. I will never forget ”.

“Neither do I, like them nobody, huge queues behind the hearse. That does not make you a good footballer, that is generated by a great person. People wanted them to rage “, concludes Benito Morales when he remembers the long-awaited captain, whose aura is clearly still present in his words.