Rarely had he felt such a deep, painful, inevitable silence in the old Santa Laura Stadium. The 92nd minute was played and the goal scored by Juan Leyva – the midfielder of O’Higgins de Rancagua – ruled one time before the end of the tournament, relegating the Spanish Federation. The fans of the Spanish team, who shouted, encouraged, insulted and lit fireworks during the match, which was held without a visiting audience, were silent. They saw the end of a terrible year by losing the category for the second time in professionalism, with the fear of not being able to return as quickly as in 1997.
The irreversible disaster was caused by several factors. The Spanish Federation has drawn up a plan to compete on two fronts, as it has qualified for the Copa Sudamericana. Under the technical orders of José Luis Sierra, perhaps the living icon most associated with the Reds, the results were disastrous on both fronts. After declaring that “it’s all my fault” he left after winning just six points in nine dates.
He was replaced by Miguel Ramírez, who had just joined Deportes Iquique, the team that took him to the Libertadores. Like his predecessor, he failed in the continental struggle, and even more so at the local level. Without a duel, he was benched and was never able to return.
Apathy and errors at the technical level were exacerbated by two unimaginable factors. The first is the Santa Laura Stadium, the cradle of Chilean football, which has not withstood the onslaught of time well. With the field in very poor condition, an attempt was made to improve the lights, but a series of bad decisions left the bastion without lighting, without towers and with the disgrace of incapable management, which had taken two headships in one year.
Since 2008, ownership of Union Española has been in the hands of Jorge Segovia, president of the SEK Educational Foundation (San Estanislao de Kostka). After trying to assume the presidency of the Chilean Football Federation, he entered into conflict with the public, his peers and the press, as he became the main opponent of Marcelo Bielsa’s administration in the national team, which held him directly responsible for his resignation after the 2010 World Cup. Sabino Aguad, the club’s director, explained, justifying his absence in recent years: “It was an image assassination.”
Segovia ruled the organization from afar for more than a decade, saving it from relegation in 2008 and declaring it champion of the league and the Super Cup in 2013. His strong personality made him a character that shines through the series. Presidentfrom Amazon, has been portrayed as one of the leaders involved in the FIFA and Conmebol scandals. Segovia went to trial and won a million-dollar defamation suit.
In its centuries-old history, the Spanish Federation chose the Imperial Eagle as its shield, before Franco came to power. The club went into a break during the Civil War due to the division in the colony, and the mere existence of another organization called Iberia which used Barcelona’s colours, meant that the Santa Laura team carried the weight of Franco’s rule for a long time.
They managed to become champions in 1943, when the scars of the conflict were still painful, and have since become one of the dominant teams in the country. He played in the Libertadores final, won six other titles and his following is not limited to immigrants or their descendants.
The project to build a new stadium was halted under Segovia’s rule because it included two residential towers and a shopping center on the land, which opened a long dispute with the municipal authorities. It is still unknown what the way back is because the owner of the remote has not revealed himself yet.
This is not a disappearance by any means, but a fall into a very competitive category – there are teams from cities with a large presence and state stadiums – where only one team is directly promoted. But it was a powerful blow to the heart of a project that had always had the lyrical, almost poetic tone of a painting that combined the spirit of the conquistadors and refugees from Winnipeg and the professions associated with Spain’s depth: bakers, shoemakers and hardware dealers, who had more passion than the telephone companies, highway builders or bankers who were emerging with the new century, and who little understood the value of a club that remained behind a fairytale castle that served as a doorway into Santa’s magical world. Laura.