The former player of Albacete, Elche and Real Oviedo, in others, Pelayo Novo (Oviedo, 1990) has died this Monday after being hit by a train in the Asturian capital, where he had returned to the sport after a fall that made him change the soccer for chair tennis and where he was also linked to the Foundation of the Oviedista club.
The former player was part of the board of directors of the Asturian Tennis Federation and had returned to competition thanks to chair tennis after recovering from a fall that, while still an Albacete footballer, forced him to go through the Hospital for Paraplegics in Toledo.
"We are heartbroken. We deeply regret the death of Pelayo Novo, captain of our Foundation. Family and friends, we are with you," read the note from Real Oviedo, the team in which he was trained and in which he played in Second B until 21 years old.
It was at that moment, in the 2012-2013 season, when he made the leap to Second and there he defended the shirts of Elche -in two stages-, Córdoba, Lugo and Albacete, clubs that have also mourned the loss of the Oviedo player.
"In a short time you managed to win the affection of all the fans who are now mourning your terrible loss," wrote Albacete, seconding the statement also issued by Lugo in which the club from Lugo referred to the pain for the loss of Novo as "a indescribable pain."
Likewise, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has lamented the death of Pelayo Novo through a tweet in which it has written: "we will always remember his smile despite the difficulties experienced. A heartfelt hug to his family and friends".
The former soccer player, much loved throughout the region, lost his life late Tuesday after being run over by a train on the line that connects Oviedo and Siero, and since then there have been innumerable expressions of pain from a city in which, in addition He ran a dog grooming salon with his partner.
The void left by the loss of 'Pela', as all those with whom he shared tennis and soccer moments knew him, is just as big as the example that the Oviedo man has set in recent years, in which he became everything. a model of improvement for those who, like him, suffered from some type of disability.
"I give tremendous value to details, because it is not at all easy for people to hold you in their hearts in this way, and that is something that fills me with pride and gratitude," Pelayo himself commented just a year ago, when He received the Herrerita Award that Oviedism grants to his figures.
