Memory is often very fragile, so it is convenient to feed it and forgetfulness does not cloud everything with darkness. "If we lose our memory, we lose ourselves," said the Czech novelist and playwright Ivan Klima. Espanyol has been working on it for months now that it is 100 years since the inauguration of the Sarrià stadium. A field that was his temple. Perico pilgrimage site for 74 of the 123 years of its existence. A piece of life from one of the most historic teams in the country, through which they walked from Divino Zamora to Marañón, Solsona, Lauridsen, N'Kono or Tamudo, all parakeet myths. A field that is a piece of the history of the city of Barcelona and its people. That he lived glorious nights for his team, such as the 1988 UEFA semifinal with that goal by Pichi Alonso against Bruges. It hosted one of the best matches in the history of the World Cups, that Brazil-Italy game in 1982, ten years later it hosted the 1992 Olympic Games and saw Valencia, Atlético and Athletic celebrate titles. Also thrashed against Barça, like the 6-0 in 1951 and many soccer afternoons that are perhaps easier to forget, but that build feelings.
The clock marked 5:04 p.m. on September 20, 1997 when 74 years of history collapsed. With 72.5 kilos of rubber, a flirtatious installation collapsed, which was the victim of debts and the mismanagement of its leaders. “The disgust of seeing when they collapsed was great, especially for the older ones, who lived our time there, it was a great disappointment. But it was necessary to modernize”, accepts Dani Solsona, ex-footballer parakeet, in statements to La Vanguardia. Cornellà's noi confesses that he still often remembers his debut in the stadium where he was born in 1970. “At the beginning of my stage I only knew Sarrià. I remember the day of my debut from time to time, also the eight very good seasons that I lived there. It was a very welcoming stadium, although the grass was not always in good condition, ”he recalls. Its destruction caused pain, but allowed the club to come to life. "They are things of life," confesses Solsona. “Even personally, sometimes you have to do things you don't like to survive. Espanyol, in disastrous economic circumstances, chose the clearest option in order to survive”. "Luckily," he says, "another great stadium has been built," he says.
Of all the goals scored in Sarrià, thousands and thousands, one stands out in the parakeet collective imagination, the one scored by Pichi Alonso in extra time in the 1988 UEFA semi-finals. "It had a great impact because of what it meant," he says. for La Vanguardia the current commentator for Movistar. “After the 2-0 loss in the first leg, the days before, I wouldn't say disappointing, but the public didn't quite respond. The club began to move because it thought that the field would not be filled. He gave away tickets to some groups and as the days passed, a great atmosphere was created. More and more people wanted to come and from not filling the field it happened that there were many who were left without being able to enter. The atmosphere that existed the day of Bruges in the semifinal was infinitely superior to that of the final against Bayer Leverkusen. A field totally overturned with the team. It was unimaginable”, recalls Alonso. “Score in the last play of the game. In the last minute of extra time... Tommy (N'Kono) came running to hug me from the box. I don't know if I flipped. It is a very nice memory ”, he assures.
"Sarrià was a little candy box," recalls Alonso about what the stadium meant. “He was in the soul of Barcelona, very flirtatious, small and very much from the city. The people were very high. It was a field that squeezed, that made itself felt in the rivals. We live very intense moments, with a lot of follow-up and animation ”, he concludes.
As a good survivor, Espanyol does not forget what was their home. Place of exalted passions and symbol of a neighborhood that made it famous throughout the world. The club's historian, David Tolo, the creator of an exhibition on the stadium with the help of the foundation, emphasizes the importance of the sale of these lands to "be able to give life to the Ciudad Deportiva Dani Jarque five years later". In addition, for some time the club has been fighting for the dignity of the space in the gardens where the field was located. “We got a plaque put up. It was vandalized twice. Now we are working to put it back on. And in the future we hope for a monument or sculpture that gives more meaning to the location than the great Sarrià stadium was”. Everything so that the memory of him continues for many years in the memory of parrots, of those who lived through it and of others who never even smelled his soccer aroma.
