The day Salvador Dalí saved Sant Andreu

These days, UE Sant Andreu remembers the eight glorious years spent in the Segunda División (1969-1977), during which it faced historic teams and fielded prestigious players and coaches. The club from the popular district of Sant Andreu del Palomar has found hope with its recent rise to the 1st RFEF. This year marks 49 years since the end of this formidable epic, which ended in a serious economic crisis that Salvador Dalí helped to overcome through his painting “Gol! ".

During the 1969-1970 season, the old stadium on Santa Coloma Avenue was demolished to make way for the Narcís Sala stadium. During the work, from the end of October, a bus left from rue des Monges to take supporters to Sarrià where Sant Andreu played its home matches. On the RCD Espanyol pitch, the club played 14 Championship matches and one Cup match, as Josep María Babí Guimerà recalls on the “Arxiu històric Roquetes Nou Barris” blog.

“The new stadium cost 25 million pesetas, built in just three months, the visor of the ‘four bars’ stand was only finished the following season (…) The official inauguration took place on March 19, 1970 against FC Barcelona, ​​a 1-0 defeat thanks to a goal from Fusté,” he explains.

Three days later, UE Sant Andreu played its first match in its new venue and won against Oviedo thanks to a goal from Yanko Daucik, a striker who shared the bench with his father Fernando Daucik, coach of the club. During this prosperous period, the club obtained its best place, a 6th position, and finished several times in the top 10 (7th and 8th). He thus faced clubs like Espanyol, Betis, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Sporting, Deportivo, Celta, with notable players such as Tovar and Moya (more than 330 matches), Giralt, Sabaté, Rodilla, Bertomeu, Feliu, Solsona, Martí Filosía, Serena, Mur, Vidal, Riera, Longhi, mainly in great shape, who retained the place of club in division.

However, the 1976-1977 season plunged Sant Andreu into a deep crisis. The workforce had been recruited beyond financial means, which unbalanced the accounts: the players no longer received their salaries and threatened to strike.

President Joan Comas resigned in December, giving way to a board headed by Narcís Busquets. The club finished 19th and was relegated to Segunda B, a new division created by the Federation. Vice President Félix Romero then took the reins. The club was on the verge of bankruptcy. To pay off the debts, a daring idea emerged: ask Salvador Dalí for a work to save Sant Andreu.

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Romero managed to contact the artist thanks to Manel Mora, photographer and supporter of the club, also used to staying in Cadaqués, like Dalí. The painter had a youth marked by his relationship with football, even if he never had a link with Sant Andreu: he was a goalkeeper at his Marist school in Figueres and idolized Zamora, buying gloves and long pants to play. He was close to legendary players like Samitier, Piera or Sagi Barba, with whom he played during weekends in Cadaqués.

On September 30, 1977, Dalí invited Romero to the Ritz Hotel to reveal to him the painting he had created in one day, the result of “cosmic inspiration,” he confided to the director. This gesture was part of a political context where Adolfo Suárez had restored the Generalitat of Catalonia and recognized its historical legitimacy. In cultural circles, people were wondering: expression of love for football or adaptation to new times? The painter, known for supporting the Franco regime, was familiar with the media, notably radio and No-Do.

The front page of the newspaper ‘El Mundo Deportivo’ on October 12 showed Dalí holding a Sant Andreu jersey, accompanied by an interview signed by Ricard Maxenchs, where he declared: “I only care about Catalonia and remaining universal”; “I would like to be Cruyff, but with my genius”; “The masters transmit only kindness and generosity. »

The next day, before a Sant Andreu-Mallorca match, Félix Romero and manager Ginés Vera took the painting around the stadium to allow the public to thank the artist before it was put up for auction. This day also marks the return of Josep Tarradellas to El Prat, with the famous “Ja soc aquí” pronounced on the balcony of the Generalitat.

However, the players filed a complaint against the club, which resulted in the board being seized by a court to settle unpaid wages of one million pesetas. Once the debt was cleared, the work returned to the club to be sold at auction in several unsuccessful attempts until a buyer came forward.

Since then, the painting “Gol! » was never seen again and its location remains a mystery, while Sant Andreu continues to search for its trace.

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