Memories of Malaga’s top tier days at ‘open doors’ event

Nearly five thousand Malaga CF fans were in attendance on Tuesday for the second open-training session of the season. Schoolchildren were able to enjoy the beginning of their Semana Blanca holiday by meeting their footballing idols as the players stayed for an hour after training to take photographs with supporters.

The attendance was slightly lower than the 7,000 who watched the side at the last open-training session at the end of December. This is likely due to a slight dip in form in the last couple months.

The players who received the most attention were Malaga-born Kevin, a talented winger who was promoted through the academy as well as another local hero Dani Sánchez. After his important goal against Cartagena last weekend, Croatian forward Baturina was warmly received by fans.

The biggest surprise of the day was the club’s presentation of a new vintage shirt that pays tribute to the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons when Malaga was the only Andalusian side in Spain’s top division. At the end of the training session, supporters gathered in the club shop to purchase the retro jersey.

The mood was dampened slightly by the news of injuries to two key players. Galilea, the commanding Basque defender, had to retire early from training due to a muscle strain to his right leg while Lobete also suffered a knock during the session. The striker had to sit on the sidelines but it seems likely that he will feature in this Saturday’s clash against Almeria.

Fringe players such as Ángel Recio (captain of the youth team) and goalkeeper Andrés Céspedes were invited to the session while Antoñito and Izan Merino were notable omissions due to their obligations with the Spanish u-19 side.

Sergio Pellicer, Malaga’s head coach, will have to decide on whether the two young Spaniards will travel for the Andalusian derby following the u-19s friendly match against Norway on Thursday.

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SUR was able to speak with two Malaga legends who were suitably chosen for the presentation of the new retro shirt. The famous ‘Double D’ scored 54 goals between them when playing together for the club while donning the shirt that inspires the latest release.

Dely Valdés acknowledged that “many beautiful memories came back to me when I saw [the shirt] again, and even more when I put it on and stepped onto the turf at La Rosaleda. The best place I’ve been is Malaga. I spent three very good years as a player, and the ‘Double D’ with Darío [Silva] was amazing. I also spent three years as a coach, assistant coach and with the reserve team. It is very nice to see how Darío and I are remembered in Malaga.”

Regarding the side’s current situation, he explained, “Segunda is very competitive because there are many teams that should be in La Liga but play in Segunda and Malaga is one of them. This year they are matching the objectives they set at the beginning of the season, which is to stay in the division. But Malaga is a La Liga side and hopefully they will soon return to where they deserve to be,” said the Malaga legend.

The other half of the partnership, Uruguayan Darío Silva, was very pleased to be wearing the blue and white stripes again.

“I have beautiful memories of this place. Of seeing the people who spent the little money they had to watch us. We achieved our objective, which was to take Malaga as far up the table as possible. Now let’s hope that the new generation will continue to push the club higher and higher.”

About his time as a Malaga player, he said, “It was the best period of my career because I won my only international trophy, the Intertoto, which for me and for the club was very important. We were a very close group, and in fact we are still in contact through WhatsApp,” he said.

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It has become almost obligatory for clubs to release a retro outfit every season. Already Malaga have paid tribute to the 87-88 side with a special jersey and now the team who got promoted to Primera at the turn of the millennium have their own tribute.

Designed by Hummel, the shirt is on sale for 69.95 euros though discounts are available for season ticket holders. Already 1,400 supporters have secured their purchase of this blue and white striped shirt that features a unique black trim.

The design is associated with the success of Joaquín Peiró’s side who finished in eighth place on their return to Primera. The so-called “Peiró boys” included the likes of Contreras, Fernando Sanz and Agostinho as well as of course Darío Silva and Dely Valdés who with their 36 and 38 goals respectively, are the club’s leading goalscorers in the first division.