SOS Real Oviedo
NYT ran an article Friday on #SOSRealOviedo—”Last-Ditch Effort to Save Real Oviedo Soccer Club Sweeps Globe”:
Real Oviedo, a soccer team in the proud province of Asturias, is about 300 miles north of Madrid and about a million miles behind Real Madrid, the powerhouse that along with F.C. Barcelona defines Spanish soccer.
Once a top-tier club, Real Oviedo tumbled as low as the fourth division, undone by years of financial negligence and political strife. Team staff members worked in a stadium bathroom when the power was turned off in their offices. Players revolted after not being paid. The current owner, charged with tax evasion, is missing. The club’s tax bill of 1.9 million euros, or $2.4 million, is due at the end of the year. Bankruptcy beckoned.
So about two weeks ago, Real Oviedo sold shares in the team online for 10.75 euros, or about $14. The club may never rival Real Madrid or F.C. Barcelona, but the effort, which ends Saturday, might keep it alive.
Fueled by Twitter messages by a British sportswriter in Spain, fans from Britain, South America, China and elsewhere have snapped up thousands of shares. Real Oviedo alumni playing in the English Premier League bought some and urged fans to do the same. Real Madrid said it would buy 100,000 euros’ worth of shares. One fan near Portland, Ore., promised to get a Real Oviedo tattoo if others bought 100 shares. She got the tattoo.
By Wednesday, the team had raised about 1.57 million euros, mostly from people who had never been to Spain, let alone seen Real Oviedo play live. Nearly 40 percent of the more than 20,000 new shareholders are from 60 countries outside Spain. After the spasm of support, well-heeled investors from Britain, Mexico and Spain are studying the club’s books to decide whether to buy stakes.
“We are living in a remarkable moment in the history of Real Oviedo,” said Pedro Zuazua, one of four board members installed in July to help overhaul the club. “We were desperate. We thought the club was going to disappear.”
The article includes an interesting quote from Sid Lowe:
“I’m reluctant to hang medals on Oviedo that it doesn’t deserve,” said Sid Lowe, a sportswriter in Madrid for The Guardian, whose Twitter messages with the hashtag #SOSRealOviedo triggered the wave of interest outside Spain. “But maybe actually there is a power in doing things from a grass-roots effort. It could be a sign of hope for people who don’t like modern football.” [emphasis added]
Sherrilynn Rawson, an elementary school administrator near Portland, was also struck by the historical and cultural similarities between northwestern Spain and the northwestern United States, where her favorite team, the Portland Timbers, has a devoted following despite having played for years in a lower league.
She promised to get a tattoo of Real Oviedo’s logo if members of the Timbers Army fan club bought at least 100 shares in the Spanish club. They bought more than 400.
Fotbalul Romantic 