Rain or shine, with more or less support, in Second B or Second, with or without a pandemic. The publication that Pedro Caparrós edits and distributes before each Efesé match turns 500 this Sunday. La Gaceta Cartagonova is a faithful traveling companion for Cartagena fans without interruption since the 1998/99 season. In a comfortable and flexible format, there are thousands of Albinegros fans who do not understand occupying their seat in the stadium without first taking a look at this reading that tells the adventures of their team.
Pedro Caparrós is one of the largest archives of Cartagena football. A teacher of Mathematics and Physical Education, he worked in various educational centers in the municipality but also dedicated a good part of his professional life to recounting the exploits of local sports on radio, television and even in the written press, fifteen years of them (from 1975 to 1990). in truth. On April 11, 1999, almost 25 years ago, he embarked on the adventure with the launch of the Gaceta in the preview of a Cartagonova-Tarrasa (0-0).
Since then, Caparrós, with the help of his family, various sponsors, Diego Segovia and the QdH printing press, has never missed his appointment with Cartagena: the Gaceta Cartagonova, in a comfortable eight-page format, whether in color or blank. and black or two-tone, can be collected at the descent of the Soldado Rosique bridge completely free of charge from a couple of hours before each Efesé match. The publication reaches this week, before Cartagena-Valladolid (Cartagonova, 9:00 p.m.), five hundred issues. Of them, 498 correspond to regular league matches and promotion phases; and two special ones: that of the champions' tie against Cádiz in 2009, once promotion was completed in Alcoy; and the one in 2013, on the occasion of the visit of Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.
Picking up a copy on the Soldado Rosique bridge is something essential for the Albinegra fans.
«25 years have passed and we have not failed a single game, better or worse, even in the pandemic. Publication 100, 200 and 300 gave satisfaction and we did it in color. It wasn't the same then as it is now. There are more advances and the cost is no longer the same. The magazine was shocking. It was done in old rotary presses with the crank and now it has nothing to do with it,” says Pedro Caparrós, present in the ascents of Torrejón (1982), Alcoy (2009) and Málaga (2020).
This 69-year-old teacher and informant is satisfied that some fans feel his publication is something essential to go to the stadium. «The day the public returned, in 2020 against Almería, I remember that people said that the Gazette is a safe passage, that when there is a Gazette there is football. It is a joy, and I thank everyone who helps me. 3,000 copies are distributed and people take it home. They stay [en el campo] “much less than what is given.”
Of all these years, Caparrós remains without a doubt with the 2009/10 season, when JIM's team came close to being promoted to First Division. «It was spectacular on all levels. It is difficult to repeat now, with the salary limit and the differences that exist between teams,” he says.
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