FC Cartagena
The Vitorians paid 2.6 million pesetas for the winger, in the 1970s, while the Alavés sports director wore the albinegra in 1999
This Monday’s game (Cartagonova, 9 p.m.) is special for Sívori, but Ricardo Ciudad and Sergio Fernández also have links with Cartagena and Alavés. The first, a Sevillian winger, carried out a transfer of 2.6 million pesetas in the 1970s; while the second is the sports director from Vitoria after a sports career that led him to defend the Cartagonova jersey in the 1999/00 season.
You have to go back no less than half a century to dust off the albinegro past of Ciudad. This Sevillian winger landed in the Cartagena FC of the Pani, Baby, Egea and company in the summer of 1972, when this albinegro team was still in its classic fight to go up to Second. He did it in the Third Division, because then the Second B did not even exist, currently called the First RFEF. He left a great memory during 35 games, mainly because of the 18 goals that led him to be signed by Alavés. There he coincided with Jorge Valdano.
Married to a Cartagena
The team from Vitoria paid out 2.6 million pesetas, around 20,000 euros, which was a record at the time. «I had several offers from Celta and Betis and they transferred me to Alavés. It was a record for the category. To Parakeet [Arango] they transferred him to Valencia in a million”, Ciudad recalled this week in an interview with ‘Gaceta Cartagonova’, a publication edited by Pedro Caparrós. The Sevillian is now 73 years old, hung up his boots at 30, in Albacete, and then returned to Cartagena. He married a woman from Cartagena, has two children and a grandson named Ricardo Ciudad, Caparrós recalls in the publication.
Fernandez, current sports director of Alavés, also passed through the microphones of ‘Gaceta Cartagonova’ this week. Before him, he enjoyed a sports career of almost two decades, mainly at Hércules, which ended in 2010 with the colors of Real Murcia. Few remember that this 47-year-old man from León also defended the Cartagonova jersey 22 years ago. He participated in 25 games and continued on his way. «It was not easy and I never felt useful […] The trust that had been transmitted to me at the beginning did not exist […] Over the years neither of us has done badly, “he said.
Now he sees Efesé as “one of those teams that a priori seems not going to make any noise and that I consider one of the serious candidates […] able to deal with any opponent he comes up against.” He started as sports director at Real Murcia.
The Efesé coach played for Alavés before hanging up his boots
The current coach of Cartagena, Luis Carrión, also has a past at Alavés. The Catalan was a right-wing offensive winger who spent a large part of his sports career in Segunda B, mainly in the Barcelona youth academy. There he coincided with Víctor Valdés and Xavi Hernández. At 18 and 21 years old, he injured both knees and that prevented, in a way, that his years in professional football were more than two. Carrión also defended the jerseys of Gavá, Gimnastic, Tarrasa, Melilla and Alavés. In Mendizorroza he played 28 games in the 2009/10 season. «It is a model club and Vitoria, a very beautiful city […] I wish them the best, except Monday, “he recalled on Saturday. He later played for Peñarroya and hung up his boots at the age of 31.
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