“The promotion would be an illusion, but it should not take away our sleep”

José Luis Sánchez compiles in a meticulous work the half century of life of CP Oliva. And he does it in a very special and emotional way. As a tribute to the memory of Basilio Sánchez. His father. ‘Story of a life. Historia de un club’ is actually two works in one, but inseparable. They do not understand one without the other. It is a nostalgic journey through that Oliva of the 70s. And also decades ago through the eyes of those who shared experiences with a young Basilio to put in context the reason for being of CP Oliva. José Luis Sánchez has devoted ten years to studying, researching, searching for archives, documents, data, interviews… to shape a book with which he partly completes the legacy of his father, who died in 2003, and which since 2007 gives name to the football field of the town.

When did the idea of ​​writing the book begin to arise?

-The initial idea arose after the death of my father and some other former directors who treasured great anecdotes and experiences. With his absence, a lot of data and a lot of club history were being lost. It was then the moment to not let more time go by and collect all the information and experiences of those who still remembered those first moments of the club.

– What can be found?

-In this book you can find two parallel stories, two banks of a river that run through the same course. On one shore, the life of a person who lived from a young age by and for sport, and on the other, the formation of a club by some football lovers. These two stories have a person in common, Basilio Sánchez.

–What was the first thread you started pulling?

-The first thread that I started to pull, among all the documentation that my father had, was the first minute book. It contains the first agreements, the first members of that directive and the first anecdotes. From there, there was a lot of work to do, interviewing and exchanging opinions with those first people who were still alive.

-The book is divided into two parts, the first in homage to Basilio Sánchez, his father, and the other dedicated to the history of the club.

–Yes, as I mentioned before, the book is divided into two sections. In principle, the work was aimed at the history of those 50 years of the Oliva Sports Club. I quickly realized that my father appeared in almost all the acts of that story, and in addition to paying my own tribute, I thought it would be interesting to investigate and make known other aspects of my father’s life, the other story.

–What did the figure of your father mean for Oliva?

-The figure of my father meant for Oliva, in addition to love for football and his people, above all, continuity, survival and patience. He did not figure much, but when there was a complicated situation such as forming a board, forming a team or finding a coach, he was there to pull the cart and get CP Oliva through another season.

–How was CP Oliva founded?

-CP Oliva was founded due to the need to federate a football club in order to compete at a regional level. Previously, since 1960, matches had been organized between neighboring towns under the name of Club Deportivo Oliva, but one day, Gonzalo Llorente as mayor, urged a series of football fans to formalize their participation in football matches. After the meeting of the first twelve directors, CP Oliva was established on June 10, 1972.

–Of everything that has been found, what anecdotes or curiosities have surprised you the most?

– I was especially surprised by the multitude of anecdotes remembered by managers from the early years and those that were collected in the first minute book. Mainly the dedication that those directors had with the club and how a group of people from such disparate environments came to form a true group of friends.

–When compiling all the documentation and putting the book in order, what memories have come to you?

–On the one hand, I have remembered those Sundays that my father took me to prepare the field with all the directors or the trips with the team, my first boots, my first shirt, my first pair of gloves… I have remembered those moments of football with my father.

-Oliva maintains that original philosophy of a family club and that is reflected in the involvement of the entire town to lend a hand, especially 24 hours a day. What is so special about penetrating so deep?

-In Oliva you live football, you feel CP Oliva. Most of the people have grown up at CP Oliva, either playing, as a manager or simply collaborating. The case of the 24 hours of futsal is already a benchmark for sport in the region, a date marked on the calendar in which all football fans from Oliveira come together to remember good times and to watch good football.

-In the book you collect the support of the FExF to Oliva in its beginnings, does that closeness with modest clubs still exist?

-The approach is only when there are elections, then they are forgotten.

–What moment would you take from these 50 years of CP Oliva?

–With the two promotions to Preferred Regional that I have experienced, the first in 1989 as a player, and the second as president in 2005, but perhaps the second is more endearing for what it meant to me personally.

-Two years after its foundation, Oliva won the Federation Cup, but promotion to the Third Division is its great pending issue. Do you ask for it as a wish now that the candles are blown for the 50th anniversary?

-Yes, it would be an illusion, but it should not be something that keeps us awake at night. I’m sure it will come, but we don’t have to obsess.