The best Levante UD in history would never have been possible without the figure of Pedro Catalan, one of its most important and decisive managers. And it is that the father of the current president was one of the first heads to think about the granota club as it is today. Quico’s close collaborator and close adviser, the golden stage that began in 2009 bears his signature on many things. That of someone intelligent and reasonable, with specific weight, temperance and a magnificent counterbalance of opinions internally at moments as relevant as the fortunately frustrated negotiation with Sarver. A granota from head to toe who appears in that photo of the rise of 63 with a gesture that says it all about the feeling that ran through his veins. After more than a decade facing cancer, his death at dawn from Tuesday to Wednesday represents an irreparable loss for the Levantine world. He also for Spanish football and especially for the Valencian.
Representatives of both honored him yesterday and will do so again today in the last farewell. As a key figure due to his knowledge in important milestones such as the reform of Orriols or the future Ciudad Deportiva de Nazaret, together with his teammates on the board of directors Luis Calero, Miguel Ángel Gil and Paco Fenollosa, the most veteran, was awarded in December with the SUPER 2022 Award for sports career. An act that unfortunately he could no longer attend due to the advance of the disease. So worth that applause from the audience that she could not hear live and the words that his son dedicated to her as a farewell. Emotion on the surface of the skin like the one he emanated in every talk or official act in which his presence was required. Especially in the one dedicated to our colleague Ismael Algarra, with whom he shared a doctor and confidences and who deservedly pays homage to him in our pages. Living up to the motto of “a past to honor, a future to conquer”, there is no doubt that in the memory of Levantinism, which already said goodbye in 2020 to another historic director such as Ramón Vilar, it will always remain present.
