A full house paid tribute with silence, applause, flags and a giant banner, where one could read “Let’s go Valencia!”, to the victims of the damage in the first Valencia CF match after the attacks, which claimed 221 lives. and several dozen municipalities. This Saturday, the Valencian camp experienced one of the most emotional previews in its history before the match with Betis. The respectful and emotional minute of silence was responsible for closing this event in which the regional flag, donated by Real Madrid after being displayed at the Santiago Bernabéu, was also placed on the grass supported by several volunteers from the Food Bank who were located in Mestalla the days after the tragedy.
The club had asked its fans to be in Mestalla from 1:30 p.m., half an hour before the match, to then begin the tribute to the deceased, but also to the emergency forces and volunteers who, explained from the Mestalla public address system, have given during these last weeks “a lesson in solidarity and love.”
A huge black crepe ruled the animation curve of Mestalla and three elements predominated among the fans, the Senyera as a shirt, black as the clothing of most of them and the banners of encouragement towards the more than sixty municipalities devastated by the catastrophe. With 15 minutes to go before the game started, the tributes continued. When the players left the field of play, a tribute video appeared on the field’s video scoreboards, while eighty volunteers came out onto the field from the south corner.
Afterwards, the children from the schools linked to the club took a huge black crepe out of the locker room tunnel and gave them to José Luis Gayà and Marc Bartra, who took them to the Senyera’s side. After that, all the footballers, both from Valencia and Betis, stood next to the flag, while the Regional Anthem was performed with dolçaina and tabal while the typhoid was discovered.
In addition to all this, Valencia is already playing with a completely black kit, which will later be auctioned, while the total proceeds from this Saturday’s match will be allocated to the towns most devastated by this catastrophe, an amount whose amount Peter will match. Lim, Valencia’s largest shareholder, to donate it to the victims.
Beyond that, the affected members of the municipalities shaken by this catastrophe have been able to go using the buses made available by the club.
