The eternal madness of Deportivo de La Coruña in the 1st RFEF: "It is the Real Madrid of the category"

took a deep breath

, and as he exhaled a penalty escaped, a dream and an illusion, that of 1994.

kicked his friend

as a joke , and a red card ended the sportsman's hope in the 2004 Champions League, the cheapest of the history.

finished

off in discount, but his header missed the First Division for Depor against Mallorca in 2019. Finally, 25,000 people saw in the Riazor how

, one of their own, won the promotion of promotion to the Second Division as coach of Albacete last summer, after two years in the hell of the First RFEF.

And even so...

We could continue listing misfortunes one after another, some more common in elite football and others not so much.

We could assume that the fall into hell of a team from the First Division to the First RFEF (former 2nd B) would end up tiring a parish that has football as a way out of unemployment, crisis, price increases and other more important things.

But isn't football the most important of the least important things?

Isn't Depor?

believe

.

The Real Club Deportivo de la Coruña has more members than all the great Galician clubs together, Celta de Vigo among them.

Approximately one million followers on social networks.

A city of

dedicated to the team (it could be said that

).

And, also, a rooting among its former players that is not common in this business-oriented football.

"Depor has grown through adversity."

It is a phrase that is repeated among big names in the sports parish.

They tell EL MUNDO F

, star of the team not so many years ago and Manuel Pablo, another former sports captain.

Depor is in the middle of its third season in a row in the First RFEF.

A team that is among the only nine that have managed to win LaLiga in Spain.

Other times, but perhaps these muds come from those dusts.

"The Superdepor is the protagonist of the stories that parents and grandparents told when they were little and I think it is because of him," says Fran.

"In A Coruña you don't see Madrid or Barça shirts, all the children wear Depor,"

, vice president of the club's Peñas Federation.

A Deportivo fan, with his bracelet.ALBERTO DI LOLLI

In what used to be Segunda B, Deportivo has increased its average attendance at Riazor from last season to the current one by 25% (from

, according to Transfermarkt).

And Lucas had not arrived, whose debut was witnessed by almost 24,000 souls.

freed himself from Cádiz by paying half a million euros out of his pocket and giving up a two million contract for the remaining season.

"When they tell me that I am going to play First RFEF ... it is that I do not see it that way, I am going to play Depor," said the man from Monelos in his presentation.

What for some is crazy for others is an unconditional love for his team.

«What Lucas has done is a wonderful gesture that is not usually seen in today's commodified football, but those are the values ​​that he learned in his neighborhood of Monelos.

He is not crazy, he is from A Coruña », assures

.

«He has awakened a lot of people who see that the team needs his support.

If there is something that Depor has, it is that it is different, "replies Fran.

The large attendance to see Depor is not something exclusive to Riazor.

Just take a look at the fields when the team plays away.

In Saturday's match against Alcorcón, the blue and white fans sold out the visiting tickets (300), and the price was not exactly RFEF Primera:

.

In addition, there were many more fans scattered around the stadium (the match ended in defeat, 3-1).

"Depor is the Real Madrid of its category," says Carlos Carballal.

professional football numbers

And, although no one can or wants to give official figures due to the various problems that have occurred with the operators that broadcast or have broadcast the Primera RFEF, the most reliable approximations say that Depor accounted for a third of the audience for the category last year.

"When teams start to fail, people start to give up, but here it's the opposite," says

.

Manuel Pablo, like other former sports players, has deep roots not only for the team but also for the city that welcomed them.

"Most of the footballers who played here have fallen in love with A Coruña," says the mayoress.

You only have to listen to a world champion who is often reminded by the Riazor crowd: «We are going to return [...] I am very clear that I am going to train him [at Depor].

It was my second home," said

at La Cope.

Depor is fourth in their group, seven points behind Alcorcón.

The sensations are different among his followers after so much misfortune.

If it went up, Carballal says that the

because "the fans will not fit", but the mayoress is clear that "it would be a true liberating madness, because we are breaking all records of suffering."

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