There are objects that hide stories, and there are also objects that whisper stories that, although distant, acquire brilliance when evoked. How many memories fit in this ball? It is possible an infinite number. If you look closely, you can trace the signature of the heroic Azulgranas players who defied destiny and the fates to make it to the top flight of Spanish football at the beginning of the fabulous sixties. This ball exemplifies Levante’s legendary rise to the Olympus of the footballing Gods in June 1963.. It is a piece of the history of the Levantine society that takes up the effervescence of those days of superlative emotions after the donation made by Fernando Aguiló.
The ball returns to the point of origin. This levantinista from the heart and with granota feelings, based in Barcelona, guarded a trace of the memory of the blaugrana club. For decades, the ball rested in his home as a silent witness of a remembered feat. Aguiló lived the epic that meant the access to the First Division in 1962-1963 from a position of certain preponderance. He himself slips through the tunnel of time to give voice to his memory. “My father, who was also called Fernando Aguiló, was a member of the board chaired by Eduardo Clerigues during the promotion season. Imagine how we lived it all”. The ball was a commemoration of their success. “It was a gift from my father after eliminating Deportivo de La Coruña in the promotion play-off”.
That match is part of the imagination of the most veteran Levante fans. “I have lived through all five of Levante’s promotions to the top flight,” he says with a hint of pride, evoking the Ciutat de València institution’s most successful milestones. The names of the titans who beat Deportivo La Coruña in the decisive clashes return to their splendour to highlight a feat that the younger players can rediscover. Wanderley, Camarasa, Serafín, Currucale, Quique, Castelló… are back in the front line. In reality, their echo never died out. Their headings, scattered across the leather, bear witness to an enterprise that has been pursued by society since time immemorial.
Between the end of May and the birth of June 1963, Levante faced the third promotion to the First Division in their history. It was a kind of anathema that the team led by Quique and Balaguer cut short. The play-offs emerged on Galician soil. The granota squad subdued Riazor (1-2) with goals from Domínguez and Wanderley. A few days later in Vallejo Serafín and Valls ratified the ties with the victory to celebrate a mythical promotion. “I think this ball belongs in the club’s museum. It belongs there,” says Fernando Aguiló.