He had arrived from Linares without his parents, only a few months before, with the anticipated dream of a better life. I was 14 years old and had not yet completed basic studies, so I would have to work on whatever came my way. Together with his grandmother and uncles, José Urtiaga He settled in La Serreta. From up there I could see a good part of the houses in Rubí, one of the towns in Barcelona that at that time welcomed waves of emigrants. The location of that neighborhood, a matter of fate, was going to save his life. Because on September 25, 1962, a devastating flood swept away a thousand people in the Vallès Occidental. However, that tragedy would also sow the seeds of a football team. Or more than that. A symbol of hope. He Youth September 25neighborhood club, pride, inspiration, resistance.
«The first thing they gave to the victims were houses made of wood. Then it took them about two years to build the neighborhood. As a tribute to the victims, they called it September 25. In 1968 the football club with the same name was born, thanks to a group of kids who felt the concern of the ball,” Urtiaga tells EL MUNDO, with a charnego tone immune to the passage of time. These are six decades since that hydrological catastrophe, unleashed in less than three hours, when rainfall of more than 200 liters per square meter was recorded. The flooding of the Llobregat and Besós rivers devastated the precarious homes installed in the dry streams of Rubí, Terrassa, Montcada, Sabadell, Cornellá and Gavá.
Urtiaga has practiced in twenty as a player, coach, youth team coordinator, manager and president. From 1976 to 2010. That is why there is nothing in its history that escapes it. Since the foundation, in a bar in Rubí called The Huntersuntil today. Because Saulone of his grandchildren, is part of the first team, which competes in the Primera Catalana, the seventh level of our football. With an annual budget of 45,000 euros for the first team. An almost ridiculous sum, which is related to its own origins. «At first, the boys received support from those who ran a business, a store, whatever. They didn’t even have a playing field, so they had to rent the UE Rubí field,” adds Urtiaga.
“no one has felt displaced”
These were times of reconstruction after the floods. The dictatorship had showered Rubí with 50 million pesetas in compensation and another 250 million in non-refundable works. Fabulous amounts for the time. While the propaganda apparatus trumpeted the Caudillo’s visit to the area, the vineyards gave way to metallurgy and the chemical industry. José combined football with his eight hours at Lightning Zippers. In that large factory, reduced today to its minimum expression, he met Ana, who is still his wife.
To her astonishment, he spent many Sundays doing twenty which was never allowed in his own home. Washing machines. Full of t-shirts, pants and socks of their footballers. At the end of the 70s, the club already had its own playing field. «Abandoned land was taken advantage of. We made a dirt field out of a dunghill. And it was the envy of our rivals because it drained better than anyone else. This family character gave the team an integrating idiosyncrasy, where in Urtiaga’s opinion “no one has felt displaced.” «We have always contributed something to the training of children. And that, sooner or later, they end up giving it back to you.
Four decades later, the twenty is now embarking on the comprehensive renovation of its stadium. Every morning, Stephen Camino opens the facilities. At the last minute, after training, he also locks the key. He is a janitor and sports director. Supervises the works and carries out maintenance tasks scouting. After leaving his previous job, he wanted to establish himself full-time in the team of his life. «This is a very humble club, born in a working-class neighborhood. At first all the players came from the houses next door and that gave it a very familiar character. Now we try to maintain that bond by participating in all the events organized by the neighborhood association. And it’s not just a popular paella on the first weekend of July, the neighborhood’s main festival.
«Our parents and grandparents told us many stories and today we feel very identified with Valencia»
Every September 25, a delegation from the club approaches a small square in the neighborhood for the minute of silence and the floral offering with which Rubí pays tribute to her dead. Young and old, political representatives, local entities. All clinging to a feeling. «Remember the creek It is also to remember the solidarity and resilience of the city. Because from those terrible events, Rubí also knew how to learn,” the mayor proclaimed in 2023. Ana María Martínez (PSC). If those teachings were useful for Valencia today…
«In the neighborhood there is dismay with the DANA disasters. Our parents and grandparents told us many stories and today we feel very identified. Especially since last Monday, when the alarms went off on our cell phones, because here we were also on red alert. Fortunately, everything ended in a scare,” explains Camino. In your twentyrecently promoted to Primera Catalana, there is not a minute of respite. Neither in the competition, nor in the quarry. “In a place like this, so modest, you can’t come to show off or get away with anything, but to work,” Urtiaga says.
Before playing with the Spanish youth teams and making his debut with the Ecuadorian senior team, Diego Almeida He took his first steps as a center back there. He also sat on his bench Santi Fernandezchampion of the Super League and the Copa de la Reina with Espanyol (2006). «Even if it was not formed here, I do not want to forget the support it gives us Victor Sanchez», he concludes about the former midfielder parakeeta native of Rubí and with 302 matches in the First Division.
The current staff reflects the ethnic diversity of a city of 80,000 inhabitants, located just 20 kilometers from Barcelona. Spanish surnames coexist with Senegalese and Moroccan surnames. “We have to welcome everyone because when someone has a need we have to help them,” says José, with the severity of someone who suffered the rigors of emigration. Urtiaga has lived in 25 de Septiembre since 1964. His neighborhood, his club, his life. «On my staircase there are eight neighbors and there are still six of us who have been there since the beginning. The other two families are of Latin American and Moroccan origin. Wonderful people.