Atleti

It is a fact that our beloved Vicente Calderón Stadium will always be remembered and missed. However, this time it won’t share the fate of the Stadium Metropolitano, which left no plaque to mark its location.

On December 9, 2024, the Madrid City Council officially inaugurated the Atlético de Madrid Park, built over the covered section of the M-30 in the Mahou-Calderón area. This park occupies the very space, next to the Manzanares River, where the legendary Vicente Calderón Stadium once stood, the iconic home of Atlético. This green area, which includes several tributes to the stadium, concludes the transformation of Madrid Río and fills the physical void left by the stadium’s demolition, though nothing can fill the emotional void.

Not everyone is as lucky as I am. Because everyone (or almost everyone) has a godfather, but mine is red-and-white. One of the real ones, one of the cool ones.

I know he has many godchildren, and when he first became my godfather, I wasn’t very aware of what was coming my way. When I first offered him my arm to walk down the stairs to the auditorium at the Metropolitano, I was very clear that I could learn many things from him. That day, his supporters’ club was receiving a well-deserved tribute for years and years of loyalty to the Club, and as we descended those steps, he told me about his beginnings in short strides. He was taken to the front rows, as befits a member whose number is below 300, and at that moment, I already felt a little orphaned.

When ‘Creyentes’ told us about their initiative to hang the banners of the supporters’ clubs in the Metropolitano, our club didn’t hesitate for a moment: from the beginning, we were very clear that our banner should be there, adorning and bringing color, spirit, and presence. We joined this initiative because we are convinced that the banners are the veins through which the blood of the supporters’ clubs flows, and these are, in turn, the heart of any team. Without the supporters’ clubs and their representation, the team is nothing.

Football has those things: one falls in love with a team without even having visited the city of its origin. This happens to some members of our Peña. They are members of Atlético de Madrid without having visited their stadium, distant fans, at heart, who would like to see more live matches but cannot for various reasons.

When, on the occasion of the First Meeting of European Atlético Peñas, a delegation from Atleti visited us in Cologne, this situation became evident during the talk with the peñas, and the Club’s representative showed great generosity by inviting all members of our Peña who had not yet visited our stadium to the match against Lazio.