Richie: “Lucas told me, ‘You made me cry.'”
Four seconds of video, three hand gestures and two chest taps. Enough to create an iconic moment that remains relevant as the perfect summation of the feeling of sportsmanship over the past decade of disappointment. Ricardo Andrés López “Richie” López Rodríguez (Coruña, 1991) is one of the Blaugrana’s most famous fans, although he never set foot on the Riazor pitch to defend a Depor shirt.. He is the protagonist of a video in which, immediately after the last relegation from the First Division in the 2017/18 season, he addresses the Movistar cameras with an impromptu sports request. The movement of his hands is enough for him to demonstrate that, despite the blow, his loyalty to Depor will remain intact “in the First, Second and Third.”
A fan of the blue and white “since childhood”, Ritchie went viral again last Sunday because Lucas Perez, the goal scorer in the promotional match against Barça Athletic, was able to remember the video in question in front of twenty journalists, despite the prevailing opinion. euphoria at the Riazor stadium. “This is an icon. I want to thank you for bringing up this video and mentioning me again. Incredible. I don’t have networks or Movistar Plus, and when all my colleagues started passing this on to me… It’s just a crack. There were fifteen journalists in front of him, and he remembered that it happened right at that stand and all that. He just had to say my name. “It’s really cool,” says Richie Lopez, who returned as the lead character in “The Day After” at the request of Lucas Perez.
But Richie already had good personal memories of Lucas even before last Sunday’s announcements. “I ran into him this year as I was leaving the stadium. I was driving with my partner and friends to Juan de Vega and he stopped me and said, “You made me cry, I mean it,” says Ritchie., who took the opportunity to ask 7 for a favor to surprise his father, a Depor fan: “We chatted for ten minutes and I ended up asking him to make a video for my dad because I knew he would be very excited . And he repeated to my father: “Your son made me cry.”
Lucas and Ritchie reflect the generation that grew up with Deportivo’s successes and have demonstrated their dedication to the club over the years, despite the difficulties they have endured. For this reason, Richie admits that he gets “goosebumps” when he tries to imagine what the captain of the blue and white might feel. “Lucas talked about what he could take from Depor (referring to relegation in 2018), although I don’t think so. This is football. In life, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, and I think you learn more from losses than from victories. It is very easy to be one of those at the top, and then you do not value joy. “I put myself in the shoes of a child from Monelos, from the city, and the opportunity to score a goal that will return his Deportivo to professional football… It gives me goosebumps,” he emphasizes..
From great-grandfather to goddaughter
Registered in Mere (Oleiros), his parents still have an apartment on Calle Historiador Vedia, next to the DXT Champion editorial office, and his school was called Fogar de Santa Margarida. Richie admits he never thought about supporting another team. “I went to school 500 meters from the stadium, I liked it since childhood. My mother’s grandfather came from Muros to watch Depor… Let’s see, the boy from Coruña, which team will he be from? Always the best option is to be from Depor, no matter what category you are in. “What can I tell you?” – he says, laughing..
“I saw my goddaughter on Sunday at the stadium and was amazed.
Ritchie is an agricultural engineer who also lived in Lugo, where he studied, and in Ourense. Her passion for the Herculino club did not fade there either, and now she and her goddaughter enjoy Riazor and Deportivo, just like last Sunday. “Now I go to football, more relaxed, with my goddaughter, who has been playing there for ten years. I have been inoculating her with Depor since childhood. I made her a partner many years ago. I believe that for that generation that had to live only in ugliness, this first joy for Depor will never be forgotten. I saw her in the stadium and I was amazed,” says Ritchie, who says he experienced the promotion with a mixture of relief and happiness, especially for fans who follow Depor from elsewhere and for young fans who were finally able to celebrate something: “My great-grandfather was from Muros, next to me in the stadium there are people from Verina, from Ourense… And I am very happy for people like my goddaughter, who loves Deportivo very much and has not experienced a single joy. Depor only caused him trouble. I watched this on Sunday and I am speechless. It’s not paid for with money“
Richie gave up the VIP box to be with his people
After his video first went viral in 2018, Ritchie responded to Deportivo’s call for collaboration on the season ticket holders campaign for the following season (2018-19), as well as the presentation of goalkeeper Dani Jimenez at the Playa club.
The protagonist of “In the First, in the Second and in the Third” remembers the experience fondly and admits that the club gave him a season ticket for the 2018-19 season, although he downplays the fact that he refused a seat in the VIP box. for being with his people in the Pavilion, in the stands, where it was recorded in 2018.
“I said, ‘No, no, no. My usual place with my usual people.”
“Everyone was very kind to me. I actually didn’t want to take anything because I was still excited. When we finished recording, they gave us a Las Letras Gallegas T-shirt, which was not yet on sale, and they said they were going to give me a season ticket for the next season. After some hesitation, I jokingly told them, “Well, a VIP box wouldn’t be bad.” They told me: “Wherever you want. The club informed us that you have the desired subscription for next year.”. And I said, “No, no, no. My usual place with my usual people. So it was. They gave it to me,” says Richie.
Jokes about being “jinxed”
Deportivo’s promotion is also somewhat relieved by Ritchie, whose friends always remind him that he was something of a “jinx” for “predicting” Spanish football’s relegation to the third tier before it finally happened in 2020. “My colleagues burned me because they told me: ‘If you say ‘fourth’, the club will disappear.’ Thank God you stopped in third gear” (laughs). Hopefully the video will now be turned around and become 3, 2, 1 as soon as possible.”
“My colleagues told me: “If you say fourth, the club will disappear.”
Despite this desire, Ritchie chooses to remain cautious and keep his head in the bag as he heads into the next campaign for promotion to the First Division. “It’s important that the club does well, like it did last year, with people from home. It is very important that these children get to know the club and love it. Because in many other cities they wear T-shirts of many other teams, but here they only wear Depor T-shirts. And the older you are, the prouder you are. Depor was counting on the youth team, and let’s see if the youth team is counting on us. Los Mella, Ruben, Yeremay, Kevin… We have half the team from the quarry. If they contribute and improve, it would almost be preferable to spend a couple of years in the second division, although less is better than getting carried away by the euphoria of rising now, screwing up again and ending up relegated or relegated. Second division for 20 years,” concludes Ritchie.who wants to go viral again just for the sake of another promotion, and not for the sake of returning to Tercera.
