Tributes to Españeta planned for game against Getafe

Valencia CF will remember Bernardo España Edo, better known as ‘Españeta’, in the run-up to the match against Getafe CF on Sunday. The game will be the first to be played at Mestalla since the legendary kitman's passing.

Next to the home dugout, in the same position where he used to stand to watch games for decades, a chair will be installed that will become a permanent part of the stadium and will always remain empty, as a tribute present at all home fixtures.

The club captains will place flowers on this chair and just before the whistle for kickoff, and a  minute's silence will be observed in memory of Españeta. Likewise, a homage will be projected on the video scoreboard and the players will wear black armbands during the match.

Valencia CF have also contributed to making Españeta's final wish come true, opening the doors to Mestalla this week so that his widow, Charo, together with club ambassadors Ricardo Arias, Miguel Tendillo and Miguel Ángel Bossio, could scatter his ashes at the stadium and be the first to see the areas set aside to remember him, inside the 'Bernardo España' Españeta dressing room' and at Gate 12 of the stadium.