On Christmas 1957 a banana ship docks in the port of Alicante after an endless journey that has started in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The ship has stopped in Malaga for a few days and has yet to reach Barcelona. But our protagonist, a recently completed eighteen-year-old young man known in his town by the nickname “Pocholo”, stops here.
For him, who has never left the Canary Islands, Alicante seems to him a different planet. Still surprised and carrying a suitcase that begins to weigh more than necessary, he suddenly stops in the middle of the Rambla when he heard some screams: “The canary, the canary!”
Innocent and perplexed, he says to his traveling companion: “Look Chele, they already know us and we haven’t spoken to anyone.” Nothing is further from reality. Both turn and see a middle-aged man selling, to Alicante, the ONCE coupon. ’59. That was the canary. I will not forget that number in life, “recalls José Juan today, the boy who came to Alicante at the age of 18 to make history in the Hercules.The signing
A few months before, in the preliminary stages of a party of Alicante in Tenerife, a friendly had been held with the best youth players on the island where Luis Ghiloni, president of Hercules, fell in love with him. His club, the Real Unión, did not put any problem and immediately stamped his signature as a Herculaneum, like his teammate Chele.
During 1958 he trained with the first team under the command of the Catalan Gallart, but he could not debut as he was still at a young age. That summer he asked for permission to play the famous San Pedro Cup with the Carolinas Gymnastic and his wake caught the fields of the city. Several teams were interested in that small left-hander, but authorized voices came out: “He is signed by Hercules.”
So it was. On the first day of 58-59 he debuted with Hercules, carambolas of fate, against Tenerife at Heliodoro Rodríguez López. In that year he was the second most used player on the team, second only to Doro, but the club dropped to 3rd division.
His first official goal was on a visit to San Fernando, in a stadium from which José Juan keeps one of his most charming anecdotes. The sun was shining splendidly in Cádiz but the fans carried umbrellas, to the bewilderment of the Blue and Whites’ players. They would soon find out why. “They took us by the arm with the handle when we took a throw-in and we dropped the ball and the referee whistled for a free kick,” he recalls with a smile.
In 3rd, coach Álvaro preferred footballers more used to shock and rough football and José Juan had a hard time being the game. It was a tough year, but the team recovered the category in an overwhelming way. In the following campaign, he was on the verge of promotion to 1st and was paired with Real Madrid in the Cup. The almighty pentacampéon of Europe did not give option to Hercules, but it was José Juan’s first contact with football. maximum level. “Playing at the Bernabéu against Puskas, Di Stéfano and Gento was something amazing,” recalls the canary.
At that time he lived in an apartment on García Morato street with several colleagues, in the same building where Radio Alicante had its headquarters, whose broadcasters did not hesitate to send them up to occupy more than one occasion for soccer gatherings.
In that pension he stayed until he was dressed as a boyfriend to marry Loli, a young Alicante and staunch Herculaneum with whom he has been sharing life for more than fifty years.
Time passed and José Juan consolidated himself in the team and in the silver category, playing almost everything and scoring countless goals. Some of them took place in markers from another era: a double in an 8-2 against Cádiz or a goal in Villarrobledo’s 9-0 at 61-62. In addition, he is also remembered for his tie for four in the Mestalla de Mundo feud in the following season.
One of the biggest setbacks he suffered was the promotion to promotion to 1st against Oviedo in 63-64. The visit to Carlos Tartiere in the first leg was prepared thoroughly during the week by the Herculaneum coach Bermúdez: in the middle of June he flooded La Viña with hoses to adapt to the muddy grass of the northern fields. The test did not go as expected and Hercules fell 4-1, with a goal, curiously, from left-handed José Juan. On the return trip, the players joked resignedly: “If we don’t get to train in mud they’ll put eight on us.”
That year the team stayed away from the elite for the eighth consecutive year. His good work made Sevilla want to sign him.
Last years
The long-awaited promotion to 1st took place in the spring of 1966 under the leadership of Luis Belló. José Juan had once again been irreplaceable and did not miss a minute of the league competition. The premium by the club: a crocodile skin wallet with three thousand pesetas inside. “I recently gave it to my grandson, although without the money, which today is a pittance,” he laughs.
In the maximum division Toba delayed his position to that of left back and was lavished less in attack. Still, it was already part of the golden history of Hercules. He is the player who has defended the most blue and white camisole after Baena and is also on the goal podium, after Rodríguez and Pina. But he has not yet had a tribute from the club.
After two consecutive declines from 1st to 3rd, he led the team and managed to return it in 1970 to the category in which it had received him thirteen years ago.
He retired young, 30 years old but many kilometers away, to attend to his businesses and, above all, to his wife and three children.
Today, at 77 years old, he continues to go to his land to visit his brothers, before whom he vacillates as he did when he was young, and continues to turn down the street every time a vendor sings number 59.
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