José Martínez ‘Pirri’, honorary Real Madrid club president, closes Semana Blanca (White Week)
‘Luck doesn't come just like that, you have to work for it and that's the only way to make the dream you want come true. Don't let it get away from you, you have to achieve it with commitment, hard work, struggle and dedication", said the Madrid legend.
José Martínez Pirri, honorary Real Madrid club president, took centre stage on the fourth and final day of White Week of the Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid Universidad Europea. Emilio Butragueño hosted the event in which Pirri said: "My appointment was the greatest honour I have ever received and it was probably the happiest day of my life. Mainly because I was with my relatives. I used to say that the laureate was the greatest honour I had received and I don't think that's true. I think the highest honour is to be the honorary president. I enjoyed the laureate on my own whereas I enjoyed this appointment with my wife, my children and my grandchildren and that's why I think it's the best award I've received in my sporting career."
"I feel proud of everything because I've had fantastic teammates. This is a team, you can't do anything on your own, we have achieved everything with the help of all our teammates. I feel proud to have belonged to Real Madrid, to have won so many titles, to have finished my medical degree, and of my career both as a player and as a doctor.”
On Santiago Bernabéu
"Santiago Bernabéu was a visionary, ahead of his time, a great guy, and also a friend of mine. I had injured my collarbone and I was in hospital for ten days and don Santiago came to see me every morning at the hospital, he told me about things he had done at Madrid and he always told me that I shouldn't run so much, he was always a great friend of the players and the club's employees, at that time it was a big family and now I have realised that this family has grown a lot, but it still has hard-working people who love the club. For me, Don Santiago was a club president and a person who always loved Real Madrid above all else.”
The legacy of Alfredo Di Stéfano
"I arrived at Real Madrid when Alfredo left but I was a doctor when he was coach, I was his doctor. As a player I didn't get to know him, but the veterans said he was unique, he was a fighter and I think he was the one who instilled the club's values of not giving up and always fighting. They compare him to Maradona or Pelé, but you can't compare him to these players, who were the best in a certain position. Alfredo was the best and the most complete, he scored goals, he defended, he did everything. He was the image and the greatest legend that Real Madrid has ever had, the greatest of all.”
The 1966 European Cup Final
"The tough game in that Cup was against Inter, who were the strongest team in Europe, they were great. In the semi-finals we played Inter, we knocked them out and we were the favourites against Partizan. We had to bear in mind how difficult it was to get to the final and that we shouldn't be overconfident. We lost the first half 1-0 and in the second half a goal from Serena and a great goal from Amancio gave us the European Cup."
"There were people everywhere, they had open-top busses ready, but we weren't going to Cibeles, we were going to the Santiago Bernabéu. It took us two and a half hours to get from Barajas to the stadium, the whole of Avenida de América was full of people and when we arrived at the stadium there were 95,000 spectators.”
The key to fulfilling dreams
"I had a dream, which was to be a Real Madrid player, and I achieved that dream. What I ask the students is to have their dreams, luck is secondary, the important thing is work. Luck doesn't come just like that, you have to work for it and that's the only way to make your dream come true. Don't let it get away from you, you have to achieve it with commitment, hard work, struggle and dedication.”
Other speakers
The last day of White Week also featured the participation of Juan Contreras, Global Marketing Director of Adidas Real Madrid, and Álvaro Vitores, Director of Sponsorship Activation at Real Madrid, who explained how to build a strategic sponsorship together. Rodrigo Marín, Director of Corporate Projects and Regulation at Real Madrid, focused his presentation on Real Madrid Next and support for innovation at the club. And Santiago López-Vilas, General Manager of Real Madrid Estadio, spoke about the Santiago Bernabéu, a stadium fit for the 21st century.