Player of one of the most glorious times of Valencia, he won the Fair Cups in 62 and 63, the Cup in 67 and the historic League of 71 with Di Stéfano as coach
Valencianism mourns one of its myths: Roberto Gil passed away days after his 84th birthday. Born in Paterna on July 30, 1938, he immediately moved to Riba-roja, where he lived and where he acted as coach of the municipal team. He held the same position at Valencia, where he was also sports director, years after he played as a footballer. The Valencian occupied the midfield of the Mestalla team that won the Cup of the Jaarbeurs (1962 and 1963), the Cup (1967) and the historical League of 1971 in Sarriá between the 1960s and the early 1970s with Di Stéfano on the couch. From the beginning, he went for the lower categories and patiently waited for his chance until he made his debut with the first team. He passed Valencia’s Mestalla at the age of 18 and made his Second Division debut on 9 June 1957 against Murcia, despite having a good season, de Mestalla was relegated to Second Division B that year.
His debut with the first team, on 11 June 1959 in a friendly against Corinthians, left no one indifferent, so the then coach Otto Bumbel decided to include him in the first team. That same season (1959-1960) in which he played 19 league games, all as a starter. The two subsequent campaigns with Domingo Balmanat took him to enter the eleven until with the arrival of first Scopelli and later Pasieguito he became the undisputed starter.
His progression as a player allowed him to settle with the eleven and form a partnership with Paquito, solidifying himself as one of the most important midfield tandems in the club’s history. He came to wear the captain’s armband in the cup final on July 2, 1967. With the arrival of Di Stéfano in 1970, his fame waned. With a near-remaining role in making it to the League Championship that broke the 24-year drought without winning this title. His pubic bone injury weighed him down all year.
In the following season, he had to say goodbye to the club of his life, where he would return a few years later to train as a coach. Before that, he went to Calvo Sotelo in Puertollano to conclude his playing days. In total, he played 300 games and scored 35 goals with the Valencia shirt.
He took over as coach in the 1983-1984 season on matchday 22 and after being eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Castilla. He took charge of his beloved Valencia, replacing Francisco García ‘Paquito’, who left Valencia in twelfth place. Roberto Gil continued to lead the team for one more season. It was a time of economic hardship and eventually he would have to leave the bench: Oscar Ruben Váldez would take his place. His last season as coach was when he returned to the First Division, where he covered the loss of Di Stéfano until the end of the season, which certainly focused on more technical tasks. As a sports director, he also had a nose: Quique Sánchez Flores and Lubo Penev were some of the players he brought to the club of his life.
Roberto Gil always defined himself as another myth for Valencianism, David Albedla, with the slight difference that he tended to go on the attack, limiting the area more until he had to slow down his position. Retired, he was diligent in the conversations and meetings that were always held around his beloved Valencia, collaborated when necessary with the Aula LAS PROVINCIAS, and was very active in the centenary events, always side by side with the Football Players Association that Fernando Giner presides . Valencianism mourns one of its myths.
Source: La Verdad
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