Adelino Santos has worked for 92 years, 37 of which he spent “in service” at the Caldas club, where he wants to remain a massage therapist “until he is no longer useful.”
“I will stay as long as my body allows me and as long as I feel that I can be useful,” says the massage therapist from the Caldas da Rainha emblem in an interview with Lusa, moments before heading “to mission.”
The massage therapist, the third oldest member of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) among directors and coaches, works in youth teams with the Caldas da Rainha emblem and never neglects the details – a bandage on his left arm, a bag of ice, a first aid kit – in this case for the game the club’s youth team, which he watched from the bench.
“Let’s go for the win, boys,” urges Adelino Santos, before leaving the traditional warning: “Switch the ball well and avoid collisions.”
Caldas scored in the Leiria County Cup for Newcomers game and so the smile was wide open at the end. Moreover, “fortunately, there was no need to go and watch the players.”
However, this did not mean that Adelino Santos remained seated during the meeting.
When the game was interrupted, it was the ninety-year-old man who immediately took water and went to the athletes so that they could cool down and also make sure that there was no pain or injury.
Probably Adelino Santos is the most symbolic figure of the coat of arms of Caldas da Rainha. He arrived in 1986, combining the profession of a military nurse with the position of a massage therapist, and since then it has been at the club that he has been following his own path. After renovation, in exclusive “mode”.
In the morning he devotes himself to the small vegetable garden that he has at home, the “harvest” of which goes directly to his children and neighbors, and from 17:00 he is in Quinta da Boneca – an area intended for the level of training of the “Pelicans” – that’s what discovered. From Monday to Friday, in his office, he deals with the “illnesses” of young people who are in training during training. But not only.
The massage therapist, born in Sabugal, Guarda district, but moved to Caldas da Rainha as a result of military life, is also regularly present at the training and games of the first team, which plays in Ligue 3 and in which they are, sometimes meet your requirements.
Not a morning goes by on weekends that he isn’t with “his” boys. Moreover, now is the time of competition, and therefore the knowledge of Adelino Santos is necessary in order to bring young footballers into the best possible physical shape.
“I come here at 9am and only go home when there are no more games,” he emphasizes. And even on days off, he is seen in the area of Quinta da Boneca or Campo da Mata, otherwise it would be “a love unlike any other.”
“I help with everything that is needed. Whether it be the elderly or children,” he adds, jogging his memory to highlight the “thousands” of players who have passed through his life.
Different generations, some from different families, who passed through his hands, greet him on the streets: “Of course, I don’t know everyone by name, but I recognize their faces.”
“This is what I took from Caldas and from this life,” emphasizes the massage therapist, recalling the great affection he feels from the club’s fans and the population: “Whenever I go out onto the field to look at an athlete, people always They applaud a lot.”
For Mr. Adelino, these are “touching moments.”
What he really doesn’t like, he says, is “when players make noise. I don’t like it, I like it when they behave respectfully,” jokes the ninety-year-old resident, who still has the physical agility that allows him to “climb.” tens of meters of field to complete its mission.
In the club, “Mr. Adelino” represents a grandfatherly figure for some athletes, a reality that makes the oldest incumbent leader of the Leiria district very proud, who has already received a municipal medal for sports merit from the City Council of Caldas Queen.
“I was very happy here and the people treated me very well,” he assures, not wanting to list the best moments he experienced at the club, lest he forget any of them: “There were so many.”
Encouraged by the future, Adelino Santos says he has “the energy for a few more bold years at the club.” And, if possible, to see the dream of seeing Caldas back in Football League One come true.
Because of his activity, as well as his speech, age is “just a number” for Adelino Santos.
“Having served” the country [chegou a estar preso na invasão da União Indiana a Goa]The ninety-year-old’s mission is to “serve” the young people of Caldas in a mission that he reiterated “is one of the most important he had (and has) at hand.”