“It represents a colossal loss since Paco symbolises the eternal support to the club. He has been able to enjoy our good moments, but we prize the bad ones above. He used to be one of the 150 fans who came to El Alcoraz.” Francisco Solano was a lifelong Azulgrana, a SD Huesca legend and the number one member of our club. Paco sadly passed away at the age of 88, but his memory, much more than a simple fan, endures powerfully in the imagination. He used to be more than just a member, too – he was the “bond with SD Huesca’s history,” in the words of José Antonio Martín Otín, ‘Petón’, SD Huesca director and chairman of Fundación Alcoraz.
Francisco Solano was the kid who used to sneak out through an irrigation ditch to see the games of the Unión Deportiva Huesca back then. Years later, he also was the manager who would struggle to avoid the club’s disappearance even in the worst of times. He used to be the faithful supporter who never missed a match. And the club member who would vibrate in Plaza Navarra following our first promotion to LaLiga Santander and enjoy the bus tour around the city. “That was the best day in his life after his marriage,” reckons Eloy Solano, one of his sons. “My dad has always been a man from and for Huesca; he loved this club so dearly. He was devoted to it no matter how it was. That cost him money he paid happily, since he was Azulgrana to the bone. He would have loved to see the stadium renovated and at its full capacity, as it is now. I’ve been to countless away games with him, we’ve covered many miles and if it had not been for his health, we would have loved to go to the derby against Real Zaragoza this weekend,” he adds. Eloy is very grateful for the affection the family have received from the club and supporters in these hard days, as well as the little gift for Paco, a jersey which was signed by all of the current first-team squad.
“Paco lived in his flesh one of the best and the worst moments of SD Huesca’s history. We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our patriarch, our number one member. He’ll have to help us from above because he has always been devoted to SD Huesca,” says Petón.
Rest in peace, Paco.
