History I (1978-1988)
History I (1978-1988) | Early years
The Ourense Basketball Club was founded in 1978 (its official name at that time was Club Bosco-Salesianos). In its first years, the first team competed in the Third Division League. In 1980, the club acquired its first major sponsor, Aspol, and was renamed Bosco Aspol. The team continued to grow and, the following year, Fajauto Electromecánica became a sponsor of the club. This collaboration lasted one more season.
This three-year period served to consolidate the team and culminate with promotion to the Second Division in the following season (1983-84). “Ouro Ribeiro” (sponsor company of that season, owned by the Club’s first Honorary Member, the late Manuel Vázquez “Arnoya”) achieved the first promotion in its history. Some of the players that season were Cortizo, Abelleira, Santamaría, Garrido, Llorens, Casasnovas, Neira, Moncho Fernández, Gil, Carlos Oro… The squad was made up entirely of Galician players and practically all of them from Orense.
The group was made up of Elosúa León (one of our staunchest rivals this time), Unelco Tenerife, Caja Plasencia (perhaps the favorite, with a great team made up of former players from the two highest categories) and Andorra. Andorra finished first and Elosúa second (after achieving the great success of beating Caja Plasencia in the last game of the group stage).
It all started bad. Navarra beat them in the first match and the disappointment was total (Navarra was the weakest of the four, achieving only this victory). The second game was against Guadalajara. It was played at 10:00 in the morning with hardly any audience (the managers of both teams and no one else). The match was very controversial, to the point that our players had to calm down six or seven managers who wanted to invade the field. The game resumed and went to overtime after Llorens conceded a free throw on a fast break after scoring the basket.
Victory was finally achieved and the team progressed with a victory and a loss, maintaining their chances until the last match of their group.
The third game against Córdoba was spectacular. They won easily (by more than 12 points) and achieved promotion. The fans from Ourense, who arrived in their cars and even boarded a bus on their own, celebrated this great achievement. Guadalajara finished second in this group.
The next day the promotion playoff final was played between the two already promoted teams: Andorra and Caixa Ourense. The Andorrans won by four points in a match in which neither Llorens nor Gil (who had played the entire phase uncovered and still stood out) played.
In the 1984-85 season, “Caixa Ourense” was the club’s commercial name. It was the sponsor with the longest duration (six seasons as main sponsor). This era (along with the following four-year period with “Coren”) was the most golden in the history of our Club.
Having maintained our league status, the 1985-86 season brought renewed joy to our city. In May 1986, the Promotion Phase to 1st B was held in Badaxoz. It was made up of two groups of four teams, and the first in the group achieved promotion.
Another very important event at this time was the visit of Real Madrid to the Remedios Municipal Pavilion (our stadium at that time) on March 16, 1986. The stadium was full and the public enjoyed seeing the great stars of Real Madrid in action, such as Romay, Fernando Martín, Iturriaga, Corbalán and Biriukov. Another illustrious player on the Real Madrid bench was Lolo Sáinz. This match, which brought Don Victorino Núñez (president of the Ourense Provincial Council) to Ourense thanks to the invaluable collaboration of Miguel Ángel (Real Madrid goalkeeper), Paco Saa, Sports Councilor and Mayor Antonio Caride-Tabarés, marked the future of our club. People even went to the box office the night before to get tickets, and the last ones that went on sale the morning of the game sold out instantly.
Given the magnitude that the club was beginning to take, on July 10, 1986, the Orense Basketball Club was born, registered with number 869 in Galicia. The merger with Salesians occurred on June 6, 1987 and all rights became the property of COB.
The 1986-87 season aimed to remain in Primeira B, and Caixa Ourense achieved this largely thanks to the support of its fans, who filled the stadium in every game. The team turned Ourense into a fortress and although they almost never won away from home, their results at home allowed them to do so. This led to the construction of additional stands (at the club’s expense) to accommodate more fans for future seasons.
On April 28, 1987 in 1st B, the club accepted the resignation of Quique and Manolo Losada for different reasons (great work done when it was not yet a recognized team in Galician or national basketball) and the composition of the board of directors was as follows: President: Adolfo López Arribas “Fito Arribas”, Vice President: José Alberto Gallego, Vice President of Sports: Armando Álvarez, Secretary: J. Manuel Vázquez “Casiano”, Treasurer: Manolo Latorre, Member (Communication): Manuel Peleteiro and Member (youth categories): José Fdez. Balboa At that time it was unanimously agreed to hire J. Antonio Cuquejo as technical secretary and sports delegate.
This season the “Paco Chao” Pavilion in Carballiño was inaugurated by Caixa Ourense, venue of the match against the Cuban National Team. Other municipalities, such as Bande and Viana do Bolo, also requested their presence at the opening matches in new pavilions. The club continued to grow and was already a benchmark for the capital and the rest of the province, as well as a well-known and respected team in Spain.
Another highlight of this season was the celebration of the Primeira B All-Star Game in Rúa (February 12, 1988), thanks to the efforts of the President of the Provincial Council and the Rúa City Council. More than 1,500 spectators enjoyed the dunk contest and the all-star game.
In the 1987-88 season, the club reached 1,000 subscribers. After the first ten league games, Manuel Fernández Rey was dismissed, leaving Ángel Navarro as coach until then. Caixa Ourense finished the first phase of the League with a record of 11 wins and 15 losses, which led to the B-2 dispute. Things did not improve (3 wins and 11 losses) and this culminated in the dispute for the first play-off for the permanence of their history (against Lliria). The team managed to win 3-1, maintaining its category. This season’s squad was made up of players like Toño García, Modrego, Martín, Estany, Planell, Dardé, Crujeiras, Navarro (until the tenth matchday) and Mayoral. The foreigners were Yomi Sangodeyi and Howard Wood. Howard Wood, who had previously played in the NBA (Utah Jazz) and other Spanish teams such as Pamesa Valencia and Cacaolat Granollers, settled in our lands. Sangodeyi was a royal from a Nigerian tribe (hence his nickname “the prince”). He had the misfortune of suffering a serious injury in January 1988 that would prevent him from playing the rest of the season. Therefore, the club had to look for a replacement: Douglas Arnold. Arnold had played at the University of Texas and also at Racing de Paris (three seasons). When he was fired in December 1987 from the Belgian league, the player was left without a team but did not have time to lose his competitive rhythm. It wouldn’t be his only year here.