"We said that if we could do something to damage this military regime, we should, recalls Aguirre on the terrace of the restaurant he ran for many years after his retirement. But it had to be subtle, or they wouldn't let us out on the field. So, we slipped into the toilets with a pair of bootlaces. I tied one onto Sergio, and he tied one onto me, so they looked like armbands. They swiftly rejoined their teammates, leaving an empty changing room behind."
"A very different scene would greet them on their return at half-time the narrow corridors packed with armed police after their protest had been noted and repercussions began. Judicial proceedings, death threats and public condemnation soon followed. Yet the experience would only serve to forge an emerging friendship into a lifelong bond. By 1975, Francisco Franco's failing health and the regime's deepening vulnerability had encouraged a swell of civil unrest."
Two Racing Santander players, Aitor Aguirre and Sergio Manzanera, staged a covert protest by tying bootlaces to resemble armbands during a match and then rejoined their teammates. Their protest was noticed and returned to a half-time scene of narrow corridors packed with armed police. The action triggered judicial proceedings, death threats and public condemnation, yet it also cemented a lifelong friendship between the players. In 1975, Franco's failing health and the regime's vulnerability prompted a decree expanding anti-terror powers and retroactive death-penalty tribunals, provoking international outcry and widespread demonstrations.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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