In today's present football climate a lot is made of one club players and the value of loyalty. A story I heard a few month ago though made me realise that the loyalty of a modern day muti-millionaire top flight player can sometimes easily pale in significance to a forgotten hero of the past. Allow me to elaborate.
Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez was born in Hualcara in the province of Cañete, Peru on the 20th May 1913. He was the seventh of Dona Raymunda Meyzan and Don Tomas Fernandez Cisneros's eight children. He attended Esuela Fiscal Primary school where he learned to play football and was soon picked up by a local club called Huracán de Hualcará where he immediately stood out from the crowd.
At the age of 16 his parents sent him to Lima to continue his studies. His father thought he could have a better future in the capital, so he sent Lolo to live with his brother Arturo Fernandez who was the goalkeeper for the now defunct Ciclista Lima. When Arturo transferred to, what is in the present day, Peru’s premier team Universitario de Deportes, he brought Lolo along to play a bit of football in training and introduced him to the club’s President, Dr. Placido Galindo.
After the President had watched him play, he immediately took Lolo on and put him straight into the reserves as a striker. His wages were 120 soles a month (about 30 US dollars), which was just enough to pay for his studies and to live. In March 1930, he made his debut, coming on at half-time. Although he took a couple of games to adapt, by the end of 1930 he had scored a bucketload of goals and was hailed as a massive success.
On Nov. 29, 1931, he played his first game for the Universitario first team against Club Deportivo Magallanes from Chile. Lolo was the game's only scorer with a header to win the game, 1-0. That season he was the Peruvian Division's top scorer, but it wasn't enough to win the league and the team finished second. The following year, they were runners-up again and Lolo again was the top scorer.
The 1933-1934 season saw Lolo again lead the division in scoring, but this time his team was victorious in landing the Primera Division Peruana trophy for only the second time in its history.
As you can imagine, a player who was top scorer three seasons in a row soon started to attract the interest of other clubs and offers flooded in. Colo-Colo of Chile’s President Arturo Crenovic offered Lolo a blank check for his services and told him to choose a number. Lolo, however, let him know how he felt, explaining that he couldn’t play in any shirt except the cream coloured one of Universitario no matter how much money was offered.
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about 1 month ago
Great article Anthony. I hadnt heard of it before. POTD for me.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the pick Thomas.
about 1 month ago
Nice read Anthony! I heard about Lolo's legacy but didnt knew his whole story! Thanks for putting up this article! Definitely POTD for me!
from about 1 month ago
Cheers for the pick Dev. I'm suprised you'd heard of him. An old man I met at a wedding who had been a referee in Peru for 25 years only told me about him a few months ago. Glad you enjoyed it.
about 1 month ago
Cheers for the pick Dev. I'm suprised you'd heard of him. An old man I met at a wedding who had been a referee in Peru for 25 years only told me about him a few months ago. Glad you enjoyed it.
about 1 month ago
Very nice Anthony, POTD and 5* from me. It's always good to read stories like this one.
from about 1 month ago
Cheers Guido. Much appreciated.
about 1 month ago
cool story Anthony, interesting and readable.
from about 1 month ago
Cheers Illya.
about 1 month ago
Great story Anthony, never heard of this guy before POTD from me :-)
from about 1 month ago
Thanks a lot for the pick Maire!
about 1 month ago
great article anthony. yet another legend from the past that otherwise i wouldn't of heard about.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks a lot Yoosof glad you enjoyed it!
about 1 month ago
Great story Anthony, a wonderful tribute to Lolo. I'd never heard about him before, but it's a wonderful story. Pick of the Day for me too!
from about 1 month ago
Thanks a lot Alex cheers for the pick and the add.
about 1 month ago
Great Article mate, always great to read a good story
from about 1 month ago
Cheers Benjamin.
about 1 month ago
Nice read really interesting stuff.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Ricky glad you enjoyed it.
about 1 month ago
Hey Anthony.
Fascinating article again about a little known subject.
I love your writing, which is always articulate, but in this case I don't think you set the premise of the article early enough. It took me till nearly the middle to the end of the article to get your 'point', which I understand is a recap of the player, but I just felt that it needed to be clarified earlier to keep me gripped. I felt the urge to skip paragraphs and skim read to try and get your full point. I did go back to read it fully after my initial skim, but I can imagine that a lot of people wouldn't.
I hope you don't take this the wrong way. My intention is only to provide helpful critiques and criticisms.
Still a fan, and looking forward to your future articles. Keep it up.
from about 1 month ago
I take your point Steven. I edited out a paragraph at the last minute that explained how I came to hear him. Its probably explained the point a bit earlier but I felt it was a bit self indulgent harping on about my social life. Could have put something else in there in hindsight. Cheers for the comment Steven.
about 1 month ago
Great article! Never knew about the guy, but I'm going to see if my grandma from Austria remembers this incident.
from about 1 month ago
Might I add that the aforementioned grandma was not a fan of her country's leadership at the time!
from about 1 month ago
I'm glad you enjoyed it Bryan and I'm glad to hear you Grandmother wasn't a nazi!
about 1 month ago
Great stuff Anthony.. never heard of this player - worth a read.
from about 1 month ago
Cheers Shyam.
about 1 month ago
Wow... I love stuff like this... hadn't even heard of the fellow.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the comment Ismail.
about 1 month ago
Shame on me that I haven't heard of him before too. Thanks for the great contribution Anthony, good work.
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