Valencia CF Centenary Legends: Fernando

The player with the most official appearances for Valencia CF in history, with 544, Fernando Gómez Colomer was a complete midfielder with excellent skill and an impressive strike rate, scoring 145 goals. VCF Media spoke to him about his time at the club in an extensive interview.

Joining Valencia CF

"I joined Valencia CF from Colegio Salgui, when I was 15 years old, under Vicente Guillot. Vicente had close ties with that school, and at that time Valencia CF, Levante, Don Bosco, Benimar and Colegio Salgui were the biggest clubs in terms of youth football. There were several of us who, over the course of those years, moved and played in the Juvenil side or VCF Mestalla. In 1981, Vicente Guillot decided to bring me into the División de Honor, under Óscar Rubén Valdéz, from Colegio Salguí's Infantil side."

A possible successor for the appearance record

"You sometimes think about what player will make that number of appearances. You think about José Luis Gayà, Carlos Soler... Footballers have already played many games and who are young. They come from here and came up from VCF Mestalla. These are the players who have the best numbers for it, and a higher probability of being able to reach that amount of games. Then the seasons go by and you get the feeling that it is a long way off. Besides that, you don't know if these players will spend so many seasons at the club. However, I think that it will have to be a player who is more or less in that mould; who has come up through the youth system, who arrived young, who has played a lot of games and who can reach that amount of appearances."

Playing at Mestalla again last year

"What the Centenary celebration meant, what playing at Mestalla meant... there are no words to express what it feels like. I just say to think about how it must feel for a kid from San Marcelino, who has been playing practically every day in the street, who suddenly gets a trial with Colegio Salgui, spends five years there and then is signed by Valencia CF. Being from here, living in San Marcelino for over 20 years, then playing for the team from your city, at your boyhood club, really means a lot. Mestalla is the culmination of the fact that you play for your team, in front of your fans."

Not having won trophies at the club

"There were moments, logically, in which we didn't perform as well as the fans hoped, and they expressed their dissatisfaction. However, I'll stick with the good side, and the amount of years in which I enjoyed myself playing at Mestalla for our fans.

"It's difficult to pick out just one moment. On a general, overall level, it's having spent time with so many good teammates and coaches, so many good friends, and so many fans, for so many years. One moment in particular? We were a group of players who played for Valencia CF during an era in which the club didn't win any trophies. I say it every time that I'm asked, and I have no problem doing so. Maybe those two weeks in between the semifinals and the final of the 1996 Copa del Rey were the best, because we were very close to achieving what we wanted, which was to win a trophy for the club. The most negative moment was when we lost the final."

17 years at Valencia CF

"I spent 17 years of my life here. The most important thing is that you form part of an entity that boasts so much sentiment and support. You form an active part of an entity that was, is, and will always be so well followed by so many fans, and so many media outlets. An entity that has an almost infinite number of players, coaches and employees. In the end, you form part of what is the most important entity in Valencian society. Being a footballer is a privilege, but being a footballer for Valencia CF is even more so."