Interviews
THU 20.10.2022
Tyler McDonald lay in bed. He had been in the hospital for a week following a blood transfusion and three iron transfusions as a result of internal bleeding from Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease he was recently diagnosed with. His entertainment during the recovery was whatever was on the TV in his hospital room.
On May 14, 2014, McDonald watched Sevilla defeat Benfica 4-2 on penalties after a scoreless 120 minutes to hoist the Europa League trophy for the third time in eight years.
“It was the first time I really experienced footy being such an amazing thing to help get my mind off what I was going through,” McDonald says.
Four years later, McDonald watched Sevilla in person on a trip to Spain with life-long friend Carlos Verde as part of their four-games-in-four-days football fest. Not only that, but the Canadians who grew up playing hockey together, watched former Sevilla winger Jose Antonio Reyes, who was subbed off in the 78th minute in the 2014 Europa League final, score a penalty for Córdoba alongside his family. Coincidentally, the duo met Reyes’ father-in-law on the train from Seville and sat in the family section of Estadio Nuevo El Arcángel as Reyes scored his final goal in Spain; he tragically passed away in June 2019.
“It all tied together which was really cool,” McDonald says. “For me, that’s an unbelievable wraparound to bring everything together and it puts a nice bow on being a Sevilla fan in LaLiga. Through those hard times and awesome times, they’ve been the team that’s been there. Even if I didn't know it at the time, I realize it now.”
McDonald was partial to the Premier League—his favorite team is Tottenham Hotspur—but his unique experience with Sevilla FC added another club to his fandom. Not only that, but former Spurs winger Erik Lamela joined Sevilla in July 2021 adding another to McDonald’s relationship with the Andalusian club.
The friends’ trip in 2018, which also included watching Sevilla beat Real Sociedad 1-0, Verdes’ Málaga lose 3-0 to Alavés, and Rayo Vallecano defeat Granada 2-0, was McDonald’s first taste of LaLiga and Spanish football live and in person. Needless to say, he’s hooked.
“I definitely want to get back there and appreciate being there once more and the good memories we had with our trip,” he says. “It’s what I’ll always remember and am definitely now keeping tabs with my ‘Sevilla roots.’”
FULL SERIES:
A Breakaway from Household Support
Real’s remontadas roped in this fan
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