Carlos Portellhistoric leader of Banfield, died at the age of 77 after battling an illness recently. He was in charge of the club from the South of Greater Buenos Aires for 14 years (1998-2012) and took it from the defunct B Nacional to be First Division champion in 2009 at the hands of Julio César Falcioni. However, his management ended very badly, with the team again in the Ascenso and highly questioned by the members and sympathizers of the Taladro.
Portell was also one of the supporters of Julio Humberto Grondona, historic president of the AFA, where he held various positions as part of the Executive Committee. During his management at Banfield he was also responsible for the last major remodeling of the stadium with the construction of the stalls that today bear the name of José Luis Garrafa Sánchez.
His figure, however, was eroded in his last years in power, since a series of poor decisions ended up leading the institution to lose its category, just three years after having given that long-awaited Olympic return and still with the campaign history in the sum to calculate averages.
With the permission of Eduardo Duhalde -at that time governor of Buenos Aires and influential Banfield fan-, the businessman – he owned a sporting goods business – took the reins of the southern club after the elections that were held in August 1998. He added 841 votes against the 601 received by Horacio Sola, son of Florencio, historic director of the entity that gave his name to the stadium located in Peña and Arenales.
The club was in ruins, with a million-dollar debt inherited from the management of Atilio Pettinatiwith serious problems in meeting operating expenses and with continuous threats of cuts from public service providers, such as electricity, water and gas.
“In total, Banfield owes nine and a half million dollars. And since it had bankruptcy requests, entering bankruptcy proceedings is the only possible way out. It is not playing with fire, as some said,” Portell explained in statements to the newspaper Olé in January 1999.
The debt was reduced considerably and Banfield dedicated itself to the project of returning to Primera. The dream was consummated in 2001, when he was champion of the B Nacional under the guidance of Garrafa Sánchez. Then came the time of consolidation with the Uruguayan Luis Garisto on the bench and the possibility of playing in international cups, during the first of Falcioni’s five cycles.
The football project was luckily surfing the waves of instability until Falcioni turned around after reconciling with Portell. Thus, with a team led by Santiago Silva, Walter Erviti, Sebastián Méndez, Víctor López and Cristian Lucchetti, he made history by giving the club its second star, the first in the rented era.
The departure of Falcioni and the conflictive departures of Silva and Erviti led to the dismantling of that all-star team. The downward curve had no brakes and led him non-stop to the B Nacional. That relegation marked the end of his management. His successor was Eduardo Spinosa, who today continues to lead the Taladro, despite having delegated the position for three years to Lucía Barbuto.