Everything for UD Almería, even above his own health
Antonio Luis Molina Toledo is a faithful Rojiblanco fan who resides in the Murcia-based town of Blanca and has to travel more than 500 kilometres to see the home matches.
Antonio Luis Molina Toledo has been a UD Almería season-ticket holder for many years and a very special fan with a heart-warming and emotional story behind. He is one of those number one fans who gives everything for his Club to root for his team across Spain even though he was diagnosed with an illness four years ago.
Last Sunday, he was at the Reale Arena Stadium and a few weeks before also in Las Palmas...but they have not been the only trips he has made. In fact, he goes everywhere he can. 'I have a family business and I tell my brothers that I work twenty-four hours a day if necessary, but I cannot miss a single UD Almería game,' he said Antonio Luis Molina in an interview on UDA Radio.
In addition to San Sebastián and Gran Canaria, the loyal fan has been this season in Bilbao, Valencia, Villarreal... Everywhere. Even home games mean trips for him. He resides in the Murcia-based town of Blanca, near the province of Albacete and the distance from Almería city is 250 kilometres... without forgetting that he have to go through Lorca town to pick up one of his children, who is studying there.
Why UD Almería?... 'A long time ago I ask my eldest son what he wanted for having gotten great grades and he answered that watching a UD Almería game in Primera Division. I fulfilled it, it was the time of Alfonso García and since then, we've been loyal to the Club,' Antonio explained.
'It's now, in the bad times, when we must be more than ever with the team, with the players, and support them. On Sunday, at the door of the hotel in San Sebastián, I told the squad to hold their heads high.'
Antonio Luis has already undergone three surgeries on his head, he has suffered a pulmonary embolism and a thrombosis. 'I tattooed the Club's crest on my arm even though the doctors were against it because of the thrombus, but he was annoyed and wanted to take the crest everywhere I go with me,' he stated.
The surgeons worry about him and he acknowledges: 'Nine days after the first operation, in which they opened my head, I went to Almería to watch a game, much to the dismay of the doctors.' Even being hospitalised (he was admitted to Murcia Hospital for a month), he had to sign a document claiming that he was moving to another floor to watch a UD Almería match on TV.
'Football distracts me a lot and I try to enjoy it as much as possible even though these aren't good times. I love my UD Almería and my family,' he emphasises excitedly.