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Goodbye to ‘Negro' Páez

After 13 seasons in a Barça shirt, José Luis ‘el Negro' Páez, one of the players that has marked an era at the club, finally announced he was leaving at the end of the season. The Argentinian won seven European Cups and eleven leagues with the club.

Páez arrived in Barcelona in 1994, and was the most expensive signing in roller hockey history. But he was worth every peseta, playing for the club for 13 seasons and playing his part in winning no fewer than 41 different titles.

From the cradle of Argentinian hockey

Roller hockey in Argentina is all about the city of San Juan, where skates are as important as footballs, and ‘el Negro’ learned the basics of the game. He moved to Europe to play for Italian outfit Roller Monza in the 1987/88 season, just the first step in a career that was going to get better and better.

Legendary honours list

As soon as Páez arrived in Barcelona, he started collecting winners medals at an extraordinary rate. Barça were then coached by Carlos Figueroa and Páez helped them come to dominate the European roller hockey scene. Quim Paüls was the next manager, but the titles did not stop flowing.

He was joined by other players that made roller hockey history at FC Barcelona, including Carles Folguera, David Gabaldón, Gaby Cairo and Ramón Benito. In all the Barça captain won 7 European Cups, 11 League, 5 Spanish Cups, 2 International Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 3 Catalan leagues, 3 Iberian Cups, 1 Nations Cup, 2 Spanish Super Cups and 4 Intercontinental Cups. That’s a total of 41 trophies as a Barça player.