José António Carvalho worked for 50 years at the Football Association of Viana do Castelo (AFVC), closely following the evolution of district football and the changes in the way clubs and the association itself worked. When he started at 18, almost everything was done on paper and many processes depended on in-person deliveries.
In the late 70s and early 80s, referee appointments were delivered on Mondays at a well-known establishment in Viana do Castelo called Bananeiro. The reason was practical: the postal service couldn't always get the mail to arrive in time for the games.
José António explained that an association employee had to personally take the documents to Bananeiro. The delivery ended up acquiring its own ritual, as he humorously recalled: "They ate a banana, drank the moscatel and received those appointments!"
The story is told in a complete interview published in this week's edition of Semanário Alto Minho.
