Interviews
VIE 24.09.2021
“In my life and in many of our lives here you get married, you have your children, and then there’s the Peña,” said Stewart Wolfenson, the president of the Peña Madridista Los Angeles.
The Peña and Real Madrid hold a big place in Stewart’s heart. He’s been with the supporters group since its inception and was one of the founding members.
It all started when Real Madrid traveled to Los Angeles in 2011, Stewart met Elisa, one of the Peña’s board members, and five others, at one of José Mourinho’s practice sessions and they came up with the idea to form the Peña.
“We didn’t have anything. We didn’t have a place....but we just had this idea of meeting together,” he said.
The founding members started passing out little cards that said “If you’re a Madridista, come here,” and everything took off from there. It started small with 30 people or less gathering at Stewart’s house to watch in his backyard by the pool. Now, the group is home to hundreds of fans, even more of which follow the Peña on social media.
Living in Los Angeles and following the club takes dedication.
“We all get up at 4:00 AM to watch the games. We are lucky to have places that will open for us and to have people committed to soccer - to football - in a way that I’ve never seen anywhere before,” he said.
The commitment to the club is something that Stewart predicts will remain consistent for the rest of his life.
“There’s a saying that someone said once that I’ll never forget: You might change jobs, you might change your wife, but you will never change your soccer team,” he said.
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