‘His life marked so many people’: a celebration of Miki Roque, 10 years after he died aged 23
Ava Arnold Olga Farrero’s voice cracks with emotion as she shares precious memories of her son.
“One thing I always remember, during his second year in England, we were in the nice house Liverpool organised for us, they always treated us very well,” she says.
“After supper, we were talking about things, the future he could have, how things were going for him. Miki told me, ‘Mam, it is good to be able to earn a living, to have a good time and to travel, but if you do not look after those around you then it means nothing. I would like that someday, you all have the same things I do’.
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“Even at primary school, he was a leader. He protected those who needed it. He got on well with his teachers and the other students. From the age of 17, he never asked us for a penny. In school, he always drew himself as a kid with a ball at his feet. He was a good student, but he was always very clear that he was going to earn a living playing football.”
Miki Roque achieved his dream. Signed by Liverpool from Lleida in 2005, the Spain youth international defender went on to help them clinch FA Youth Cup glory before being handed a senior debut by manager Rafael Benitez in the Champions League group stage against Galatasaray in December 2006.
Released in 2009, he returned to his homeland and was flourishing at Real Betis before his life was cruelly cut short by cancer. Thirteen months after a tumour was discovered in his pelvis, he died at the age of just 23 in June 2012.
The outpouring of emotion in Seville as supporters descended on the Benito Villamarin to pay their respects underlined just how much he meant to so many people. His death also hit hard those who had taken him to their hearts during his time on Merseyside.
Betis retired his No 26 shirt and their fans continue to chant his name in the 26th minute of matches. When Betis won the Copa del Rey final against Valencia in April, a shirt with Roque’s name and number on was the centrepiece of their triumphant dressing room.
🌟👼🥲
Siempre presente.#BetisAlé
— Real Betis Balompié 🌴💚 (@RealBetis) April 29, 2022
Ten years on from his death, the memory of a remarkable man continues to burn bright. This is his story told by those who knew him best…
“We had been monitoring Miki for a while,” Benitez tells The Athletic.
“We were looking for young players from around Europe to develop and he was available for around £200,000. He had a lot of talent. He was a good lad, a good professional, a clever footballer, who worked hard and had the quality to play as a centre-back or as a holding midfielder.
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“I was really happy to give him his first-team debut against Galatasaray. We had already qualified for the knockout stages so it was an opportunity to play some of the young players who had potential and Miki was one of them.
“After that, we sent him on loan because he wasn’t quite ready for the first team. He just needed more time to develop and gain more experience. It wasn’t easy to make that step during that period because our first team was getting better and better.
“Technically, Miki was always very good. He had vision and game intelligence. He just needed more time physically. This kind of player gets better and better with time. He did very well when he returned to Spain. The future looked so bright for him and then everything changed.
“What happened with Miki was incredibly sad, especially as he was so young and so full of energy. It was so early in his career and he had so much more to give.”
Roque was 17 when he arrived at Liverpool in 2005. Reserve team coach Paco Herrera, who had scouted him extensively, took him under his wing.
The club’s youth ranks had also been bolstered that summer with the signings of teenagers Godwin Antwi (Zaragoza), Antonio Barragan (Sevilla) and Besian Idrizaj (LASK Linz). The quartet helped each other settle after being housed with local families.
Fellow centre-back Antwi established a close bond with Roque. “Yeah, me and Miki, we were cool,” he tells The Athletic. “I spoke some Spanish from my time playing there and learned more from him. He didn’t speak English at the start so when we went to places in Liverpool I’d help translate for him.
“He would laugh at my Spanish and I’d be like ‘okay, if you’re going to be like that then I won’t help you with your English, you’re on your own!’. He actually didn’t need my help for long anyway as he learned English so fast. He was a clever guy.
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“We were placed in families only two minutes from each other. They were big Liverpool supporters and lovely people. They looked after us well.
“It was me, Miki and Jack Hobbs competing for the centre-back positions in the reserves. Paco Herrera was like a father to us. I remember him saying to Miki one day, ‘You need to get your hair cut before you come to training next, it’s getting in the way’.
“Miki had been growing it for ages. He was friends with Carles Puyol from when he was a kid in Catalonia and I think he wanted hair the same. Miki looked up to him. But he did as he was told and got it cut before we saw Paco next.”
Lee Peltier’s journey had been very different. The Liverpool-born midfielder had come up through the ranks at the academy before playing alongside Roque in the reserves and, ultimately, the first team.
“Miki had a bit of everything,” he says. “He could bring the ball out from the back and he was also really aggressive. He loved the hustle and bustle, loved a tackle and was strong in the air.
“When we were on the pitch it was work time, but when I think of Miki I think of the laughs we had away from the pitch.
“Godwin, Miki, Antonio and Besian were all living with families in the Aigburth area of Liverpool. And I was living near Sefton Park so we were all close by.
“I was the only one who could drive so I’d pick them up and we’d go into town. I remember inviting Miki for a night out and the place to go at the time was the Newz Bar. I just remember laughing at the mad gear Miki had on. He stuck out like a sore thumb with his long hair, big baggy pants and his granddad cardigan.
“Miki was really close with Puyol and was always going on about what a great fella he was. Miki was a funny guy. We spent a lot of time together. He always had a lot to say.”
Roque’s first season at Liverpool ended with him helping the club end their 10-year wait to lift the FA Youth Cup. He headed home the third goal in a 3-0 victory at Anfield in the first leg of the final against Manchester City. Liverpool held on to edge it on aggregate after losing the second leg 2-0 at the Etihad. Daniel Sturridge, Michael Johnson and Micah Richards all played for City.
Winger Adam Hammill was part of that jubilant Liverpool youth team coached by Steve Heighway. “Miki was a really good lad who adapted well to life in another country,” he says.
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“There was a mix of boys who had come up through the academy and the foreign boys who had been brought in. There could be a bit of tension at times but Miki was popular with everyone.
“We did well to hold on and win that final against City. Miki’s goal near the end of the first leg proved decisive. It was a massive achievement.
“Some of the foreign boys didn’t like the physical stuff but Miki wasn’t shy. He loved the battle and always got stuck in. He was always so competitive in training. I got a few kicks off him!
“It was difficult to break through at Liverpool at the time with the calibre of the senior players but he went on to forge a good career for himself. He proved his quality after he went back to Spain and forced his way into the team at Betis. It was just tragic what happened to him.”
Miki Roque grew up in the small town of Tremp in Catalonia with mum Olga Farrero, dad Miquel and sister Olga Roque. His talent soon attracted the attention of local scouts and at the age of 12, he moved an hour’s drive south to play for Lleida’s academy.
“He went to live in a residence for young athletes,” explains his mother. “We picked him up on Friday, he spent the weekend with us, always playing football, and then on Monday we brought him back to the residence.
“When he was young, he also played for the Catalan selection. For his age, he always stood out and played with older players. He was very focused on what he wanted.
“We come from very close to Puyol’s home town, Pobla de Segur. Miki’s role model was always Puyol.
“When he had the opportunity to go to Liverpool, he did not think twice. He was happy to go there. He was very mature for his age. He had a lot of personality. He had a great time in Liverpool with the family they placed him with initially. The dad was a Spanish teacher at the university. He liked learning English and when he came back home he spoke English really well.
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“We were able to go and see him a few times — how excited he was, the games he was playing, how he was developing there. We enjoyed many good times with him, and when he had any little problem, we also suffered too. Parents always have a bit of a hard time when your child is far away.
“But you have to accept it, as you know your kid is following their dream. You have to support them — nothing comes easy in this life.
“Miki was always very generous. He would come back from England and bring things to give to his friends and the people here — footballs, jerseys, boots. Whenever you went out to dinner, he paid. He was a splendid kid. He loved clothes. If he liked something he would buy it, then if a friend liked it, he would give it to them.”
Roque’s Liverpool debut arrived at the age of 18 on December 5, 2006. He was summoned from the bench to replace Xabi Alonso with six minutes remaining at Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium.
It was a dead rubber with Liverpool’s place in the knockout stages of the Champions League already secured. Benitez had handed starts to rookies Peltier, Danny Guthrie and Gabriel Paletta.
Galatasaray beat a much-changed line-up 3-2 but to Roque, that night meant everything. Alonso gave him his boots to mark the occasion. Jamie Carragher captained Liverpool in the absence of the rested Steven Gerrard.
“Just to play for Liverpool once is a great achievement in itself and Miki did that,” Carragher tells The Athletic. “And to make your debut in a stadium like the Ataturk that’s so synonymous with the club’s European success made it extra special for him. That must have been a really proud day for him and his family.
“Miki trained with us at Melwood. He was a typical Spanish centre-back — very comfortable with the ball at his feet rather than someone who relied on his physicality.
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“When he came into the first-team set-up at Liverpool, he was still growing, still maturing. It was always going to be tough to establish yourself as a teenager because we were one of the best teams in Europe. The bar was set high.
“He needed a few loans and then the move back to Spain before he was really ready for the top level. But he ended up making a name for himself back home.”
Antwi adds: “Coming on in that game against Galatasaray meant so much to Miki. We were all dreaming about getting the chance to play for the first team. Miki got there, some of us didn’t. He would joke with us about how he had made it. But it was always with a smile on his face, he wasn’t serious.”
Roque spent the final months of the 2006-07 season on loan at League One club Oldham Athletic. He then had a frustrating stint at Xerez CD in 2007-08 before flourishing at FC Cartagena the following campaign. He clocked up 30 appearances as they won promotion from Segunda Division B.
In the summer of 2009, he returned to his homeland on a permanent basis when he signed for Real Betis following the end of his contract at Liverpool.
“Miki had a marvellous season at Cartagena,” adds Olga Farrero. “They were always in his heart. He made really good friends there.
“He was clear that Betis was a good move. He was motivated and fully confident that it was going to work out and he would play for the first team.”
After a solid season of progress in the reserves, Roque received some devastating news from England. His former Liverpool reserves team-mate Idrizaj, who was on the books at Swansea City, died suddenly in May 2010 after suffering a cardiac arrest in his sleep. He was only 22.
“That affected Miki a lot,” admits Olga Farrero. “There had been four boys of his age at Liverpool who were always together, learning English together, joking around, having fun — Miki, Besian, Godwin and Antonio.”
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Peltier adds: “We lost Besian in 2010 and then Gary Ablett and Miki passed away in quick succession two years later. That’s our manager and two players from the same reserves team gone so young. You think, ‘what the hell is going on here?’. It just seemed so unfair.
“You know what it’s like in football, people move on and everyone is busy, but I remember catching up with Miki after he’d gone back to Spain. He was playing for Betis’ first team, he was happy and I was made up that he was doing so well.”
Roque fought hard to force his way into manager Pepe Mel’s plans. His dedication paid off when he was handed his Betis debut against Las Palmas in October 2010. The following week he scored on his first start against Girona. He didn’t look back as he clocked up 14 senior appearances in all competitions as Mel’s high-flying side mounted a sustained challenge for the Segunda Division title.
However, Roque was being hampered by pain in his hip and back. The club’s chief medical officer Tomas Calero grew increasingly concerned.
“I didn’t have many relations with Miki in his first year at Betis as he didn’t train much with the seniors but then he did pre-season with the first team in Huelva. That was when I got to know him properly,” Calero tells The Athletic.
“He had a bad sprain of his ankle and we had to take him out of the camp. He almost needed an operation. That kept him out for about six weeks. But before he left the camp, he had made a big impression. He even told the boss that he should be watching as during this season he was going to become a player for the first team. You could see the personality he had — a strong character, a natural fighter.
“Over time he had an issue in his hip, a pain which was not so big. At first, we thought it was a muscle strain, we began the normal tests, and he kept training. One day he told me that he was working with the physio but the pain was still there, down his lower back too. That was the day we gave him a very strong treatment, to take away the pain completely. Then he called me that evening, saying the pain was still there. We began to think it could be something outside the normal problems players get. We asked for more specific tests.”
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What followed rocked everyone at Betis.
“The radiologist called me and when I went to the hospital we could see there was a tumour,” adds Calero. “The next step was a biopsy to determine what type of tumour it was, if it was malign or benign, what cancer it might be. From the images, the suspicion was it could be malign. There was a type of cyst on his hip. We had to clean it, we were trying everything we could.
“We had a psychologist at the club, Patricia Ramirez, who helped a lot with the planning of everything, how we informed people. Finally, unfortunately, we got confirmation while we were at an away game in Ponferrada (March 3, 2011), from the pathologist about the seriousness of the issue. We went to see the player as soon as we got back.”
Accompanied by Calero, Mel and club president Rafael Gordillo, Roque attended a press conference at the Benito Villamarin to inform the media about the battle he was facing. “I have a malignant tumour and I have to get it removed but the doctors are optimistic,” he said tearfully. “Unfortunately, the season is over for me.” Mel added: “It was Miki who calmed us down and encouraged all of us when he told us in the dressing room yesterday.”
Betis fans raised funds for his treatment by selling T-shirts and wristbands bearing the player’s name and squad number.
“Miki was very brave, and did not want to tell us everything,” explains his mother. “I saw the news on the television. We spoke on the phone, he did not want me to go to Seville. He told me to stay calm, that all would be okay. It was he who was lifting us, supporting us.”
Calero says: “Miki’s reaction showed the size of his character. His greatness became clear when the illness was confirmed, how he took it, fighting until the last minute possible to return to play football. That was all he wanted. Miki could not really accept that football was over for him, but we could see it was practically impossible.”
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Roque returned to Catalonia for treatment and in May 2011 he underwent an 11-hour operation at Barcelona’s Dexeus Hospital conducted by doctor Enric Caceres.
“It was to try to stop the tumour from reproducing,” adds Calero. “Two months after the surgery, Miki began to visit the gym at FC Barcelona thanks to his close relationship with Carles Puyol.
“He was starting to do little things there — to run. Whenever Betis travelled near Barcelona he always came to visit us, to see the team. In every moment, it was he who was trying to lift us. None of the players knew what to say to him, but he would say that in six weeks he would be back training with them, that he was going to play for Betis again. That strength, so impressive, was what really forged this image we have, the legend of Miki began.”
As Betis secured promotion back to La Liga, Roque’s name was chanted repeatedly at the Benito Villamarin. The show of support was a source of comfort for his family during a desperate time.
Holding back tears, Olga Farrero says: “The fans did it in minute 26 of every game. Then in the hospital, everyone treated us very well. We had a lot of luck. Miki found another family there.
“Ten years on, the director of the hospital is still like a family member for us. All the doctors and staff who treated Miki, we see them every year. There were young people working there, and Miki marked their lives too. Miki did not lack for anything.
“They never tried to tell us that it would be nice. But Miki was very clear, he was going to do everything he could. He had many operations. After the first operation, which was a tough one, he made a huge effort to recover. He kept working to be able to come back (and play football), but things kept happening.
“It was just never going to happen. But he was still clear that he would make his way in life, even if in a wheelchair. If not in the world of football, he would visit schools and tell children his story. He had a good attitude, always.”
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Four months after the initial surgery, further tests revealed that the cancer had spread.
“The second operation was much more aggressive again, it affected further joints in his body. That made a big impact on him, he could barely move,” says Calero. “But Miki was still totally hooked into the team. Energy and optimism always flowed out of him. His family were always perfect with us and I still have a good relationship with his mother Olga.
“We in the medical department are used to treating injuries, but not illnesses, and definitely not terminal ones. We had big support from Patricia, our psychologist. Miki went into history for his behaviour in the hospital. His relationship with the doctors, the nurses, everyone. He had his own way of taking on this sickness.
“A friend of mine was working in the Dexeus hospital. Once or twice a week, he’d send me a message saying he had gone to see Miki. During the last phase, when the end was very close, he sent me a message saying things had got very difficult. I was the link to tell the club how it was going.
“When he died, I was on holiday with my wife in the mountains with no mobile coverage. When I got back to the car, I saw I had 40 missed calls and 60 or 70 WhatsApp messages. The first voicemail was the doctor calling to tell me.”
Roque passed away on June 24, 2012. Fans of both Betis and city rivals Sevilla lay flowers, shirts and scarves, and lit candles outside the Benito Villamarin.
The Spain squad, who were preparing for their Euro 2012 semi-final against Portugal, held a minute’s silence before training and wore black armbands in that game in his honour.
After Italy had been beaten in the final, Pepe Reina put on Roque’s Betis shirt during the celebrations. Touching tributes followed from the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Alvaro Negredo, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets.
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“It was very emotional,” admits his mother. “Very hard moments, very sad, bitter-sweet, you see the images and you say ‘how nice’, but you are hurting inside. We really appreciate all of them. It stays in our memories forever.”
His manager Mel said: “Miki, you epitomised the values I wanted for our Betis — enthusiasm, desire and the commitment to achieve. On every Sunday next season my first memories will always be of you.”
Busquets, who played alongside Roque in the youth ranks at Lleida, wrote: “A great person has gone, a great sportsman, an example to everyone, but above all, a great team-mate, one with whom I shared many moments which I will never forget, has left us.”
The sense of loss was also keenly felt in Liverpool.
“Miki had shown what a good player he was at Betis and that he was destined to go and achieve a lot,” says Carragher.
“It was just such a sad situation. You don’t expect something like that to happen to someone so young. He didn’t just have a promising football career ahead of him, he had his whole life. We were all gutted. It hit home how precious life is.”
Antwi, who is now based in Oxford after a professional career that took him to Denmark, Norway, Thailand and Malaysia, adds: “We always kept in touch after leaving Liverpool and when I heard the news about Miki’s cancer, I couldn’t believe it. They treated it and I thought it had gone but then it came back again. Miki was so strong with what he had to deal with.
“You ask yourself, ‘how can something like this happen?’. As a young footballer, he was fit, he was strong, he lived his life right, you just don’t think about someone like that getting so sick. Then bang it hits you. Gone at 23. He was doing so well. It was cruel.
“I still keep in touch with Miki’s mum and sister on Facebook. When they put something about Miki on there, I always give a shoutout to him. It’s important to keep his memory alive. I miss him. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years already. I enjoyed the time we spent together and I’ll keep the memories forever.”
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Roque’s funeral in his hometown of Tremp was followed by a mass Betis organised at the Benito Villamarin which was attended by thousands of fans. Calero, Mel and Roque’s sister Olga were among those who made speeches.
“It was a beautiful mass — people came from all over the Spanish football community. It was something very nice. The minimum we could do to preserve his memory,” says Calero.
“Miki was very Catalan, he was not an Andalusian guy like us who is open and joking around. He was a player who showed his values on the pitch — absolute commitment, working always at 100 per cent. No excuses when he lost. That was how he went from a young player not counted on for the season into an automatic member of the team.
“Miki is always present with us through the minute 26. Our fans know he was a fighter. His greatness was his personality, his values as a person, how he took on his illness, and his daily sacrifice.
“His case is not typical. He wasn’t a player who won the hearts of the fans with five seasons in the team or buckets of goals or being club captain. This kid became a legend after playing about a dozen games for the club. He was a centre-back, not a goalscorer.
“In a short time he carved himself a place in Beticismo (the Betis family) and became one of their own. That is not easy. It was the personality he showed, the way he took on his situation, the messages he gave when he spoke. That is why we are all so proud of having been there with him during those days.”
In Tremp, there is a commemorative plaque close to the football pitch in Parque del Pinell in memory of Roque which features the crests of all the clubs he represented. Puyol was among those who attended the unveiling ceremony.
There are cherished mementoes that the family hold dear. Not least the boots Roque wore when he played against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona in a Copa del Rey tie at the Camp Nou in January 2011, shortly before his world came crashing down.
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“We have things we keep for the grandchildren so Miki is always very present here,” says his mother Olga Farrero.
“Miki’s sister has three kids. She had the oldest Gerard when Miki was sick, and he used to come every weekend to the hospital. She became pregnant again, and Miki gave the child the name Biel, who was born three months after he died.
“Now there are three, the youngest is very small, but the two eldest carry Miki’s light around with them. The oldest is 12 and has had trials at Barca. Three years ago we went with Gerard and Biel to a Betis game and they treated us very well. We are Betis fans now. If your son plays for a team, you become their fan, whoever they are, even if they are Real Madrid.
“The anniversary coincides with the festival of San Juan. It is a time when families get together and it was Miki’s favourite day of the year with the fireworks, the bonfires, the party. He always celebrated it here with his friends from school. We are still in touch with them too. Just recently a friend got married, and they all remembered Miki.
“Everything happens for a reason in life. And Miki’s life marked so many people.”
(Top photo: Olga Farrero)
