Estadios de Fútbol en España

Club Deportivo Laudio de Fútbol San Rokezar, or CD Laudio to you and me, has just won promotion to Segunda B for the first time its history. Playing at the picturesque Ellakuri, this club from the north of the province of Alava has come close to promotion to the third tier in the past, but finally won promotion after a play-off victory over Mar Menor CF. More to follow shortly, but in the meantime, enjoy the pictures.

Set in the foothills of the Pyrenees and in the middle of La Garrotxa Volcanic Park, Olot is not your stereotypical location for Spanish regional football. This small town of 32,000 inhabitants has been home to Unió Esportiva Olot since 1921, and for much of it's history the club has laid dormant like the surrounding volcanoes. However, these past few seasons have witnessed a seismic upturn in UE Olot's fortunes, resulting in an eruption of local pride after the club sealed promotion to Segunda B for the first time in its history.

The Estadi Municipal d'Olot - Home of the Mountain Kings

The first recorded instance of football being played in Olot is in 1902, when Joaquim Peris Vargas, commander of a battalion stationed in the town, set up a series of matches against locals and tourists. Move on a decade and two clubs, Olot Deportivo & Sport Club Olot were vying for the support of the locals, with the former staging a friendly match with FC Barcelona at their new enclosure on 15 September 1912. By the middle of the decade, both clubs had disappeared, but were replaced by Sporting Club and Renaixement Sportiu. These clubs merged in 1919 and used a new ground on Casal Marià which was to be known as the Camp de l'Estació. During the 1920's, UE Olot formed and alliance with RCD Espanyol, which would last until the 1960's. The final game of the 1939-40 season saw the club play its last game at the Camp de l'Estació, and victory over Figueres that sealed the regional championship. Now renamed UD Olot, they lost to FC Prat de Llobregat in the play offs, so remained in the regionalised second division.

Early doors, but not a lot has changed at Olot

UD Olot declined an invitation to join the Tercera in 1945 due to the additional cost of travelling such a move would bring. They eventually reached the Tercera division following reorganisation of the leagues in advance of the 1956-57 season. They were a regular feature of the Tercera for much of the 1960's, and also enjoyed prolonged stays during the 1980's & 1990's. There followed a period of decline that saw the club spend many seasons in the Primera Territorial, or seventh tier. Successive promotions from 2009-11 saw the club return to the Tercera and then build a team fit for promotion. The Catalan Tercera title was won in May 2013, but the first champions phase of the play-offs, saw UE Olot lose to Elche Ilicitano. With the defeated champions given another chance, Olot took their opportunity and disposed of Mairena & Arandina to earn promotion to Segunda B for the first time in the club's history.

Simple fayre. Maybe the Estadi Municipal d'Olot
is content to second fiddle to the surroundings?

Unlike the surrounding countryside, the Estadi Municipal d'Olot does not take ones breath away. It is a simple enclosure, with a 50 metre long cantilevered cover on the west terrace, that dates from 1958. Beneath this cover is the stadium's only seating, a raised section of around 50 seats for club officials. Four steps of terracing continue around the southern end, which has a simple narrow propped cover at its rear. The east side is made up of four steps of open terrace, whilst the northern end remains free from spectators, if not clutter. In the north west corner is the stadiums only modern building, a clubhouse and players changing rooms. With a capacity of just 3,000, the Estadi Municipal d'Olot is one of the smaller stadiums in Group III of Segunda B, but given the the club's recent form, who knows what heights it will scale next?

Just how do you measure the health of a Spanish football club? A look at the balance sheet perhaps? Well such a glance is not for the faint-hearted, as intensive care is overflowing with critically ill clubs, who have disregarded their financial well-being for far too long. No, by far the most reliable barometer is to take a look at the reserve side. A flourishing second-string reflects well on a club's investment in youth and, in these fiscally challenging times, it provides a pathway to the future. One club that has seen their prudent investment in youth reap recent dividends is Granada Club de Fútbol, whose reserve side has just won promotion to Segunda B for the first time in its surprisingly lengthy history.

The Kids Are All Right - The main stand with a youthful cover

Granada's reserve team can trace its history back to 10 July 1947 when the club, reflecting on its recent relegation from the La Primera, decided to ditch the informal agreements with local junior sides that saw them get first pick of the best players. In its place was formed an official reserve team that took on the title of Club Recreativo Granada, a nod to Granada CF's original name that had lasted until 1940. The newly formed club also adopted their parent club's original colours of blue & white stripes. With the first team firmly entrenched in the southern section of La Segunda, Recreativo went about their business in the regional leagues, eventually winning promotion to the Tercera in 1950. There followed 18 successive seasons in the Tercera and, whilst they never looked likely to win promotion (A fourth placed finish in 1956-57 was as good as it got), it took the reorganisation of the league in 1968 to bring their run to an end. Recreativo bounced back for two more seasons in the Tercera at the start of the 1970's but, ironically as the first team enjoyed its best ever run in La Primera, Recreativo spent the 70's in the regional leagues.

2007 and the Campo Miguel Prieto Garcia has a dirrty look

Recreativo Granada made it back to the Tercera for a two-season sojourn in the early 1980's, but a further decade past before they would return, this time under the new moniker of Granada Club de Fútbol B. Here the club would play out six of the next seven seasons, before a downturn in the first team's fortunes lead to the inevitable decline in the form of the Reserves. Granada B rattled around the regional leagues of Andalucian football for the better part of a decade and a half, dropping as low as the Regional Preferente or Level Six for two seasons between 2002-04. However, promotion back to the fourth tier in 2012, was followed by a best ever Tercera finish of third in June 2013. Entering previously uncharted territory, Granada B equipped itself remarkably well, seeing off the challenges of Trival Valderas, Cordoba B and UD Extremadua, thus maintaining the feel-good factor that prevails around Granada CF at present.

Open to the elements - The Campo MPG

Granada CF B call the Campo Miguel Prieto Garcia home. It is owned and run by the Real Federación Andaluza de Fútbol, and dates from the late 1950's. Until five years ago it had a dirt pitch and looked rather sad and run down. Thanks to an injection of €600,000 in the summer of 2008, the enclosure looks a lot more presentable, with improvements to the changing facilities, fencing and floodlights, topped off with a state of the art artificial surface. A new propped cantilevered roof was added to the west side in 2012, which houses the grounds only seating. With a capacity of 2500, it will stage the majority of the reserve team fixtures during the 2013-14 season, but should the the B team need a bigger venue, they wont have far to travel. The Campo Miguel Prieto Garcia stands just 750 metres to the west of the mightily impressive Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes.

Centro de Deportes El Palo owes a great deal to one Francisco Rosas. You see, back in 1971, he and a group of friends set up the club on a patch of scrub-land in this small seaside town, which stands 4 miles to the east of Málaga. During his watch, the club has been transformed from lower regional league make-weights, to Tercera Group 9 champions who are about to debut in the third tier of Spanish football.

The new San Ignacio - Ready for 2B

CD El Palo first reached the regional Tercera in 1982, but it was a campaign of slim rewards, with just 4 wins recorded and 15 points claimed. They returned to the Tercera for a two season spell at the end of the eighties, but then dropped back into obscurity for the better part of two decades. The 2009-10 season saw CD El Palo back in the Tercera and an impressive third-place finish saw the club enter the play-offs. Here they faced the Basque side SD Amorebieta, but were beaten 4-2 on aggregate. The home leg of the tie was played at the Campo Julián Torralba in the Málaga suburb of Ciudad Jardin, as their San Ignacio home featured a dirt pitch outlawed by the RFEF. El Palo returned to play there during the 2010-11 season as their own stadium received an upgrade, which included an all important artificial surface. An impressive run of just 2 defeats in 32 matches saw CD El Palo crowned champions of Group 9 of the Tercera in 2012-13 and then dispose of the reserve side of Deportivo La Coruña to clinch promotion to Segunda B.

The old San Ignacio - More favela than Málaga

The Estadio Nuevo San Ignacio is quite a step up from the old enclosure that occupied the site. That old ground resembled one of those cramped dusty pitches that you see in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, rather than the swanky Costa del Sol. Terracing was randomly dispersed along the west side, including a set of steps on top of the changing block. Its one saving grace was an ornate entrance at the northern end, which opened up onto a pair of steps behind the goal. Work started on the new stadium in early 2011 and the new build features a covered stand seating 1000 on the east side of the ground. This development also includes the changing, club and media facilities and backs on to a further artificial training pitch. The new stadium was opened on 3 June 2011 and cost the local municipality €2.3m. All of which must make Francisco Rosas a very proud man, as he attends CD El Palo's first match in Segunda B in his capacity of Honorary President.

Córdoba Club de Fútbol B has joined the growing number of La Liga clubs with a reserve outfit in Segunda B for the 2013-14 season. Formed in 1997, this will be Córdoba B's first season in the third tier, after clocking-up 13 seasons with very little reward in the Tercera.

Ciudad Deportiva Rafael Gómez - More sports village than city

That all changed in the summer 2013. After finishing runners-up in Group 9 of the Tercera, Córdoba B could have been forgiven for thinking that their first venture into the end of season play-offs was merely a learning experience. After seeing off the challenge of Castellón, hopes of promotion appeared to be over after losing out on away goals to another band of reserves, Granada B. However, the demotion to the Tercera of financially troubled Xerez CD led to a vacancy in Segunda B, which was offered to and taken by the club.

Nothing to see here. Move along now

Home is to the east of the city, close to the Rio Guadalquivir. The Ciudad Deportiva Rafael Gómez is nothing to get excited about, being essentially a single open terrace holding 3,000 on the west side of the ground. There is one concession to the "Big-Time" however, as temporary seating has been added to the northern end, raising the capacity to 5,000. Ho hum!

Special thanks to Tom Kingston for his great work on this article. Tom splits his time between Bristol & Elche and has impeccable taste in following Elche CF & Bristol Rovers. Tom provides excellent updates on all aspects of the Spanish game via his Twitter account @FutbolTom

It is Sunday 2nd June 2013 and the supporters of Elche Club de Fútbol are celebrating a second promotion in as many weeks. Following the return of the first team to La Primera after a 24 year absence, the club's reserve side has just beaten Unió Esportiva Olot 3-2 on aggregate to secure promotion to Segunda B. However, unlike some of the second XI's that ply their trade in the third tier of Spanish football, Elche Ilicitano is a reserve side with some pedigree.

Sun-kissed simplicity - The Estadio Díez Iborra

Founded in 1932, just 9 years after the formation of the first team, Elche Ilicitano reached its peak in the 1960's. Unsurprisingly, this coincided with the golden age of of the first team, which saw it become established in La Primera and reach the final of the Copa del Rey. To understand how Elche CF went from provincial nobodies to top tier stalwarts, you need to know about the vision of club president Manuel Martinez Valero. Here's a handy link to the story. Elche Ilicitano initially reached the Tercera in 1963, but it took 5 seasons to launch a serious challenge for promotion. After winning Tercera Group 10 in 1967-68, the club progressed to the play-off phase. Here they racked up victories over Real Avilés & CD Ourense to earn a place in a restructured, single division La Segunda. The new structure saw 20 clubs spread across the length and breadth of Spain, and featured heavyweights such as Sevilla, Sporting Gijón & Celta Vigo. Elche Ilicitano persevered, and thanks to a late run of form that saw 4 wins in the last 6 games, avoided immediate relegation. They still had to face a play-off, and to add additional spice to the fixture, Ilicitano was paired with Hércules CF, the historical rival and sworn enemy of their parent club. Incredibly Ilicitano came through a two-legged play-off to beat Hércules 3-2 on aggregate.

I've got love for you if you were born in the '80s

The good times didn't last for long and Ilicitano dropped back to the Tercera in 1970, losing a relegation play-off to Racing Santander, which went to a third match. Regional football followed in 1972, and whilst they returned to the Tercera in 1980, they were never the force they had been. Worse was to follow in the early 1990's, when following the near financial melt-down of the first team, Ilicitano found themselves back in the Regional Preferente. The last decade has seen the club switch between the regional & Tercera, but rarely challenge for promotion to Segunda B. That changed with two successive promotions, with form that mirrored the improvement in the first teams fortunes.

Awaiting its makeover - The Estadio Díez Iborra in 2013

Over the years, Ilicitano has shared facilities with its parent club, using both the Campo de Altabix and the Estadio Martinez Valero. In the mid eighties, the club and the municipality developed a sports city to the east of the town, around a kilometre north west of the club's main stadium. The development included the small Estadio Díez Iborra, and Ilicitano has called it home ever since. Following the agreement of a multi-million euro remodelling project between the municipality and the club, the sports city has seen a gradual improvement of facilities, as well as the introduction of new ones. Three new artificial pitches have been added, along with new physiotherapy and media facilities. There are plans to add a roof over the stadium's only spectator facility, a 1500 capacity terrace on the west side of the ground. The redevelopment is unlikely to lead to any increase in capacity, bearing in mind that Ilicitano can go back to sharing with the first team, just a kilometre down the road.

Not so noisy neighbours - A kilometre separates the grounds

If this is your first visit to Estadios de Fútbol en España or you are simply returning, can I offer you a very warm welcome to the only English language site dedicated to the history of Spanish stadiums. I appreciate that it is a slightly obscure subject, but no doubt your interest in La Liga and/or football stadiums drew you here. That, or you're lost!

The old, the new, the big and the er... yellow! Every stadium from La Primera included

Any way, what can you expect to find on this site? Well you will find thousands of photographs of the great, the medium and the small stadiums of Spain. Yes, all the big ones from La Primera and La Segunda are included, along with a detailed history of the stadium and to some extent, the club. In fact, all the stadiums in the top three divisions are here, as well as over 100 football grounds from the lower leagues. There is also a section that looks at the stadiums used for Spain's hosting of the 1982 World Cup and an affectionate look at some stadiums that have disappeared. I also provide the occasional updates on the play-offs, historic seasons, new stadium developments and photo-montages from the 17,000 images I have in my collection.

Over 300 stadiums covered

The site is still growing and thanks to redevelopments, refurbishments and new builds, it will continue to grow. You can also follow the site on Twitter and I would love to receive any photos you may have from your visits to Spanish stadiums. For all the latest from Spain's stadia, follow my Twitter account here... @estadios_Spain

Gone but not Forgotten

A new season sees the return of Jamie McGregor and his travels around Asturias following UC Ceares. Jamie writes for In Bed With Maradona, the Spanish based @CompartirPasion and is responsible for the English version of UC Ceares website. You can follow Jamie on Twitter - @terracethoughts

They don't hand out awards for the most picturesque grounds in Spain but if they did, La Corredoria in La Posada de Llanes would be in with a good shout. At the foot of the La Sierra del Cuera, the home of Urraca C.F. easily has the most stunning views in the Asturian section of Tercera División. In truth it shouldn't really come as much surprise as La Posada de Llanes is located in one the most beautiful parts of a beautiful region. Sandwiched between mountains and the sea, it's hard to find an ugly angle.

La Sierra del Cuera looms large over La Corredoria

When it comes to beaches, Llanes is number one, but when it comes to football it's much further down the pecking order. With C.D. Llanes currently playing in Regional Preferente, Urraca C.F. are now the region's highest placed club. Founded in 1949, Urraca C.F. (literally Magpie C.F.) have spent almost all their existence in the lower regional leagues. The club's biggest achievement came in the 2011/12 season when they gained promotion to Tercera Division where they remain to this day. The first season in the Tercera saw the club finish a very respectable thirteenth.

Match day and the Magpies nest looks pretty full

The club's ground, La Corredoria, is typical of this level with a small stand seating 198 over four rows. This cover runs from the south-west corner northwards to just past the half-way line , whilst hard-standing is found on the remaining three sides. The current layout dates from 2011, thanks to a €525,000 re-fit courtesy of the Government of Asturias and Llanes City Council. The refurbishment also saw the installation of FIFA two star synthetic pitch, which was inaugurated in January 2012 when the Spanish U17 side met their Italian counterparts. Like any lower league Spanish ground worth its salt, it has a supporters' bar, which is tucked away in the south-west corner of the ground. The bar and the changing block at the northern end of the enclosure date from 2004, when La Corredoria was even more pastoral.

La Corredoria after its 2011 re-fit

However, what really marks La Corredoria out is the aforementioned views of La Sierra del Cuera. Whether covered in snow, mist or simply a (rare) clear day, the mountain range towers over the small ground and provides a nice distraction if the football is not up to scratch.

In his book "An Introduction to Football in Spain", Paulino Mouriño Rañó informs that whilst Recreativo Huelva may be the grandfather of Spanish football, it is the Galician town of Vilagarcia de Arousa that witnessed the first match on Spanish soil. According to an edition of the Eco Republicano de Santiago dated 26 June 1873, a ship on its way to Huelva to deliver machinery to the Rio Tinto Mining Company, stopped off at the northern port. Its crew then proceeded to play a match in the town square, no doubt to the utter bemusement of the locals. If this was Spain's first exposure to the game, it did not create a lasting impression, for football in this scenic port did not establish itself until after the Civil War.

Villagacia de Arousa - The birthplace of football in Spain?

With no enclosed ground or pitch meeting minimum standards, football in the town had been a piecemeal affair. Finally on 19 December 1945, Arosa Sociedad Cultural was founded. A field to the south of town was gifted by the local municipality and A Lomba, as it was called, staged its first match on 26 January 1946. If football had been a slow to burner in the town, Arosa was about to make up for lost time. Promotion to the Tercera was achieved in its second full season, and within another two years, the club found itself playing in La Segunda. Their debut on the national stage was however a brief one. Lasting just one season, Arosa finished bottom of the league, 7 points from safety. Whilst at home they recorded a respectable seven victories, it was on their travels where Arosa struggled. 14 of the 15 away fixtures ended in defeat, with their only point on the road earned at Baracaldo Altos Hornos. Arosa returned to the Tercera, where they would stay, apart from a season in the regional league in 1955-56, for the next two decades.

A long time waiting - A Lomba

It was during their longest stay in the Regional league that A Lomba took on its current format. Following the near collapse of the old grandstand in April 1970, the club took on the task of building a new full-length cantilevered cover over the southern side of the stadium. This was completed 10 months later and opened on 21 February 1971. The development of the northern side followed shortly afterwards. This was a slightly shorter stand, again with a cantilevered cover, but with seating and changing rooms. The front of the stand included a deep fascia to shield spectators from the sun. Arosa returned to the Tercera in 1975 and in 1983 earned promotion to Segunda B. The club spent two three-season spells at this level up to 1990, but with the exception of the 1993-94 season, has not returned.

Arosa put their shirt on it - A Lomba's south stand

After a four season spell back in the Regional Preferente, Arosa returned to the Tercera in June 2013 and made an impressive start to the 2013-14 campaign, topping the table after 7 matches. Despite its age, A Lomba still looks rather prim. It is a simple design with two covered sides, both re-roofed, and open terraces at either end. The South side is now predominantly seated, with blocks of red & white seats replicating Arosa's distinctive quartered shirts. With a capacity of 5,000 spread over its four sides, A Lomba's traditional estadio Inglés design serves as a fitting reminder of the English mariners, who played the first game of football on Spanish soil 140 years ago.

The Romans liked what they saw of Calahorra. Arriving in 189BC they renamed the town Calagurris and made it a 'Civis Romanus', building baths, a circus maximus and an amphitheatre. The city also minted coins and served as the region's judicial centre. Unfortunately, being a big-wig in Ancient Rome doesn't necessarily mean you'll cut the mustard in modern-day Spanish football. With the exception of two short visits to Segunda B, the city's main club Club Deportivo Calahorra, has spent the majority of its time in the Tercera.

Calahorra & La Planilla - Ancient & modern

The first serious club to emerge from the city was Sociedad Cultural Deportiva Calahorra. Formed in 1923, they played on land that overlapped the current site of La Planilla (Albeit at 45 degrees from today’s layout and parallel with the Avenida Nuestra Señora de Valvanera). By 1933, Calahorra FC had taken on the mantle of the city’s senior team and played its matches at a field to the east of the city, close to the Calle de la Algarrada. Calahorra FC was a member of the Federación Cantabra and reached the Play-offs for La Segunda in 1936, losing out in the first round to Santoña. Following the Civil War the Mayor of Calahorra, Antonio Martín Pérez, allocated funds for the development of the old football field that SCD Calahorra had used. The site was renamed Campo de La Planilla and by 1944 was enclosed and the pitch fenced-off. However, any momentum that Calahorra FC had built before the war was now lost, so in 1946 the current club, Club Deportivo Calahorra was formed.

La Planilla's West Tribuna - 60 years old & still going strong

In 1947, the CD Calahorra joined Federación Guipuzcoana, winning the La Riojana section, before joining the Federación Navarra a year later. Further success followed with promotion and on 4 September 1949, CD Calahorra made its debut in the Tercera with a 3-1 defeat in Zaragoza at the home of SD Escoriaza. Despite a close-call in its debut season in the Tercera (They survived a relegation play-off), thoughts turned to developing La Planilla. In 1952, a new 45 metre long Tribuna was opened on the west side of the ground. Featuring six rows of bench seating under a propped roof, this delightful stand still adorns the enclosure, and thanks to a new roof and liberal amounts of red & blue paint, belies its age. CD Calahorra spent 25 of the next 35 seasons in the Tercera, and La Planilla remained relatively unchanged.

La Planilla's Fondo Norte in 2008

The club won its first Tercera title at the end of the 1987-88 season, and with it promotion to Segunda B. A respectable 13th position was earned in their first season in the third tier, which was followed by a more difficult season and a penultimate finish that resulted in relegation back to the Tercera. There followed a period of relative dominance at regional level, with four further league titles and six visits to the play-offs over an eight year spell. The new end of season format had proved troublesome for the club, but after their fifth league title in 1998, CD Calahorra topped their play-off group and returned to Segunda B. This was to prove a longer stay, with the highlight being a third placed finish in 2000-01. This led to an appearance in the play-offs for a place in La Segunda. The fight went to the final tie, and despite finishing level on points with Polideportivo Ejido, they lost out on the head-to-head record. With a squad that included a young Carlos Cuéllar disbanded, there followed a slow decline and a return to the Tercera in May 2004.

Grounded - Calahorra & La Planilla are back where they are comfortable

CD Calahorra remain in the Tercera and to be frank, La Planilla seems ideally suited for this level. Opposite the old West Tribuna is and open terrace of four steps, at the centre of which stands a television gantry. The newest part of the enclosure is the Fondo Norte, which dates from the late1980's and features 12 rows of bench seating under a cantilevered roof. This stand also includes the changing facilities, club room and bar. Hardly architecture on a Roman scale, but I like it all the same!

Marbella - Playground to the rich and home to Europe’s swankiest millionaires. A city where Bentley’s and Bugatti’s promenade with monotonous regularity, and where oligarchs moor their super yachts for the summer. So you would be forgiven for thinking that in this “Money no object” environment, just a little would have filtered through to the local football club and its stadium?

Marbella - A lovely view above ground level

Well… not quite. Whilst the glitterati live the high life in the city’s Puerto Banús district, Marbella Fútbol Club ply their trade a few miles to the east in the distinctly working class back streets of the old town. Football in Marbella has always been on the fringe. Always in the shadow of its bigger neighbour Málaga. Occasionally trying, but never quite managing to break through into the big time. Even on the one occasion it did gain a footing in the national leagues, it did so with the financial backing of one of Spanish football’s most notorious characters.

First Base - The Campo Francisco Norte

The first club from Marbella to register with the RFEF was Club Deportivo Marbella, who can be traced back to 1942, before finally joining in 1947. They lasted little over a decade, before folding with financial problems in 1959. This paved the way for Club Atlético de Marbella who soon made headway, appearing in the Tercera in 1963. Here they stayed for seven seasons, before flitting between the Tercera and regional leagues throughout the 1970’s. Home for both Deportivo & Atlético was the Campo Francisco Norte, a compact enclosure of open terraces. Eucalyptus trees lined the stadium's white washed walls, whilst the dirt playing surface sloped noticeably from north to south. It remained home until the end of the 1974-75 season. Three consecutive second place finishes in the Tercera in the early 1980’s finally led to promotion to Segunda B in 1984. It was a season long stay, but they returned two years later and in 1988-89, they recorded their best finish of sixth place. Relegation back to the Tercera followed in 1990, which is when Mayor of Marbella and professional misanthrope Jesús Gil took over the club. The impact of his investment was immediate, with consecutive promotions earning the club a place in La Segunda for the first time.

Nice pitch, nice mountains. Bland filler

Atlético’s first season in the national leagues saw a very creditable 7th placed finish. Always on the fringe of promotion and occupying a play-off place with just six matches to go, their season tailed-off dramatically with 4 consecutive defeats. Two seasons of mid-table finishes followed, but Jesús Gil’s thoughts were now totally focussed on his role as President of Atlético Madrid and the obsession of wresting the La Liga title away from Real Madrid & Barcelona. Gil sold the club to Serbian entrepreneur Boban Petrović in 1995, at which point things went rapidly down-hill. Bottom of the table at the mid-point of the 1995-96 season, Atlético failed to win any of its last 23 fixtures and was relegated to Segunda B. Worse was to follow as Petrović’s mismanagement saw the club accrue large debts and players going unpaid for much of the 96-97 season. Unsurprisingly, Atlético finished bottom of the league. With the players’ wages still outstanding, the RFEF demoted the club to the Regional Preferente on the 1 August 1997. Bankruptcy followed shortly after.

Unchanged in nearly 4 decades

Following Atlético’s demise, two local clubs, Unión Atlético Marbella & CD Cultural joined forces to form Unión Deportivo Marbella. The club won the Regional Preferente title in its first season, winning promotion to the Tercera. There followed 5 seasons of decent performances culminating in promotion to Segunda B in 2003. The club’s stay in the third tier peaked with a fourth place finish in 2008-09 and a place in the play-offs. Alas, any hope of emulating their predecessor’s time in La Segunda was ended by a first round defeat to Lorca Deporitva. As so often is the case following a play-off defeat, the season that followed was dreadful, ending in UD Marbella’s relegation to the Tercera. Here they have stayed, changing their name to Marbella Fútbol Club in June 2013.

Short Shrift - The stadiums only cover

Despite its magnificent views of the Sierra Blanca, the Estadio Municipal de Marbella is a tad underwhelming. Opened in 1975, it was originally called the Estadio Municipal Utrera Molina, after a falangist & minster under Franco's regime. It is the archetypal small municipal stadium, the likes of which sprung up over southern Spain throughout the 1970’s. It is essentially a featureless oval, made up of two semi-circular end terraces and two side stands. The west tribuna has a small area of seating, the central section of which is covered by a short 10 metre-long roof. This stand also houses offices, bars and a press room. The opposite east preferente is identical in size, but was fully seated in 2013. It has no roof and houses the stadium’s changing facilities. The excellent playing surface is surrounded an athletics track, all of which adds to the sense of mediocrity. Its capacity of 7,300 has been rarely tested since the start of Atlético’s decline in the mid 1990’s, and as things stand, it is unlikely to be tested any time soon. After all Marbella may be many things, but it isn't a footballing city.

History has a funny habit of repeating itself. Just over 50 years ago, the then President of Atlético Madrid Don Vicente Calderón, purchased a large plot of land in the south western outskirts of Madrid. Here, up tight to the bank of the Rio Manzanarés, would be where his beloved club would build their new home. Work on the proposed stadium was tortuously slow, and with the club suffering financially, many questioned the logic of the development. However, Calderón was not for turning. Atléti sold their Old Metropolitano home and finally moved into the unfinished stadium in October 1966. It took another 4 years to complete the project, but 12 years after first breaking the ground the club had a stadium to rival any in the country. Move on to 2013 and Atléti is involved in another protracted and controversial stadium development.

Just a little bit of history repeating itself?

The focus of their desired move is the Estadio La Peineta, a disused municipal athletics stadium in the north east of Madrid, just south of Barajas Airport. Opened in 1994, it originally cost 7,500 million pesetas (€45m), which was an awful lot of money for not a lot of stadium. The formal name for the stadium was Estadio de la Comunidad de Madrid, but it became known as La Peineta because its only stand was shaped like an ornamental comb. With a capacity of 20,000, it has always been a bit of a white elephant, hosting the occasional athletics meeting, but never in front of a full house. Little over 10 years after opening, the stadium had fallen into disrepair, but it remained in the public eye thanks to Madrid’s attempts to win the 2012, 2016 & 2020 Olympiads. La Peineta was ideally located, close to the airport and with an expanse of land ripe for developing an Olympic Park. Atléti had come on board in 2007, and the club’s on-going occupation of the stadium was part of the legacy programme for the 2016 & 2020 bids. Unfortunately for Madrid, the IOC preferred London, Rio & Tokyo. However, despite Madrid’s Olympic hopes lying dead in the water, Atléti pressed on with plans to occupy the site.

Comb Over - La Peineta's days were numbered from the beginning

So how can a club with reported debts of €500m afford to build a new stadium? Well, the answer lies close to home. Atlético Madrid owns the Estadio Vicente Calderón, and FCC, a leading Spanish construction company, covets the land that it and the adjoining Mahou Beer Factory stand on. In return for this piece of prime real estate, FCC will build Atléti a modern stadium on the site of La Peineta at little or potentially no cost. The proposed cost of the build will be €270m. All Atléti would have to pay is approximately €40m to the City of Madrid who own the land on which La Peineta stands. This will be paid in a series of debentures made up of free tickets granted to the city over a ten year period. However, if Madrid was to successfully bid for the 2024 Olympiad, the stadium would be used to host the games. This would result in the club having to relocate for a period of 12 months whilst the lower tier of the stadium is covered with a temporary platform holding the athletics track. As a result of this inconvenience, Atléti would be paid compensation of, you guessed it, €40m.

No money? No problem

Quite a neat deal you would think? Well, this being Atléti, nothing is quite as straightforward as it seems. First of all, the fans were up in arms over a move that would see the club relocate 12km to the north east of Madrid. They launched a legal challenge, arguing that it was illegal to build higher than four storeys in the city centre of Madrid, which meant that FCC may not receive anything close to the revenues it was expecting. The case went to appeal, but was found in the favour of the club. In the spring of 2011, the club announced they had received planning permission for the redevelopment of La Peineta and work would soon commence. Soon in Atléti parlance meant November, when the club organised a big media gathering to watch, in essence, the breaking up of a few pieces of old terracing. Predictably, the speed of the build at La Peineta has all ranged from slow to an out-right halt. Work in the spring of 2012 saw the lower tier of the main stand removed, the floodlights pole-axed and removal of the athletics track. By the end of 2012, the site had been excavated and foundation piles fixed. Slow progress, but as history has shown, that was nothing new for Atléti.

April 2012 and the comb shows its teeth

Further delays followed in 2013, when the authorities refused to grant the necessary licences for construction cranes to placed on site. Then in September 2013 the project received what many believed to be a mortal blow. Madrid lost out on hosting the Olympic Games for a third consecutive time. However, what many people had overlooked was that the project had evolved from an Olympic stadium that could be used to host football, to a football stadium that could be converted to host the Olympics. A crucial element in saving the project's future. Atléti pressed on, and with the cranes on site and the lower tier starting to develop, the shape of the stadium was now beginning to emerge. Of course, the delays and the club's financial predicament have only added to the speculation that the stadium will follow the path of Valencia's Nou Mestalla. There is however a new belief, no doubt assisted by Atléti's renaissance on the pitch, that the stadium will be built and the club's days at the Vicente Calderón are numbered.

Slowly, but surely Atléti is getting there

So, with that positive thought still fresh in our minds, what will the stadium look like? The new build has been designed by Cruz & Ortiz, who were responsible for designing the original Estadio La Peineta back in the early 1990's. The upper tier and basic infrastructure of the original West Tribuna has been kept, reducing cost and nicely breaking any boring symmetry that can be the bane of modern stadia. The remaining three sides will feature four distinct levels. The lower tier will consist of 28 rows and hold approximately 23,000. The next tier will feature 14,000 seats, including VIP seating and access to the Directors lounge. The upper tier will consist of 32 rows on the three new sides as well as incorporating the existing upper tier from the original stadium. This tier will hold just over 30,000. In addition, a mezzanine level will be constructed between levels two & three. This will be a continuous ring around the stadium and house 94 private boxes, providing seating for nearly 1,500 spectators, along with 150 press booths. The final capacity will be around 70,000, all of which will be housed under a twin-ring cantilevered roof, very similar to that at the Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla. The rest of the structure will feature the ubiquitous bars, club museum & shops as well as office space, all increasing non-match day revenue. The pitch dimensions will be identical to that of the Calderón and all UEFA/FIFA Elite stadium requirements will be met. Which is important as the RFEF has submitted a bid for the stadium and Athletic Club's new San Mamés to host matches during Uefa Euro 2020.

No longer a pipe-dream - Atléti plan to be in for the start of 2016-17 season

To be honest, I genuinely doubted that Atléti would get even this far, and whilst there is a long way to go before Los Colchoneros run out on to the turf at the new stadium, there is a belief and growing momentum behind the build. And given the parallels between this project and the development of the Vicente Calderón, you can't help but wonder if the move to the new stadium will herald a new golden era in the club's history. Just as it did when they moved to the south west of Madrid in the 1960's.

This article will be updated with new photographs and news as the build progresses. In the meantime, you can follow the day to day development at this excellent unofficial site.

Let’s be frank, the phrase “Top flight football club from Castile-La Mancha” is rarely used. With the notable exception of Albacete Balompié’s forays into La Primera, clubs from this historic region tend spend their time in the lower reaches the Spanish leagues. That’s not to say that there aren’t stories to tell and sights to see, which is certainly the case in Talavera de la Reina, a town of 90,000 inhabitants, some 120 kilometres south west of Madrid.

El Prado - Fine art Talavera de la Reina style

Senior teams started to emerge from the city in the early 1920’s, the most prominent of which was Club Deportivo Ebora. which was formed in April 1924 and played at the Campo de Santa Clotilde In 1929, a number of smaller clubs joined forces to create Club Deportivo Talavera, which continued to play until the outbreak of the Civil War. After the war, CD Ebora remained the city’s senior team, but in 1948 it helped form Club de Fútbol Talavera. The club chose to play matches closer to the centre of town on a pitch named El Prado, which was just to the north of the city’s bullring. This barely enclosed ground had opened in 1944, but with no terracing and basic facilities, CF Talavera soon moved to CD Ebora’s old home of Santa Clotide.

Meet the ancestors - CD Ebora at the Campo de Santa Clotida

After 15 years at regional level, CF Talavera reached the Tercera for the first time in 1963. It acquitted itself very well, finishing runners-up in 1964-65 and again 1967-68. This saw the team progress to the end of season play-offs for a place in La Segunda, but they fell to SD Eibar in 1965 and Jerez Industrial three years later. Results tailed off and the club spent three seasons back in the Regional Preferente in the early 1970’s. It returned to the Tercera in 1975 and finally earned promotion to Segunda B in 1982. This coincided with a return to a redeveloped El Prado. Two shallow, full length seated stands were built on each side of the pitch, both featuring a narrow cantilevered roof. The stand on the east side of the ground was double-sided, for behind the seats that faced the football pitch, were another set of seats that faced the adjoining tennis courts. An uncovered open terrace was added to the north end of the ground, whilst the southern end was left open.

El Prado after its 1982 refit

CF Talavera's debut season in Segunda B saw an impressive sixth place finish, but results tailed off and after four seasons in the third tier, the club was relegated. Two Tercera titles followed, but a place back in Segunda B was not accomplished until the end of the 1992-93 season. There followed the club's most sustained period of success, which saw 15 consecutive seasons in the third tier. The highlights were two appearances in the play-offs for a place in the second division. The first in 1997, saw the club finish a well beaten second to Real Jaén, but a year later it came desperately close to a place in La Segunda. Leading the play-off group going into the final round of matches, it only had to match CF Málaga's result to earn promotion. Whilst Málaga ran up a convincing 4-1 victory, Talavera could only manage a 1-1 draw away at Beasain. CF Talavera never quite reached those heights again, and although they clung onto its Segunda B status for another 10 seasons (thanks on 2 occasions to wins in the relegation play-offs), it was a story of diminishing returns.

El Prado's oldest and largest exhibit

Whilst things were slowly deteriorating on the pitch, El Prado was about to witness a significant improvement. In 2004 the local municipality approved the funds that would see the conversion to a 5,000 all seat stadium. This would see the addition of 2 seated stands at either end of the ground. Work started on the Fondo Norte in the summer of 2004 and featured 9 rows of blue & seats under a cantilevered roof. The building of the identical Fondo Sur was delayed and even when the structure was completed in 2007, the stand remained unseated for another year. Both existing stands were re-roofed and access ramps were built in each corner of the enclosure. These are housed in screened-off arcs that link the four structures together. New changing rooms, offices & media facilities were added to a new block at the rear of the main west stand. The result of which is simple, effective and surprisingly stylish.

Ready for new challenges... in the Tercera

Regrettably, the re-birth of El Prado coincided with the demise of CF Talavera. After teetering on the edge in the season that saw relegation from Segunda B in 2008, the club plummeted into the abyss in August 2010, folding with debts in excess of €2m. El Prado now has new tenants in the shape of Club de Fútbol Talavera de la Reina, a club formed in 2011 following the merger of Real Talavera and the remnants of CF Talavera. Promotion to the Tercera was achieved in its first season and a second successive promotion was only foiled in the play-offs, when they lost out to Arenas Club de Getxo.

From time to time Twitter can be, well how can I put it... a bit shit. Don't get me wrong, I like Twitter. It can be good and it can be fun. It has also proved extremely useful when promoting this website, and it has put me in touch with thousands of people who share my passion for Spanish stadia. However, you can't believe everything you read. A point in case is the recent tweeting of the photograph pictured below.

Not the Camp Nou. Not 1909. But it is Barcelona

A couple of well established accounts that have hundreds of thousands of followers published this picture, saying that it was Barcelona at the Camp Nou in 1909. As you can imagine, this prompted an incredulous cry of "Bollocks!". As we all know, the Camp Nou was not even opened until 1957 and to pass this picture off as genuine was just lazy. So if it isn't the Camp Nou, where is it and when was the photograph taken? Well the picture does feature Barcelona, but it is not one of their former homes. It is in fact the Estadi Catalá, later renamed the Camp de Foixarda, which was built on the site of an old quarry on Montjuic. The picture is from the official opening which took place on 24 December 1921, and featured two matches between Barcelona & Sparta Prague. Now that we have cleared that up, let me tell you a little more about the Estadi Catalá.

Whoosh! Ricardo Zamora clears for Barça against Sparta Prague

As Barcelona expanded rapidly at the start of the twentieth century, the city's elders soon realised the need for an open area of parkland which would feature at its heart a stadium. A number of sites were proposed, including one on the Diagonal. Eventually it was the Mayor of Barcelona, Manel Rius and President of the Catalan Athletics Federation Àlvar Presta, who formed a committee, the principle purpose of which was to build the City's first sports park. Indeed, it was Manel Rius who sent a letter in May 1917 to the President of International Olympic Committee, Pierre de Coubertin, requesting that Barcelona be considered as host city for the 1924 Olympiad. Barcelona's Olympic bid was presented to the IOC in September 1920, but back home, plans for the development on the Diagonal hit the rails. However, the quest for a new stadium continued, and on 15 January 1921, Architect Jaume Mestres presented plans for a stadium on the site of a disused quarry on Montjuic.

Opening Time - But this was as good as it got for the Estadi Catalá

Mestres plans were certainly grandiose. The stadium would hold 50,000 using banking on the landscaped sides of the quarry. The northern side would feature a main grandstand with a large central gable. Seating, private palcos (booths), bars and offices would sit under the propped roof, whilst the stadium's entrance would feature an "Arc de Triomphe". 14,000 tonnes of earth and rubble needed to be excavated and by 10 April 1921, work had progressed enough to allow the first unofficial match at the site. A team of architects met another formed by journalists, with the architects prevailing by 6 goals to 3. There was a problem however. Two weeks earlier, the IOC had informally decided to choose de Coubertin's home city of Paris to stage the 1924 Olympics, a decision officially confirmed on 2 June 1921. Unsurprisingly momentum on the build was lost, but work had progressed enough to stage an official opening at the partially completed and newly named Estadi Catalá on Christmas Eve 1921. 32,000 spectators crowded into the arena, many clinging to the unfinished sides of the quarry. They watched Barcelona and Sparta Prague stage two matches, with Sparta winning the first 3-2, whilst Barça were victors of the second, by 2 goals to nil.

Call it the Estadi Catalá or Foixarda. Just don't call it the Camp Nou

That was as good as it got for the Estadi Catalá. Espanyol negotiated a short-term lease to use the stadium in October 1924, after work on the new grandstand at Sarriá was delayed, but never actually played a game there. The city of Barcelona did not allocate any more funds and the unfinished stadium soon fell into disrepair. In 1929, the Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic opened just 500 metres to the east and took on the mantel of Barcelona's sporting white elephant. After the Civil War, the Estadi Catalá was (not unsurprisingly) renamed the Estadio Fiuxarda and in 1951, the site was converted into a small stadium to host rugby union. The stadium still hosts rugby, and now goes by the name of Camp Municipal de Rugby La Foixarda.

Home of the Egg-chasers - Camp Municipal de Rugby La Foixarda

You can read a more detailed account of the trials & tribulations of Foixarda/Estadi Catalá here. Now, I wonder if any of those reputable Twitter accounts pushing historical photos, are interested in my picture of John the Baptist on the Moon?

Hang out the bunting and book a marching band! I bring news of a new Spanish stadium! Actually it’s not that new and before I get too carried away, its development has resulted in the loss of one of my favourite old stands. Mixed emotions then. The stadium in question, the Estadio Ciudad de Alcalá, opened in May 2011 in Alcalá de Guadaíra. Alcalá is now effectively a suburb of Sevilla, but for many years it was a town in its own right, some 10 kilometres south west of the centre of the capital of Andalucía.

Ooh new ...ish - The Estadio Ciudad de Alcalá

Despite its close proximity to Sevilla, it was not until the mid 1930's that a senior team emerged from Alcalá. Several clubs joined the Federación Sur after the Civil War, but all failed to make an impact, so in 1945 a proposal was made in the local press to form a select team. Founded on 13 October 1945, Club Deportivo Alcalá set up home at the Campo de Santa Lucia and within a couple of years had progressed to the Primera Regional. Over the next 15 seasons, CD Alcalá became something of a stalwart of the Regional Andaluza, but failed on a number of occasions to make the step up to the Tercera. Perhaps buoyed by the prospect of a new stadium, the club finally earned promotion to the Tercera in June 1965. CD Alcalá debuted in the Tercera and at their new Estadio de La Victoria on 12 September 1965, earning a 1-1 draw with CD San Fernando. The stay in the Tercera lasted 5 seasons, with a high finish of sixth in season 67-68. However, restructuring of leagues in 1970 saw CD Alcalá demoted to the Regional Preferente, despite finishing eleventh out of 20.

A gem - The old old main stand at the Francisco Bono

It would take a further 12 seasons for CD Alcalá to return to the Tercera, and in the meantime, the Estadio de La Victoria was renamed the Campo Municipal Francisco Bono, in honour of the club president in 1974. Alcalá returned to the Tercera in 1981 for a three year spell, but following a disastrous 1983-84 campaign, they dropped back to the Regional Preferente where they would remain for the next 17 seasons. Their return to the Tercera in 2001 was followed two seasons later with their first Tercera title. Alcalá successfully clocked-up play-off victories over UP Plasencia & Club Hellin Deportivo to secure a place in Segunda B. For its debut in the third tier, the club’s Francisco Bono home was given a make-over, which was more nip & tuck than reconstructive surgery. The old, raised main stand that had stood on the south side of the ground since opening in 1965, was given a new roof, a liberal coat of white paint and 150 bucket seats, which were installed in front of the directors box. A narrow terrace was built at the eastern end of the enclosure, whilst the wide steps of northern terrace were painted in the club’s blue & white colours. A short cover was erected in the south west corner, close to a squat tower that stood closed to the main entrance. Nothing dramatic, but perfectly respectable. As was Alcalá’s form in a first season that saw them record a 15^thplace finish. The club also drew Real Betis in the Copa del Rey, eventually losing on penalties after drawing 0-0 after 120 minutes. That home tie with Betis drew a crowd of 6,000 to the Francisco Bono.

The Estadio Municipal Francisco Bono in 2007

Three further seasons in Segunda B saw Alcalá record a high finish of eighth in 2005-06, before dropping back to the Tercera in June 2008. A second Tercera title followed in 2010, with promotion gained following 3-2 victory over C.D. Corralejo in play-offs. However, whilst the club returned to the third tier, the Estadio Francisco Bono did not. The local municipality was already committed to redeveloping the site, so for the majority of the 2010-11 season, Alcalá upped sticks and played their home games at El Viso del Alcor, some 10 miles to the north east. Finally on Sunday 8 May 2011, Alcalá returned home when they played host to Puertollano in the first game at the new Estadio Ciudad de Alcalá. It was the penultimate game of what had been an unsuccessful season, but here was a chance to go out on a high. Alcalá’s defender Nani had the distinction of scoring the first official goal at the new stadium, but unfortunately for him, it was in his own net. Alcalá trailed 0-3 at half-time, but rallied in the second half to earn a 3-3 draw. A week later and a 3-1 defeat away at promotion chasing Sevilla Atletico, consigned Alcalá and their new stadium to the Tercera.

The small but perfectly formed new main stand

Funded to the tune of €2.4m by the local municipality and the Junta de Andalucía, the new Estadio Ciudad de Alcalá may occupy the same land, but it is unrecognisable from the old Estadio Francisco Bono. Work commenced in May 2010 and after the old structures were raised to the ground and the site lowered, the orientation of the field was rotated by 90 degrees. The new artificial pitch runs from north to south, with the main stand now situated on the west side. This west side features a low central cantilevered cover, underneath which are 251 seats. Either side are two banks of open seating, which has a combined capacity of 594. The west side also houses media booths, club offices, bars and a gymnasium. The east side of the stadium has 1416 seats arranged on an open bank, with a wide concourse at the rear. This area has been designed to allow up to 1000 additional seats to be added, should the need arise. Clever use of semi-opaque sheets allow light to flood in in at either end of the stadium, whilst stopping any possibility of a free view. The sheets have also been used to clad the four floodlight towers, which stand on the eighteen yard line, rather than the corners of the site. Functional and pleasing on the eye, the Estadio Ciudad de Alcalá has drawn attention and admirers from across town. In February 2014, Real Betis trained on the pitch ahead of their Europa League tie away to Rubin Kazan.

the East Fondo at the Estadio Ciudad de Alcalá

Good news everybody! Jamie McGregor is back with another article looking at the grounds of Asturias. Jamie is responsible for the English version of UC Ceares website. You can follow Jamie on Twitter - @jamiewmcgregor

Two weeks ago Club Deportivo Lealtad became the first team in the Asturian Tercera División to secure a play off place. Located in the town of a Villaviciosa, CD Lealtad (Spanish for Loyalty) has spent most of its 98 year history in the lower categories of Spanish football. Their biggest success came in the 1997/98 season, when under the stewardship of Marcelino García Toral (current Villarreal coach), the club gained promotion to Segunda B. Their stay in the third tier lasted just the one season, after they finished bottom with 9 wins and 36 points. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about Lealtad is their striking black and white strip which is reminiscent of Brazilian side Vasco da Gama.

Life in the slow lane - Las Callejas (Fotos @jamiewmcgregor)

Lealtad play their home matches at the Campo Municipal de Las Callejas, a basic ground with a capacity of 3,000 on the northern edge of town. Las Callejas has only one small seated stand on the southern side of the pitch. 30 metres in length, its green cantilevered roof hangs over four rows of bench seating. The remaining three sides of the stadium are made up of hard standing. Like any decent ground at this level, Las Callejas has a bar where you can grab a beer while watching the match. While the bar is one of the more recent additions, the dressing rooms for the players and officials, located next door to the bar, are one of the original features of the ground. The pitch itself is a natural surface although it's not the flattest.

What is your local sports centre like? A couple of badminton courts, a five-a-side pitch and a gym full of complicated equipment? Maybe you’re lucky and there’s a swimming pool overlooked by a café? The sort of café that sells you the food that will pile on the calories you've just earnestly burnt off. Whatever the set up, I bet it’s not a patch on a community sports centre you’ll find in Pamplona’s San Juan district.

Now that's what I call a sports centre

Founded in 1962, Agrupación Deportiva San Juan was the brainchild of several residents of the Casas de Eguaras. 50 years on and it has 11,000 members who enjoy, practise and compete in 14 different sports, including a football team in the fourth tier of the Spanish league system. The football section has been there from the start, finally emerging from the local & regional leagues to reach the Tercera in 1986. Thirteen seasons of, well, not very much followed. AD San Juan usually fought off relegation, occasionally reached mid-table, and very occasionally, 1989-90 to be precise, reached the top four. The club dropped back to the regional leagues at the turn of the century, and remained there for six of the next seven seasons.

New stadium and new start for AD San Juan

AD San Juan’s return to the Tercera in 2007 saw a marked improvement in form. Now playing in a swanky new ground, the club clocked-up five successive top half finishes, before claiming their first Tercera title in 2013. Unfortunately, their first experience of the play-offs was not a happy one. They lost in the Campeones round to Madrid-based Puerta Bonita (0-1 on aggregate) before succumbing to Compostela 1-4 on aggregate in the semi-final round. The Tercera title also earned them a place in to 2014 Copa del Rey, where they were drawn away to Burgos, losing 1-3 after extra time. For much of the 2013-14 season, AD San Juan looked to be on track to retain their Tercera title. They remained unbeaten for the first 37 fixtures of the season. If they could avoid defeat in their final fixture away at Osasuna B, they would join an elite group of six other clubs who had completed a Spanish league campaign unbeaten. Regrettably, it was not to be. AD San Juan’s 1-0 loss coupled with rivals Izarra winning 7-1, inflicted a double disappointment. No unbeaten season and no league title.

Campo de San Juan in 2013

The facilities provided at San Juan are hugely impressive and would be the pride of a city twice the size of Pamplona. Spread over 65,000m² in the western suburbs, the site has a myriad of sporting facilities. Swimming pools stand next to tennis courts, martial arts are practiced next to the very Basque sport of Pelota, whilst the southern side is dominated by an indoor arena. However, it is the football stadium that catches (this) eye. Built in 2006 at the western end of the complex, the Campo de San Juan is a single-stand enclosure, featuring a bright, full length cantilevered tribuna on the northern side. Beneath its roof sit 500 green seats arranged in four rows, which straddle the halfway line and run to each penalty area. At either end of the stand are two pods, the eastern one of which houses the changing facilities. Hard standing surrounds the other three sides of the artificial pitch, raising the capacity to 1500.

Jamie McGregor continues his look at the grounds of Asturias with a visit to the west of region. Jamie is responsible for the English version of UC Ceares website. You can follow Jamie on Twitter - @jamiewmcgregor

After Lealtad, the second team to make into the 2013-14 promotion play offs where Club Deportivo Praviano. Hailing from the town of Pravia, some 30 miles west of Gijón, Praviano has spent all of their 65 year existence in the lower categories of Spanish football. Their golden period came in the 1960's, when having won the Tercera title in 1966, they played Racing Ferrol in a promotion play off for a place in La Segunda. Unfortunately, their Galician rivals had their measure, winning the tie 8-1 on aggregate. Since then, well not a lot to be honest. This year's fourth placed finish is the club's highest finish in the succeeding 48 years.

Estadio Santa Catalina

The club play their home matches at the Estadio Santa Catalina which belongs to the local council and has an official capacity of 3,000. Most of those attending games use the large covered stand along the northern side of the ground. It is mainly a standing terrace although there are some seats in the central section. At the western end of this terrace is the obligatory Tercera Division bar. The opposite side of the pitch also has a small standing terrace, as does the area behind the western goal. The dressing rooms and offices are situated in a separate building behind the same goal. The pitch is natural grass and there are floodlights, however they are not strong enough to be used for official matches and are limited to evening training sessions. Pravia's town crest features six crows, which also features on the club badge, hence Praviano's nickname of the crows.

Barcelona and its satellite towns have to be the number one location in Europe to feed a stadium addiction. In addition to the major attractions such as the Camp Nou, Estadi Olimpic and the Estadi Cornellá-El Prat, there are countless smaller stadiums dotted throughout the suburbs. Of course, an added bonus of visiting Barcelona’s “Big Three” stadiums is the addition of a smaller stadium next door. You will no doubt be aware that the Mini Estadi is but a drop-kick away from the Camp Nou, and you may have heard of the Camp de Foixarda, some 500m from the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic. The latest addition to the list is UE Cornellá’s Nou Camp Municipal, which stands in the shadow of Espanyol’s multi-million-euro home.

Two for one. I do like a bargain

Before we cast our eyes over their new stadium, let me give you a potted history of the resident club. Unió Esportiva Cornellà was founded in 1951 following the merger of Fútbol Club Cornellà, Atlètic Padró and Acadèmia Junyent. For the next 45 years, the club kicked its heels in the lower reaches of the Catalan regional leagues, never playing above the sixth tier of the national pyramid. UE Cornellá finally reached the Regional Preferente in 1996, earning promotion to the Tercera three years later. That first season in the Tercera saw the club finish fourth and enter the play-offs, and whilst the club earned a creditable third place finish, it was not enough to earn promotion. Over the next decade, UE Cornellá could not match the success of that initial season, returning to the Regional Preferente on two occasions. Results improved following their promotion back to the Tercera in 2008, with the club reaching the play-offs for a second time in 2013. They lost to Deportivo La Coruña’s B team in the first knockout stage, but undeterred, UE Cornella secured its first Tercera title in May 2014. They then went on to win promotion to Segunda B with victory over CD Izarra in the play-offs.

A new home and now designs on a new division (Foto UE Cornellá)

Prior to their move to the new stadium, UE Cornellá played matches at the Municipal de la Vía Férrea. Suited around 750m north of their current home, Via Férrea now plays host to the club’s successful football school, a system that has seen Jordi Alba come through its ranks. The only spectator accommodation is a single Tribuna on the northern side of the enclosure, which stands uptight to the railway lines from which the ground takes its name. A simple cantilevered cover is bolted to the back wall and hangs over five rows of seats and a rear viewing gallery. The stand has a capacity of 1000. On the southern side of the ground is the club’s football school, a smart semi-circular building which runs from the west corner to the halfway line. The western end has a small area of hard standing, whilst a grass terrace occupies the eastern end. The First XI played their final match at Vía Férrea on 13 May 2012, beating Pobla de Mafumet by a goal to nil.

The Railway Children - Cornellá's Football school at Via Férrea

On 26 August 2012, UE Cornellá played host to FC Santboià in the first official match at the Nou Camp Municipal. Midfielder Luis had the honour of scoring the first goal at the new stadium, as the hosts romped to a 4-0 victory. The new stadium was built at a cost of €7m and stands less than 20m from the western edge of Espanyol’s Estadi Cornellá-El Prat. It is a single-stand enclosure, with the only tribuna seating 1500 over six rows of green seats. The cover is just over 80 metres long and features a propped cantilevered roof, with the space behind the props housing offices, bars & catering facilities. This ensures that that all the seating and the rear balcony have an unimpeded view of the playing area. A latest generation artificial surface has been installed (a de rigueur requirement for the majority of new small stadium builds) along with 2 Fútbol 7 pitches.

Sleek, smart, but rather staid

All very practical, tidy and financially sensible, but it doesn’t get the pulse racing like its sexier and more buxom neighbour. However, there is a sense of home, emphasised by the fact that the new stadium practically overlaps the site of the old Estadi Les Aigües, UE Cornella’s home before they moved to Vía Férrea.

It’s been a long time coming. 89 years to be precise, but in September 2014, Sociedad Deportiva Leioa will become the latest, in what seems to be a never-ending line of small Basque clubs to reach Segunda B. Founded in 1925, SD Leioa didn’t even reach the Tercera until 2008. However, the club made steady progress in the succeeding six seasons, culminating in a first Tercera title in May 2014. Promotion to Spain’s third tier was secured thanks to a crushing 7-1 aggregate play-off victory over CD Varea.

Welcome to Sarriena. Welcome to Segunda B

SD Leioa joined the Federación Vizcaína de Fútbol in 1925, winning the second division crown in 1935. The senior team fell into decline after the Civil War and was disbanded in the early 1950’s. Left to concentrate on youth football and the wide variety of other sports practiced at the club, it would take another 20 years before it would field a senior team. When senior football did return, the club played at a variety of locations including the Campo de San Ignacio and a dirt pitch at the Universidad del País Vasco. Finally, in 1979, the club moved to Sarriena, a municipal sports development just to the north of Leoia. This also featured a dirt surface until 1988, when the first grass pitch was laid down and Athletic Club’s reserves played SD Leioa in a pre-season friendly.

Sarriena in 2008

Sarriena has 4 football pitches, with SD Leioa playing its home matches on the only one with natural turf. A simple 40 metre-long cover that dates from the early 1990’s stands on the west side of the ground. Its short cantilevered roof hangs over a couple of rows of red bucket seats. Far more interesting is the east side which features the former pavilion, which sits atop a grass bank, halfway between the centre-circle and the southern end of the enclosure. This has been superseded by an altogether more impressive structure on the halfway line. In 2010, the club & municipality built a two-tiered club house that includes changing facilities and club rooms. It also features a viewing gallery on its upper floor, underneath which stands a narrow terrace. Floodlights were also added as part of the 2010 improvements.

Sarriena's new club house

Despite its semi-rural setting, Sarriena has become a bit of a fortress, with SD Leoia losing just a solitary home fixture in each of the past two seasons. With crowds that rarely exceed a few hundred, Sarriena’s capacity of 1,000 is unlikely to be tested too severely when it debuts in Segunda B.

Deep in the Galician countryside lies the small village of Somozas. Now, before you build too romantic a picture of its location, let me inform you that this is no rural idyll. Somozas is a dominated by a huge recycling plant, whilst the 350 metre-high chimney of Spain’s largest power station, looms large on its southern horizon. But where there is muck, there is brass, and one of the beneficiaries of this investment in the local economy is the local football club, Union Deportiva Somozas.

Going Green has proved profitable for Somozas

UD Somozas in a relatively new club, founded in 1984, around the time that the recycling industry came to "town”. Soon, the money generated by the major industrial estate filtered into the local economy. Some of this money was invested in Las Pardiñas, the council owned football ground. After nine years of working its way through the lower reaches of the Galician leagues, UD Somozas reached the Tercera in 1993, and they hung around the lower reaches for six seasons, before finishing bottom in 1999. Unfortunately, the club was unable to settle its outstanding debts and was demoted to the sixth tier. They returned to the Tercera in 2008 and achieved steady, if unspectacular results over the next five years. That changed in 2013-14, when the club won its first Tercera title. Despite losing to Real Valladolid B in the Campones play-off, they earned promotion to Segunda B with play-off victories over San Sebastian de los Reyes & Tenerife B.

All change - Pardiñas in 2003 & as work starts in2009

The drive behind the club's success was Manuel Candocia Ramos, club president and mayor of Somozas. Under Ramos' watch Las Pardiñas was transformed from a basic enclosure with a dirt pitch, into an impressive if somewhat quirky stadium. Work started on the current lay out ahead of the club's return to the Tercera in 2008. First XI fixtures were moved to a new grass pitch to the south of the enclosure, and the main stand and club facilities were opened in 2009. This stand runs from west to east and ends abruptly just past the halfway line. It houses 200 seats and press facilities under a cantilevered roof, which is linked to a smaller cantilevered cover that serves the southern end of a full-size artificial surface. This pitch was installed in 2009 and runs at 90 degrees to the old dirt surface. The changing facilities are built into the bank that separates the two playing areas. Sadly, Ramos never got to see his club's greatest achievement, dying on 19 January 2014 following heart attack suffered at a fixture with CCD Cerceda.

Cut-off in its prime - Las Pardiñas' main stand

The UD Somozas story has many parallels with that of CCD Cerceda. Both hail from small villages and both clubs & their communities have benefited from the money generated in the local industry. Both have Tercera championships to their name, but where Cerceda has failed to navigate the promotion play-offs on 11 occasions, UD Somozas enjoyed beginners luck to reach Spain's third tier.

Whilst the city of Astorga has a long and rich history, which you can trace back over the millennia, its footballing heritage has much shallower roots. 1944 to be precise, when the current club’s predecessor, also called Atlético Astorga, was founded.

The Lions of León & La Eragudina

Atlético Astorga mk.1 never played above the Tercera, and after a particularly troublesome 1965-66 season which saw relegation from the Tercera, it folded in the summer of 1968. It would be another four years before a new club would emerge, and taking the name of its less than illustrious predecessor, it made short work of the lower reaches of the Castile-León leagues. After a five year spell in the Regional Preferente, Atlético debuted in the Tercera in 1980. They spent 18 of the next 21 seasons in the fourth tier, finishing second in 1991-92. Reaching the play-offs was not a happy experience however, with the club losing five of its six matches in the mini-league format. Fortunes dipped at the turn of the century and Atlético spent seven seasons back in the Regional Preferente, before returning to the Tercera in 2008.

La Eraguidina - The Marquis of Astorga's former patch

Under the guidance of Sagrario González García, one of the league’s growing number of female presidents, Atlético made steady progress, culminating in another second-place finish in 2013-14. They disposed on Binessalem in the first round of the play-offs, before pulling off a remarkable turnaround against CD Mensajero. Trailing 0-4 from the first leg in the Canary Islands, Atlético won the second leg 4-0, then held their nerve to win on penalties. Their place in Segunda B was secured after a tense away-goals victory over Cantabrian-side CD Laredo.

All dressed-up and now Astorga has somewhere to go

Home games are played at the Campo Municipal La Eragudina. This lies on parkland to the south of the city, which was bequeathed to the city’s folk by the Marquis of Astorga. Surrounded by housing on two sides, and the Rio Jerga on a third, the enclosure’s only access is on Pasaje la Eragudina. From this vantage point, the ground promises much. Tall, emerald green cladding runs for over 50 metres from the north-west corner to behind western goal. Surely this is the back of a modern, all seated stand? Well, no. Walk into the ground and you will see that it is just 50 metres of cladding! There is a short cover suspended from it, and new club offices are tucked away in the corner. La Eragudina’s main feature is a 60 metre-long cantilevered stand along its northern side. Dating from 1983, this cover houses four rows of green seats and a central media booth, which would cause severe trauma to a cat, were you to swing one around whilst in residence.

One of the more simple pleasures of Segunda B

Hard standing makes up the remain three sides to take La Eraguidina’s capacity to 2,000, although temporary seating was installed on the southern section during the successful 2013-14 campaign. Behind this seating is the club’s new dressing rooms. Opened in December 2011 at a cost of €400,00, it features two large changing rooms for the players, facilities for the match officials and a laundry room. All very nice, but given the harsh winters experienced in this part of Spain, you would think the fans deserve a little more in the way of shelter. And no, I don’t mean more pointless cladding.

Anybody whose interest in Spanish football extends beyond the bright lights of La Liga will be aware of AD Alcorcón. They’re that small club from just outside Madrid. You know Alcorcón? They’ve been knocking on the door of the top flight recently. Contenders, but always falling just short. Well, I bring news of another team from Madrid’s 1960’s super-suburb: Trival Valderas.

Trival Valderas - New-ish Kids on the Block

Club de Fútbol Trival Valderas Alcorcón is an amalgam, formed in 2004 by the fusion of two clubs from the northern districts of Alcorcón. One, AP Tri-Val was on the way up. The other, Unión Deportiva de San José de Valderas, was heading rapidly in the opposite direction. They had been rivals, playing each other as recently as 2002 in Madrid’s Primera Regional. Following formation, Trival Valderas took over the place in the Regional Preferente earned by AP Tri-Val at the end of the 2003-04 season. The relationship was not an immediate success, as the club finished bottom of the league and dropped back into Madrid’s Regional Primera at the end of their first season. Undeterred, Trival Valderas regrouped. They won promotion back to the Regional Preferente in 2007, and made it to the Tercera in 2009.

La Canaleja - Basic & Unembellished

An impressive first season in the Tercera, saw the club finish 4th in the league and qualify for the end of season play-offs. They were paired with Yeclano Deportivo and things seemed to be going according to their wildest plans, when they won the first leg 2-0. Unfortunately, the wheels came off in the second leg, and Yeclano ran out 5-1 winners. Trival Valderas finished runners-up in Group VII of the Tercera in 2013, but again fell in the play-offs. This time the youngsters of Granada’s B team had their number. The club won their first Tercera title in 2014, and ultimately earned a place in Segunda B. The route was rather convoluted however. They lost to Zaragoza B in the Campones section, before overcoming UC Ceares and Arenas Club de Getxo to reach Spain’s third tier.

Suburban simplicity - La Canaleja's five steps & a roof

Home games are held at the Campo de La Canaleja, a rather non-descript single-stand enclosure at the northern end of Alcorcón. Owned by the municipality and sitting within a larger sports complex, La Canaleja sits uptight to a slip road that links the M-40 and M-50 motorways. Its prominent feature is a covered stand on the west side of the ground. Made up of five rows of concrete benching, it runs the full length of the pitch, tapering away at either end, as the benching makes way for steps. 18 shallow cantilevered struts stand at the back of the structure, on which sits a simple corrugated roof. Advertisements fill the voids between each strut. The only other buildings of note are the changing facilities and a small bar on the east side. Ho-hum.

I really want Socuéllamos to be the sort of town where you could find a Charles Bronson-type character, just sat playing his harmonica as you arrive at the railway station. In reality it is just another small town on the La Mancha plain, where years will pass and not a great deal will happen. 90 years have passed since Unión Deportiva Socuéllamos was formed, but out of keeping with its surroundings, something rather special has just occurred.

New Men from La Mancha

Formed in July 1924, UD Socuéllamos spent the first forty years of its existence playing in the lower reaches of the regional leagues, with opposition made up of teams from the west of La Mancha and Madrid. They first reached the Tercera in 1963, and a few top half finishes were achieved before dropping back into obscurity six years later. It would take another 22 years for UD Socuellamos to return to the Tercera, but since 1990, they have been practically ever present. The few occasions when they have dropped into the Regional Preferente have seen a swift return, usually with the league title their name.

Estadio Paquito Jiménez - Re-fitted & ready for the 2013-14 season

The club’s most recent regional title was achieved in June 2013, and it would have been fair to assume that the patterns of the previous two decades in the Tercera would follow. Namely, several years of treading water, not really bothering either end of the table. Well, nothing could have been further from the truth. Nine wins in the first twelve fixtures saw UD Socuéllamos firmly entrenched in the promotion places, a position they never relinquished, finally finishing runners-up to CD Puertollano. The play-offs saw the club first beat Praviano 2-1 on aggregate, before a 2-0 win over CE Europa was secured in the next round. The final round paired them with Linares, and after a 2-1 victory in the home leg, UD Socuellamos hung on to a 0-0 draw to secure promotion to Segunda B.

Open to the elements - Estadio Paquito Jiménez in the early 1960's

This season of unparallelled success was played out at the Estadio Paquito Jiménez, the club’s home since 1960. Situated on the south-eastern outskirts of town, the stadium has undergone a few transformations. It was originally a square-sided enclosure with four narrow terraces around a dirt pitch. The stadium received a considerable makeover in 2002, when its end terraces were removed to make way for an athletics track. A basic propped cantilevered cover was added over the west terrace and a new changing block was built on the east side. The 2002 re-fit also saw the town’s first artificial surface was installed.

West Side Storey - Paquito Jiménez's only cover

A new artificial pitch was installed in August 2013 and the west stand gain blue & white bucket seats, whilst the changing block received a makeover. The club and the local council have committed to the building of a 400-seat temporary stand on the east side which will also include new media facilities. This will raise the capacity of this perfectly respectable provincial ground to 2400. Perfectly suited for these Men from La Mancha, as they go into battle with some real giants of Segunda B.

Any stadium that has the unofficial title of Wolf Ravine (Barranco del Lobo) has immediately won me over. When you learn that the official name is magnificently grandiose (Campo Nuestra Señora de la Caridad or Virgin of the Charity) and that the enclosure is easily as quirky as either of its names, then I’m like a randy tom that’s fallen into a barrel of catnip. However, before I prematurely articulate about this fantastic little stadium, let’s have a look at its occupants, Club Polideportivo Villarrobledo.

Barranco del Lobo - A howling success in my eyes

Football had been played in this town on the La Mancha plain since the 1920’s, with the focal points being the Campo de Sedano and the Campo de San Antón. By the mid-1950’s the town’s main club, Villarobledo Fútbol Jugadores, had established themselves in the Primera Regional Castellana. San Antón was extremely basic, and so the town council agreed to fund the building of a new stadium. They chose the site of the aforementioned Barranco del Lobo, a makeshift quarry just to the north of the town centre, and worked commenced in the spring of 1957.

Wolf Ravine - One big hole in the ground

The driving force behind the new build was Emiliano Rubio Sevilla, a building contractor and councillor for public works. Over the course of the next year work continued on filling in the quarry, constructing a level field and building terraces up to the level of the surrounding streets. The stadium officially opened on 19 March 1958 and cost the local municipality 375,000 pesetas. On 15 June 1958, Villarrobledo Fútbol Jugadores won promotion to the Tercera. It would be their last act, as in the summer the club was wound up, and a new team and constitution was drawn up in the name of Club Deportivo Villarrobledo. The new club took the place in the Tercera its predecessor had earned and continued its good work.

A new ground & a new beginning for the Campo Nuestra Señora de la Caridad

CD Villarrobledo first ever season saw them finish runners-up to Calvo Sotelo in the Tercera, and enter the play-offs for a place in La Segunda. Linares was disposed of 3-2 on aggregate and hopes were high when Jerez CD was beaten 2-0 at the Nuestra Señora de la Caridad. Unfortunately, an 8-1 reverse in the second leg temporarily halted their Segunda ambitions. Villarrobledo finished third the following season, but returned to the play-offs a year later, after finishing runners-up to Calvo Sotelo once again. Real Avilés were disposed of and, in an act of revenge, so were Jerez CD, before CD Castellón were beaten 3-1 on Aggregate. Just three years after formation, Villarrobledo had reached La Segunda

History Boys - The 1960-61 squad that won promotion to La Segunda.

The 1961-62 season saw the second division split into North & South divisions, with Villarobledo joining 15 other clubs in the southern section. There is little point in dressing-up their debut and to date, only season in the second tier. Villarrobledo endured a torrid time, winning just four matches and gaining a paltry 12 points. Every away fixture was lost and the club was relegated with three games to play. With their spirit well and truly broken, Villarrobledo lost those final three fixtures, conceding 20 goals in the process. Six seasons in the Tercera followed, before the club was relegated to the Regional Preferente in 1968. The club lay dormant for a couple of seasons, before reforming as Club Polideportivo Villarrobledo in 1971. Starting from scratch, CP Villarrobledo joined the Murcian Federation and made steady progress through the regional leagues, before earning promotion to the Tercera in 1980. And here they have remained. Never troubled by relegation in the succeeding three decades, often pushing for promotion, and occasionally reaching the play-offs for Segunda B. The club won its first Tercera title in 2012, but fell in the play-offs for a tenth time.

Time seems to have stood still which is no bad thing

So let us venture into Wolf Ravine, or Campo Nuestra Señora de la Caridad if you prefer. The streets around the ground offer-up few clues that there is a football ground on the other side of the white-washed walls. Sure, you can see the floodlights, but only the top of the masts, such is the depth of this practically subterranean wonder. Once inside Villarrobledo's home, you are presented with a series of idiosyncratic treats. Lets start with the only cover, a full length stand on the west side of the enclosure. Six rows of red & blue bucket seats are bolted to the original wide terracing. These run from the south west corner to the edge of the northern penalty box. The cover is held up by dozens of thin Meccano-like props, and dates from the mid-1970's, but it looks much older.

Wolf! Wolf!

The northern end of the ground is an amazing mix of steps and greenery, which look more like the terraces of a steep garden, than those of a football ground. Behind the northern goal is a beautifully manicured grass bank which features the club crest. The eastern terrace is the most uniform section of the ground, with six wide steps of open terracing. These steps run around the south east corner and link up with southern terrace. The club's offices and changing rooms sit atop this terrace, and pitch access is gained through two rows of privet hedges. Finally, as if to emphasize the fact that you are pretty much in the middle of La Mancha, just opposite the southern entrance is a statue of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The Spanish U-21 side paid a visit on 9 October 1999, beating Israel 2-1 in a UEFA qualifier. The Campo Nuestra Señora de la Caridad is the complete antithesis of everything that you will find in a modern stadium, and I love it!

All photos courtesy of cpvillarrobledo.com

Laudio - Ellakuri

Olot - Estadi Municipal d'Olot

Granada - Campo Miguel Prieto Garcia

El Palo - Estadio Nuevo San Ignacio

Córdoba - Ciudad Deportiva Rafael Gómez

Elche - Estadio Díez Iborra (Ciudad Deportiva)

Welcome to Estadios de Fútbol en España

La Posada de Llanes - La Corredoria

Vilagarcia de Arousa - A Lomba

Calahorra - Polideportivo Municipal La Planilla

Marbella - Estadio Municipal de Marbella

Madrid - Estadio La Peineta / Nuevo Estadio del Club Atlético de Madrid

Talavera de la Reina - El Prado

Barcelona - Estadi Catalá / Camp de Foixarda

Alcalá de Guadaíra - Estadio Ciudad de Alcalá

Villaviciosa - Campo Las Callejas

Pamplona - San Juan

Pravia - Estadio Santa Catalina

Barcelona - Nou Camp Municipal de Cornellá

Leoia - Campo de Sarriena

Somozas - Campo Municipal de Pardiñas

Astorga - Campo Municipal La Eragudina

Alcorcón - Campo de La Canaleja

Socuéllamos - Estadio Paquito Jiménez

Villarrobledo - Campo Nuestra Señora de la Caridad