Segunda B (Grupo 4) preview 2010/11: Part 3

I return from my break in España with tales of a bizarre pre-season tournament nature, but that’ll have to wait for a few days. It’s the ‘big kick-off’ on Sunday (August 29th) and it’s about time you were acquainted with the remaining sides battling it out for Segunda B glory.

Actually, I told a little fib there. Cádiz started their season yesterday, with a Copa del Rey First Round tie up in the outskirts of Madrid where I’m delighted to say they thrashed Tercera División AD Parla 5-1. Los Amarillos’ new midfield signing Fernando Velasco hit a hat-trick (and rather charitably, an own goal) against the side Rafa Benítez once had spell with as a player. This sets up a meeting with L'Hospitalet at the Carranza in the next round.

Unión Deportiva Melilla

Formed: 1943 (Reformed 1976)
Ground: Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro (12,000)

Last season: 2nd

Look like: Chesterfield

Unión Deportiva Melilla are (along with AD Cueta) based in an autonomous Spanish city joined to Morocco on the North African coast. Which could quite possibly add it to the list of clubs that are ‘always a tough place to go’. By that I mean no offense to any Moroccan readers, as the only tangible criteria for grounds to be described as such by visiting managers/players is to simply have recorded a recent victory there – be it at Besiktas or Brechin - regardless of the home team’s current form.

The origins of UD Melilla go back to 1943 when the club was formed through the merging of Deportivo Español, Melilla FC and Juventud Deportiva, although this incarnation only lasted for 13 years. After reforming in the mid-seventies the club finally reached Segunda B in 1987 were they have been firmly entrenched ever since.

They missed out in the 98/99 promotion play-offs and again last season, to the elaborately titled Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Club de Fútbol (The Las Palmas University team). So, it’ll be interesting to see whether UD Melilla can bounce back from the disappointment of having their season ruined by a bunch of students.

Lucena CF

Formed: 1968
Ground: Estadio Municipal de Lucena (6,000)

Last season: 6th
Look like: Wycombe Wanderers

Lucena CF are looking forward to their fourth successive season in Segunda B after clinching promotion from the Tercera División in 06/07 by overcoming AD Fundación Logroñés (yet another Spanish club with a fleeting lifespan) and Sociedad Deportiva Noja in the play-offs. It was also the year the club ditched their original name: Atlético Lucentino Industrial.

Now, the Spanish are a bit of a superstitious bunch that it wouldn’t surprise me at all if many Lucentinos saw this identity change as the real reason behind their teams newly found success. I should also point out to any skeptics that my very own ‘lucky’ Wednesday boxer shorts finally wore out around 1993… merely a coincidence? I’ll let you decide.

Further evidence that fortune perhaps favours Lucena came at the business end of the 2008/09 season. The Lucentinos found themselves 6 points from safety with just three games left but handsome victories over fellow relegation candidates Granada 74 (boo!) and Portuense (my dad’s home town team) gave them every chance of escaping. On what proved to be a dramatic final day, Lucena could only manage to draw with UB Conquense and so had to hope that this bettered the results of Granada 74 and San Fernando. But with San Fernando cruising to a 3-0 half-time lead at home to Puertollano, all seemed lost. Yet incredibly Puertollano produced a stunning second-half fight back to run out 5-3 winners and with Granada 74 losing at Antequera, Lucena were saved.

Real Jaén CF

Formed: 1922

Ground: Nuevo Estadio de La Victoria (12,800)

Last season: 3rd

Look like: Hearts (in their away kit)

You have to go back to the 1950s for Real Jaén’s glory days when they spent three years in Spain’s top flight. The pinnacle of this spell came after the third game of the 57/58 season, when they proudly sat in second place in the La Liga table behind a truly all-conquering Real Madrid side.  

Unfortunately, since then Real Jaén haven’t really come anywhere near to recapturing that splendid form, spending the majority of the intervening years languishing in the lower leagues. They do however jointly hold (with fellow Segunda B - Grupo 4-ers CD Puertollano) the record number of Copa Federación wins, but before we get too carried away I should tell you they have just the two trophies to polish. That’s because this competition - which is only open to sides in Segunda B and the Tercera División – ran from 1945 to 1953 and was then abandoned for over 40 years. It was exhumed in 1994 and has been contested ever since.

Real Jaén have missed out on promotion in the last two season’s play-offs, losing to Villarreal B and Barcelona B respectively. The biggest challenge in their recent history did end in triumph though. Saddled with huge debts the club almost certainly faced liquidation this summer but at the very last moment existing and former players agreed a reduced repayment deal and the club was thankfully saved.

And on that bright note, let’s have some light-hearted trivia. The final hours of Jaén’s old Estadio La Victoria ground in June 2001 were quite eventful. Not only did Andalusian rivals Real Betis clinch promotion to the Primera División with a 2-0 victory over the hosts, later that evening the stadium became the venue to a concert by legendary crooner Julio Iglesias.

Club Deportivo Puertollano

Formed: 1948
Ground: Estadio Francisco Sánchez Menor (8,000)
Last season: 6th
Look like: Oldham Athletic

CD Puertollano’s best ever season came in 1967/68 when they missed out on a place in the top flight by losing (thrashed 6-1 on aggregate) to Córdoba in a promotion/relegation play-off when they were known as Calvo Sotelo (after the national fuel company which was established in the town).

In fact, the industrial city of Puertollano is sometimes cynically referred to as ‘The town of two lies’ because puerto is Spanish for ‘port’ and llano means ‘level’ or ‘flat’. As it is situated hundreds of kilometres from the coast and built on the slopes of the surrounding mountains, Puertollano can claim neither. Now, I knew there was something not quite right about my trip to Port Vale for a League Cup tie last season…

Club Deportivo Puertollano (a name adopted last year, the fifth different one in their history) ended a 20-year spell in the doldrums in 2006 when they beat Arcos CF in the play-offs to clamber into Segunda B, where they’ve established themselves quite well. They’ll be hoping to make the step up from being a crack lower division side (8 Tercera titles and 2 Copa Federación wins) to something resembling their team of the swinging sixties.

Unión Deportiva Almería B

Formed: 2001
Ground: Estadio Municipal Juan Rojas (13,468)
Last season: 4th Tercera División Group 9
Look like: Stoke City

Unión Deportiva Almería B will fill the unsightly hole left in Segunda B by the demise through financial collapse of CF Atlético Ciudad. The club had been knocking on the promotion door for the past two season’s, losing out in the play-offs firstly to Real Ávila and then Centre d'Esports L’Hospitalet - a Catalan team with a name that, to me, sounds like the French version of Lilleshall.

The fact that Unión Deportiva Almería B even exist is testament to how far Almería’s senior side have come in recent years. A Tercera División team just over a decade ago, UD Almería have established themselves in La Liga, proving to be a thorn in the side to many a more illustrious equipo.

Lorca Atlético CF

Formed: 2010
Ground: Francisco Artés Carrasco (8,094)
Last season: N/A
Look like: Colchester United

The tale behind the newly formed Lorca Atlético is not so much a Granada 74-esque franchise horror story but more of a local rescue job. With debts of €340.000, Sangonera Atlético CF were facing oblivion this summer until a businessman bought their ‘seat’ and shifted the club a few miles down the road to Lorca. Although this was after he had sniffed around other financially stricken sides from the Murcia region - Caravaca and Jumilla

.  

Sangonera Atlético were themselves only formed in 1996, after it was decided that a town of less than 10,000 inhabitants would perhaps enjoy more football success if its two clubs - Atlético Sangonera and Sangonera CF – merged. For the record Sangonera Atlético had finished the 2009/10 season 12th in Segunda B.

Écija Balompié

Formed: 1939 (reformed 1968)
Ground: Estadio San Pablo (4,500)
Last season: 11th

Look like: Peterborough United

Écija Balompié (the literal translation of ‘football’ into Spanish never fails to make me smile) are about to embark on their 14th successive season in Segunda B, a league they actually finished the 2007/08 season in first position but lost to SD Huesca in the play-offs.

Since then the club have had two nervous summers trying to meet the financial requirements to stay not only in Segunda B, but to remain in business altogether.

It’s all a far cry from the heady days of their 2006/07 Copa Del Rey run where they held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw at their Estadio San Pablo ground. Temporary seating was erected doubling the capacity to 10,000 to meet the demand for any lower league side’s dream date. The second date didn’t go so well with Los Galácticos winning 5-1 at the Bernabéu. Needless to say to the pair haven’t retuned calls since.

Y ya está. Hopefully the next time the conversation in your local boozer turns to the Segunda B you’ll be able to hold your own. Stay tuned for a report on the 39th Trofeo Ciudad de El Puerto.

Adios

Sal

Segunda B (Grupo 4) preview 2010/11: Part 2

Unfortunately, since my first post, CF Atlético Ciudad have been dissolved after they failed to pay the €800,000 in wages owed to their players. In similar circumstances, Lucena, Poli Ejido, and Real Jaén have narrowly escaped automatic relegation to the Tercera División and the scary possibility of meeting the same fate as Ciudad. Écija Balompié and Jumilla fans are also sweating on their respective clubs’ precarious financial positions.

So, assuming there’ll be enough teams left to make this whole third tier of Spanish football malarkey actually worthwhile, let’s take look at some of the other Segunda División B (Groupo 4) sides…

Real Murcia CF

Formed: 1908
Ground: Estadio Nueva Condomina (33,045)
Last season: 20^th Segunda División A (Liga Adelante)
Look like: Charlton Athletic

When it comes to size and pedigree, Real Murcia are the big boys of this Segunda B - Grupo 4. Los Pimentoneros ‘The paprika-men’ hail from Spain’s 7^th largest city and have spent a total of 18 years in the Primera División, with fleeting appearances coming as recently as 2004 and 2008. In fact, this will be only their 12^th season spent outside the top two divisions, after being cruelly relegated by a 94^th minute spot kick in their final game of last season at Girona. This had the knock-on effect of demoting their ‘B’ side – Real Murcia Imperial – who would otherwise have lined up in this season’s Segunda B. Real Murcia also hold the record for Segunda A titles (9), which might endear them with fans of Manchester City who boast the equivalent English accolade.

Although the club was officially founded in 1908, reference was made to the brilliantly anglicized ‘Foot Ball Club de Murcia’ in a local paper five years earlier. The team also started out playing their games at the city’s bullring, I can only imagine that the criteria for pitch dimensions was a little more flexible back then.

Real Murcia’s famous ex-coaches include legends Ferenc Puskás and Ladislao Kubala as well as John Toshack and former Spain manager Javier Clemente. One of their most notable former players is the Argentine defender José Luis Brown – scorer of the opening goal of the 1986 World Cup Final.

In transfer news, Real Murcia’s highly sough after Spanish U-21 left back Sergio Escudero will be playing alongside former Real Madrid favourite Raúl in the forthcoming season, after joining Bundesliga side Schalke 04.

Sevilla Atlético Club

Formed: 1958
Ground: Ciudad Deportiva José Ramón Cisneros Palacios (2,500)
Last season: 15th

Look like: Southampton (in their special 150^th anniversary strip)

Current Spain internationals Jesús Navas, Sergio Ramos and Carlos Marchena are just the latest of a distinguished list of players to come through the ranks of Sevilla Atlético – the ‘B’ side of Andalusian giants Sevilla FC. Antonio Puerta would surely have joined them in La Selección but tragically suffered cardiac arrest whilst playing for Sevilla against Getafe in 2007 and died three days later aged just 22.

With the resources of one of Spain’s largest and most successful sides behind them, it’s no surprise that Sevilla Atlético have always been a force in the lower divisions – winning the Tercerca División on nine occasions (five of those in between 1981 and 1987). Over the last twenty years they’ve established themselves as a solid Segunda B side and recently spent a couple of seasons in Segunda A for the first time (although they could never actually be promoted because even if Sevilla FC were to be relegated to allow Sevilla Atlético into La Liga, the ‘B’ team would effectively become the ‘A’ team, as most players aged under-25 can switch contracts between the two).

Finally, a random factoid: Sevilla Atletico are the only Spanish ‘B’ team whose strip differs to that of the main side – sporting a Rayo Vallecano style red seatbelt on their shirts.

Real Betis Balompié B

Formed: 1962
Ground: Ciudad Deportiva Ruiz de Lopera (4,000)
Last season: 14th

Look like: The big Real Betis

One of the highlights of the forthcoming Segunda B – Grupo 4 season must surely be the ‘B’ derbi clashes between Sevilla Atlético and Real Betis Balompié B. The well-to-do/working class divide of Seville’s football teams is reflected in Betis B’s original name - Triana Balompié (Triana being a traditionally poorer district of the city).

Former players include ex-Spain internationals Rafael Gordillo (who was picked for La Selección 75 times) and Diego Tristan - Cádiz’s very own veteran striker. Even closer to home, Valencia’s flying winger Joaquín, came through the Betis B ranks and was born in my dad’s town - El Puerto de Santa María. In fact I can exclusively reveal that Señor Salguero was a friend of his father, Aurelio, who owns bar El Chino – where I must admit I’ve enjoyed a copa or two in the past (look out for Joaquín’s Betis shirt on display if you’re ever in there).

Further testament to Betis B’s youth development is that only Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao have won the Spanish U-19 cup on more occasions.

Time for one last fact? Okay, the distinctive green and white of the Betis strip comes from the colours of the Andalusian flag.

Caravaca CF

Formed: 1969

Ground: Estadio Antonio Martínez El Morao (2,000)
Last season: 10th
Look like: Swansea City

Caravaca CF have just enjoyed their first ever season at the third level of Spanish football, finishing a creditable 10^th. This came on the back of a promotion campaign which saw them score an incredible 115 goals, making them Spain’s top scorers that year and no doubt causing a few headaches for the editor of their 2008/09 season review DVD. They, of course, had to beat Galician side CD Ourense in the play-offs (for whom Mark ‘The man who saved Alex Ferguson’s job’ Robins once had a spell).

Sadly, as with many sides in Segunda B, Caravaca’s future is uncertain with the club desperately seeking new owners before the 2010/11 season starts.

Club Polideportivo Ejido

Formed: 1969

Ground: Estadio Municipal Santo Domingo (7,870)
Last season: 4th
Look like: Manchester City

After a tense evening which saw the El Ejido based club raise the €300,000 it owed to it’s players with just hours to spare - and thus avoiding automatic demotion to the Tercera División - Poli finally put the kettle on to make a soothing brew (or more likely a café cortado) to calm their shattered nerves.

After emerging from the regional leagues in 1987 Poli Ejido bobbed between the Tercera and Segunda B Divisións until 2000 when they enjoyed successive promotions to find themselves at the second tier of Spanish football for the first time. The club found the switch to this level tough going but bravely battled against relegation for seven seasons until succumbing in 2007/08.

The following season, as a lowly Segunda B, side Poli Ejido produced an almighty shock in the Copa Del Rey by thrashing Villarreal 6-1 on aggregate. They nearly repeated this feat in the next round (last 16) against Espanyol, beating them 3-2 at home but losing 1-0 in Barcelona to be eliminated on away goals in a game where Poli had two good penalty shouts for handball turned down.

The last two seasons have ended in frustration for Poli Ejido, missing out on a return to Segunda A in consecutive promotion play-offs, but they’ll be glad just to be able to give it another shot this season after their brush with the football authorities.

My final round-up will hopefully include Écija, Real Jaén, Lucena, Melilla, Puertollano and the newly formed Lorca Atlético. In the meantime I’ll be off to España for a week or so, where hopefully I’ll have some random pre-season action to report on.

Until then, adios mis amigos.

Sal

Segunda B (Grupo 4) preview 2010/11: Part 1

After the euphoria of Spain’s World Cup triumph it’s time to dismantle the lovingly crafted mural that adorns my lounge wall, dig out that tub of magnolia paint to cover the magic tape marks (one of the conditions set by the missus) and then turn my attention to the domestic game.

Sadly, after being crowned 2008/09 Segunda División B champions, Cádiz lasted just a single season in the Segunda División (or if any corporate types are reading this, Liga Adelante) and now find themselves back the third tier of Spanish football. With no automatic promotion spots up for grabs, they must once again negotiate a complex play-offs system to escape what is ominously known as El Pozo (The Well). Not that I assume they'll finish in the top four, pre-season optimism is something I last felt in the mid-nineties.

Perhaps not the ideal place for Los Amarillos to spend their centenary year then, particularly with the club in serious financial difficulty. But wait, before we start pulling the bunting down and packing away the trestle tables, let's look at the plus side. It’s given me the opportunity to explore some clubs from the further reaches of the Spanish leagues - and as my good mate Dave's TV Sports once said, there are few things more exciting than discovering a new football team.

So, to sort out our Jumillas from our Melillas, here's a brief historical guide to los equipos de Segunda División B (Groupo 4)...

Yeclano Deportivo

Formed: 2004

Ground: La Constitución (4,000)

Last season: 2nd Tercera División Group 13

Look like: Crystal Palace

Yeclano Deportivo were formed in 2004 from the ashes of the now defunct Yeclano CF, whose big moment in the Spanish sun came in 1992 when they were pipped by Atlético Marbella (who themselves have since gone up to the great football league in the sky) in the play-offs for a place in the second tier. More recently, a truly disastrous 2003 Segunda B campaign saw Yeclano CF’s novel approach of offering referees bribes instead of paying players’ wages end in relegation and - with a €140,000 debt to pay - bankruptcy.

However, it’s only taken Yeclano Deportivo six seasons to power their way through the regional leagues and back to the Segunda B – this time holding their nerve in a promotion play-off penalty shoot-out with Haro Deportivo. Playing at the same ground in the Murcia province and in the similarly Barca-inspired strip of their previous incarnation, it’s as if the old Yeclano never went away. Let’s just hope they don’t go carelessly leaving suspiciously bulging brown envelopes in referees’ changing rooms again.

Club Deportivo Alcalá

Founded: 1944

Ground: Estadio Francisco Bono (3,000)

Last season: 1st Tercera División Group 10

Look like: Bury

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Aren’t Alcalá in Segunda División B - Group 2? Well, yes they are but that’d be Real Sociedad Deportiva Alcalá based in the city of Alcalá de Henares, 35 km northeast of Madrid. In fact, there are over a dozen places in Spain bearing the Alcalá name, which stems from the Arabic word for ‘citadel’. It’s certainly something worth bearing in mind if you’re ever planning an away day in the lower rungs of the Spanish football league ladders.

But, it’s Club Deportivo Alcalá from the Alcalá de Guadaira suburb of Seville that I’m talking about today. After spending all of their existence in the regional leagues and Tercera División, CD Alcalá finally made it to Segunda B in 2004. This entitled them to take part in the Copa Del Rey and in turn set them up for the biggest game in their 66-year history. Thanks to hastily erected temporary seating, close to 6,000 fans doubled the usual capacity of the Estadio Francisco Bono for the visit of Primera Liga neighbours, Real Betis. Alcalá bravely held the Béticos 0-0 for 120 minutes before bowing out 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out. Their sense of achievement was made greater by the fact that Real Betis went on win the cup and qualify for the Champions League that season.

After slipping back into the Tercera for a couple of seasons CD Alcalá returned to Segunda B in dramatic style, overhauling a 2-0 deficit in the first leg of their play-off with Canary Islanders, CD Corralejo to win the home tie 3-0. One thing’s for sure, these boys sure have cojones.

CF Atlético Ciudad

Formed: 2007

Ground: Estadio Juan de la Cierva (1,600)

Last season: 7th

Look like: AFC Bournemouth

With a name that’s as generic as Scotland’s Albion Rovers, ‘City Athletic’ were born out of the hideous spectre of franchised football teams. But wait, before you decide on an MK Dons-style boycott – Atlético Ciudad are actually the good guys. They were formed after Ciudad de Murcia, then a Segunda A outfit, were ‘acquired’ by an investor in Granada (some 300km away) and renamed Granada 74 CF. Even the ‘74’ part of the club’s name was stolen, from Tercera División side Club Polideportivo Granada 74 who themselves then became the new incumbents reserve side.

The now bereft Ciudad de Murcia fans arranged a merger between what was left of their reserve team and Escuela Municipal Deporte Lorquí to form CA Cuidad de Lorquí who were promoted from their starting point in the Tercera at the first time of asking, before changing the name of the club to CF Atlético Ciudad who have had two solid seasons in Segunda B.

Meanwhile, the Granada 74 franchise proved to be a complete disaster with the team suffering two successive relegations before winding up in 2009. Are you listening Pete Winkelman?

Asociación Deportiva Cueta

Formed: 1996

Ground: Estadio Municipal Alfonso Murube (6,500)

Last season: 5th

Look like: L**ds

If you thought Ipswich Town were rubbish in the play-offs then AD Cueta really take the Miguel. The side from the autonomous Spanish city of Cueta, located across the straight of Gibralter in mainland Africa, have missed out on promotion to Segunda A no less than five times in the last decade.

Unfortunately, if the long-suffering Ceutíes want to see their team add to their only season in the second tier (as Agrupación Deportiva Ceuta in 80/81, one of their many previous incarnations) then they’ll have to go through it all again – remember folks, there are no automatic promotion spots in Segunda B.

Incidentally, Nayim, scorer of one of my all-time favourite goals (a last-minute 45-yarder for Real Zaragoza against Arsenal in the 1995 Cup Winners’ Cup Final) is a local boy and started his career in Cueta’s youth team.

Jumilla CF

Formed: 1975

Ground: La Hoya (3,000)

Last Season: 1st Tercera División Group 13

ook like: Huddersfield Town

Now I must admit to having an immediate soft spot for these boys, they play in blue and white stripes and were founded in the year of my birth (the original Jumilla CF trundled around the lower divisions for 40-odd years before giving the whole thing up as a bad job in 1970). The fact that the town is also home to the world's largest photovoltaic solar power farm is merely an added bonus.

Jumilla CF find themselves in Segunda B for the first ever time through a case of what you might call third time very lucky. Having twice lost out in the Tercera play-offs in recent years, they confidently went into the 2009/10 end of season deciders as Group 13 Champions but were once again eliminated, this time by Caudal Deportivo. BUT, due to the Spanish football federation’s ruling that ‘B’ sides cannot play in the same division as their senior teams, Real Murcia’s relegation from Segunda A had the knock-on effect of demoting Real Murcia Imperial to the Tercera, with Jumilla CF gleefully replacing them as best placed losers.

Club Deportivo Roquetas

Formed: 1933

Ground: Estadio Municipal Antonio Peroles (9,000)

Last season: 16th

Look like: Walsall

‘El rojo no es un color, es un sentimiento…’ (Red isn’t a colour, it’s a feeling) proclaims the official website of CD Roquetas – and their red-letter day came at the end of the 2007/08 season when the club from Roquetas de Mar (little rocks of the sea) finally negotiated their way through the rough waters of the Tercera play-offs to arrive in Segunda B for the first ever time.

Since then they’ve struggled to adapt to life at this level, only just finishing above the drop zone in their debut season and then needing a dramatic 96th minute goal against CD Toledo to survive last season’s relegation play-off.

CD Roquetas play at the tidy Estadio Municipal Antonio Peroles, which was constructed for the 2005 Mediterranean Games hosted at nearby Almería - a sort of mini-Olympics held since 1951 for young athletes from nations bordering the Med.

Club Deportivo San Roque de Lepe

Formed: 1956

Ground: Estadio Municipal de Lepe (3,500)

Last season: 8th

Look like: Cambridge United

These are heady times for CD San Roque fans having just enjoyed the club’s best ever season. Not only did they achieve their highest league placing of 8th in Segunda B, but also brought home the splendidly titled Copa Real Federación Española de Fútbol (better known as the Copa Federación, a sort of Spanish Johnstone’s Paint Trophy open to teams outside the top two divisions) beating Lorca Deportiva CF over two legs. Incidentally, Lorca are the club that current Valencia boss Unai Emery cut his managerial teeth at.

This success has - unlike many financially stricken clubs at this level - left them a bit flush and CD San Roque are currently constructing a new stadium. I just get the feeling this small town near the Portuguese border, previously only known for exporting strawberries, could well be in for another fruitful season.

Unión Estepona CF

Formed: 1995

Ground: Estadio Francisco Muñoz Pérez (3,800)

Last season: 9th

Look like: La Selección

Yet another relative newcomer to Spanish futbol, Unión Estepona CF came into being - and forgive me if this sounds familiar - through a merger between Estepona CF and UD Estepona. This was after the town’s other club, CD Estepona were dissolved.

After 12 years of regional football the Garrapatas (Ticks) were promoted to the Tercera, which they topped in their debut season. This was largely thanks to the inspirational signing of veteran striker Catanha from neighbours Málaga CF. The Brazilian-born player had finished joint-second on 24 goals with Atléti’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the race for the Pichichi Top Scorer Trophy of 1999/00 and earned three caps for La Selección. With his help, Unión Estepona successfully negotiating the play-offs to make it back-to-back promotions and finished a creditable 9th in Segunda B last season.



Finally, here’s one for all you pub trivia fans, Estepona was earmarked as one of the possible sites for Euro Disney before Paris got the gig.

That's all for now amigos, but in true tapas style I'll be updating this here blog with tasty morsels on the rest of the Segunda B sides over the next couple of weeks.

Adios

Sal