busyfans

Discovering Cartagena

More Articles By Phillip Bruce www.raxomnium.com

Busy Scene For Football Fans

According to Cartagena fans, soccer was first introduced into Spain through their city. Other places, of course, have their own claims to being the birthplace of the game that raises passions.

According to one story, English workmen building the big wall around the Arsenal at the start of the 20^th century started playing the game with Spanish colleagues. Another story has the Cartagena suburb of Los Dolores as the cradle of soccer in Spain.

Whatever the truth, the fact remains that there is plenty of football in and around Cartagena for foreign residents and visitors to enjoy.

Two teams based in the regional capital, Murcia City, play in the Second Division of the Spanish league. These are Real Murcia and Cuidad de Murcia, which translate as Royal Murcia and Murcia City.

Real Murcia plays at Neuva Condomina, “a five star stadium” with a capacity for 32,000 spectators and luxurious facilities. The stadium is an architectural landmark for the city. The team dates back a century. In recent decades, it has spent 17 seasons in the Premier League, 48 in the Second Division, six in the Second Division B and five in the Third Division. It plays in scarlet shirts and socks and white shorts.

Cuidad de Murcia has spent four seasons in the /Second Division, two in the Second Division B and one in the Third Division. It plays in red shirts with black shorts and socks.

There is a third Second Division Team, in the south of the region, Lorca Deportiva, or Sporting Lorca, who have just been promoted and will be playing their first season in the division. They play in white shirts, shorts and socks with purple edgings.

Some foreign fans do support the Murcia and Lorca teams but not in great numbers as Murcia City is not close enough to the coastal areas where most foreigners live.

The two clubs in the region with significant foreign fans supporting them at both home and away games are Cartagena C.F. and Mazarrón C.F.

Cartagena has a considerable following that grew significantly after a good season last year. The team plays in the Second Division B. This division is separated into four geographical regions, presumably to avoid excessive traveling across the huge distances of Spain. The club is celebrating its 100^th anniversary. Cartagena plays at the Cartaganova Stadium which has a large capacity and which has plenty of car parking.

Foreign fans enjoy supporting the club, and generally meet in the bar at the main entrance about an hour or so before home games. Everyone is welcome to come along and join in the fun. The number to ring for more English-language information is 656 579 423.

At Mazarrón, on the coast south of Cartagena, a strong band of foreign fans has formed to support Mazarrón C.F. The town and nearby Puerto de Mazarrón is home to thousands of British residents and many of them are football mad. Mazarrón plays in the third division. The contacts for the foreign supporters’ club are Tony, on649 285 257 or Mick on 606 519 392.

As well as the clubs mentioned above, there are dozen of other clubs in the region, all of which have at least some foreign supporters so it’s a great idea to go along to games. Locals are very pleased to see foreign supporters and the atmosphere in the stands or on the sidelines at matches is great. Clubs also usually have excellent social facilities and activities that you will be welcome to join in, even if you don’t speak a word of Spanish. Youth football is very strong and Totana, in particular, has a good programme for both boy and girl players.

Soccer fans should also keep an eye on the prestigious football centre at the La Manga Club. Top British and European teams train regularly at the centre and it hosts the England squad.

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