DJ’S JOTTINGS – NUMBER 32 (Tenerife)

 

 

 

Matchday images (6) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/SpainTenerifeFootball

 

January is generally a good month to escape the English winter and head for warmer climes, so it was fortunate that the offer of a trip to see the Canaries involved Tenerife and not Norwich. Easyjet flights from Gatwick took our party of 7 (Who remembers Party 7’s ?) to one of the main Canary Islands and a part of Spain in most respects.

 

The Canaries is made up of 7 major and 6 smaller islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean between 60 and 190 miles off the coast of North-West Africa. Tenerife is to the east of Gran Canaria and dominated by the giant snow-capped volcano, Mount Teide, which at 3,700 feet is the highest Spanish mountain. It sits at the centre of the island and forms a natural divide between the warm desert like landscape of the south and the cooler tropical north with its banana plantations and palm trees. The temperature normally varies very little from day to night or between the seasons. For our stay it is sometimes warm and sunny, but on occasion cool and cloudy.

 

Most of the main tourist areas are in the south or west of the island, but we take our hire cars north-east to the island’s capital, Santa Cruz, which forms our base for the weekend. It is a very busy port, but has plenty of monuments, sculptures, museums and parks and being duty-free, is also a popular shopping location. Prices are very reasonable and when Nelson led the last British attempt at a nautical invasion it only cost him an arm and not a leg. Have to negotiate a tortuous one-way system in order to get to our hotel- the Pelinar, and parking places are at a premium.

 

And so to the football. Just the one game for the Saturday, in the ‘Interinsular Preferente’ (top division of the Canary Isles region). Real Union Tenerife play at Estadio La Salud in the foothills of Santa Cruz. Artificial pitch enclosed by a breezeblock wall, steep concrete block ‘seating’ runs almost full pitch length on one side and offers good views of the ramshackle houses clustered on a nearby hill, as well as the sea. The central section is covered and there are 2 miner’s style floodlight columns on each side of the ground. Apart from a small area of flat hard standing by the entrance at one end, all of the facilities are on the one main side. Remnants of a former stand can be seen behind the existing one.

 

Just over 100 spectators pay their 6 euros to see 2nd bottom U.D. Icodense gain a surprise, but deserved, 2-0 victory over top half of the table Real Union.

 

A tortilla bocadillo (potato omelette roll) at the football is followed by pizza washed down with rioja back in town. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, particularly near the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion.

 

Sunday provides the opportunity to see both the first and ‘B’ teams of the island’s main club, C.D.Tenerife. The second team compete in one of the four regional groups at the third level of Spanish football, Division IIB. Due to their isolated location they are normally placed in a region where their opponents have reasonable flight opportunities nearby.

 

The ground used is the C.I.A.T. (Centro Insular de Atletismo) de Tincer, located about 5 miles from the main part of Santa Cruz. It is principally an athletics venue, only opened in 2007, with all facilities built into the slope on one side. An impressive main stand has just over 3,000 seats, all under cover with a practice track for athletes running underneath at the back. A man-made wall of rocks encloses the remainder of the ground, with sea views beyond the far side. 10 euros is charged for entrance and free team-sheets are obtained.

 

Tenerife ‘B’ were founded as Union Deportiva Salud in 1967, changing to their current name on reaching Division IIB for the first time in 1995. At the time of our visit they had the clear top scorer in their league, Airan Cabrera with 22 goals, twice as many as his nearest rival. A decent game follows, visitors Puertollano keeping Signor Cabrera well shackled and deserving their 1-1 draw.

 

Have time for a stroll along the seafront before heading off for the main game at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez, a 23,660 capacity venue, located in the area of San Cristobal de la Laguna, just to the west of Santa Cruz’s centre. The ground has 2 tiers of continuous steeply raked seats all round with just the upper tier on the main side covered. We pay 45 euros for good seats and find 2 different versions of a free ‘official’ programme.

 

C.D.Tenerife were founded in 1922, though a precursor may have existed 10 years earlier. They only played regional football until 1953 when they reached Division II for the first time. They were nicknamed ‘Chicharreros’ after the Atlantic horse mackerel that was a principal part of the local diet. 1961-62 saw them in the top flight for the first time, for just one season, but they had a more settled spell in ‘La Liga’ from 1989-99, twice finishing 5th and reaching a UEFA Cup semi-final. 2009-10 saw a return to the top flight, but at the time of our visit they were 3rd bottom and threatened with an immediate return to Division II. Visitors Valencia were 3rd top not too far behind Real Madrid and Barcelona and possessed the best away record in the league.

 

The match finishes 0-0 with Tenerife showing most of the attacking intent but lacking finish. Another renowned striker, David Villa for Valencia, is kept very quiet. 

Conclude the day with a Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet and some wine and brandy before returning to an altogether colder climate on the Monday morning.

contributed on 05/04/11