Benidorm Club de Fútbol

 

Many of us, when we think of Benidorm, think of Sun, Sea and Sangria. Many who have been to Benidorm wouldn’t have even known that Benidorm had a football team.

The story of Benidorm Club de Fútbol is a story that is little known but is full of heroic moments in the shadows.
The club were founded in 1964. At the height of General Francisco Franco’s rule within Spain.

At the time Benidorm was a very different place to what it is today. It was in a transitional moment. Until the 1950’s Benidorm’s main source of income was from the fishing industry. But in 1952 Benidorm Town Council took a bold step that set-in motion building works that would lead to the city we see today. As the decline in the fishing industry started to hit the people of the town hard the town council gave approval to carryout development work to boost the previously untouched tourist market.

At the time of the redevelopment work being approved the small town of Benidorm numbered merely 10’000 people most of whom were born and bred in the town for generations.

During the 1960’s the tourist numbers stayed modest at best. This was in part due to the laws under the Franco era being strict and the workers having limited free time to visit such places and that the word hadn’t yet gone around about this new resort being available.

So, with that backdrop in 1964 Benidorm Club de Fútbol were formed.

The club would during its 47-year history spend its time between the Sugunda B (tier 3), Tercera (tier 4) and the Categorias Regionales (the regional divisions in Spanish Football). During the club’s time it gained a bit of a reputation as a club that yo-yo’d between the third and forth tiers. With its longest continuous spell in any league being 8 years between 1989 and 1997 in the Segunda B. The club did spend 12 seasons between 1970 and 1982 in the regional leagues. However, they moved between these leagues a lot.

In the cup though things were very different, even if appearances were less common. Only 8 times did the club make it to the First Round. The clubs first appearance was in the 1991/92 season, when the club managed a season where they played 38 games, scored 38 goals, conceded 38 goals and gained 38 points. In the cup though they did themselves proud by getting through to the round of 16 before losing to topflight side Sporting Gijon.

It wouldn’t be until the 1998-99 season that the club would get to the round of 16 again. This time round they pulled none other than FC Barcelona out of the hat. After a respectable 0-1 loss at home Benidorm travelled to the superstars at Barcelona going on to lose 3-0 but not before giving Barca a true scare.

The 1990’s were absolutely fantastic for the club pulling themselves into being regulars in the Segunda B and having so great cup moments. Going into the 21st Century things were looking good for the club at a time when it seemed that to dominance of the famous big two in Spain looked at least for a small time to have been challenged.

As the 2000’s progressed Benidorm frequently appeared in the first and second rounds of the Copa Del Rey. In 2008-09 they made it for the final time to the round of 32. Again, being drawn against the mighty Barcelona.
The Barcelona they faced this time was under the management of former captain Pep Guardiola and had the likes of Henry, Messi, Eto’o and Xavi. When the first leg was played in Benidorm on the 28th October 2008, it was predicted that Benidorm would concede as many as Barcelona wanted. However, with a fantastic performance at the back Benidorm only conceded one goal scored by Bojan in the 55th minute. In the return leg at the Nou Camp Benidorm played even better but were finally beaten when Messi scored in the 84th minute to knock Benidorm out.
Sadly, that was the last time that Benidorm made headlines for the right reasons.

The following 2 seasons were marked with financial issues and finally culminating in the 2010/11 season with the team finishing 16th in the Segunda B but due to not being able to pay players the club were relegated. With debts mounting and not really any items of value within the club as the stadium was council owned the club decided to fold instead of carrying on.

With the club folding there were no professional teams within the city. However, in 2020 a group of businessmen have come together to rebuild a club within the city with an aim to hopefully one day achieve the same heights as the previous club.
Hopefully the new club within a city that has over 5 million visitors a year, can become a big name on the footballing front as well as the tourism front.

By Jeff Webb