The fascination of Fuengirola

(9th January 2021)

During the first weekend of the new year, I witnessed a very entertaining football match at my newly adopted Spanish club, Atlético Marbella, as they lost 5-3 to another local side, Athletic Club Fuengirola, located only about 20 Miles further north along the Costa Del Sol. The full story of that particular game may feature another time but, in short, they proved to be too quick and clinical for Atlético, who seemed sluggish after a two week winter break. Fuengirola raced into a 4-0 lead by half-time, but the hosts responded by scoring three goals within the first 15 minutes in the second period, with a late goal for the visitors rounding out the scoring. After that, I was determined to pay the away team a visit at their home ground.

The following Saturday saw Athletic Club Fuengirola host one of their local rivals, with CD Mijas making the short journey down to the coast. I planned to maximise my day-trip heading north by arriving into the town at around midday and not returning until late that evening. I caught the bus from Marbella and got off it close to my evening’s venue, Estadio Municipal Elola (since it was beside the main road that runs through the centre of Fuengirola), as I wanted to take a look around the ground and get some photos whilst I had the sunlight. Once I’d checked out the different views of the inside and found the entrance I’d need for the match later, I decided to head off in search of another football ground in Fuengirola. It may surprise you to learn that there are 4 venues in the town that currently host senior football, with 6th Tier CP Mijas Las Lagunas, 7th Tier UD Fuengirola-Los Boliches and 8th Tier Candor CF being the other clubs that are based within its proximity. 6th Tier Athletic Club Fuengirola play closest to the town centre, so were the most suited to my plans, although I would like to return to visit the other clubs whenever I’m able to.

On this visit, I took a walk into the Las Lagunas district of the town and headed to the Polideportivo Municipal Las Lagunas, checking how long it’d take me to walk and to take a look at the ground in person, to get some photos and see how it compares to the others. However, there’s a lot of building work going on within the premises at the moment so unfortunately, it’s difficult to judge. It does have a decent sized raised, covered terrace but, not much else of note. Candor’s ground is located directly behind and has a covered seating stand, although I haven’t had the chance to look around it yet. It was unfortunate that on the day I visited, both of those clubs would also be hosting games at the same time as my intended one, otherwise it would have made for a nice double.

UD Fuengirola-Los Boliches’ Ground (Estadio Municipal de Sante Fé de Los Boliches) is (unsurprisingly) located in the Los Boliches district, situated about a mile north of the town centre, along the coast. Their ground is very reminiscent of many urban football grounds from around the European continent, being surrounded by high-rise residential apartment blocks in all directions, housing an interesting mix of different style stands and also a large bar area. I’ve walked around that area on a previous visit to Fuengirola, so went and had a look at the ground whilst I was there, to get some photos. I’d love to return and watch a game there, since it’s without a doubt the best ground in the town.

After walking back towards the town centre from Las Lagunas, I decided to head for lunch at La Libelula Vegan Cafe. I’ve visited there numerous times before, mainly because they always do lovely homemade meals for a reasonable price, including a fantastic 3-course menu of the day offer. On this occasion I went for a selection of Spanish tapas, with a seitan sandwich, vegan chicken with potatoes and, a slice of Spanish omelette which filled me up nicely.

Afterwards, I had time to head off to the Castillo Sohail, which not only is an interesting place historically, but was also the venue for the 2019 Rock The Coast festival that I attended (more on that here – https://adayinthelifeofafootballtherapist.sport.blog/2020/05/17/andalusian-adventures-rocking-the-costa-del-sol/). It’s a nice area that I love to return to every time I pay a visit to the town, a place where I usually sit on a bench and enjoy the view out to sea. I bought a cheap doughnut and a can of beer for my dessert, from a local supermarket en-route, spending the mid-afternoon relaxing and basking in the wonderful sunshine.

Soon enough it was time for me to head back towards the centre, deciding to go via the beach and the shops, before making my way towards the day’s main event. On a side note, Fuengirola is very well catered for the tourists that come here every year, with a good array of shops, bars and restaurants to suit everyone’s needs and it appears to be a good place for families too. There’s also plenty of foreign influence here, particularly from Sweden and Germany, with numerous supermarkets, bars and businesses specialising in products for people from other countries.

Heading back out of the centre towards the bypass, I arrived at the Municipal Elola quite early as I wasn’t sure how many people would be able to attend the game and, whether I’d have any issues gaining access, but when I approached the entrance, I walked into the ground without a problem, where there was still a junior game taking place. It was quite refreshing to watch the 15 or so minutes that I saw of it, in-between having a look around and taking more photos. Once it had finished, everyone was duly asked to leave the venue and queue up to return back in for the senior team’s match, having my temperature checked on the way in and paying a standard €5 to re-enter the ground.

The evening turned out to be bitterly cold, which isn’t something you’d expect in this part of Spain. This was my third evening game within a week and every single one of them was freezing, so much so that after about 20 minutes of the game, I actually contemplated leaving at half-time to catch an earlier bus home. Although, with what was to come, I’m really glad that I stayed. There were a number of similarities between this match and the one I saw the previous week in Marbella, as Fuengirola scored two goals in quick succession after 31 and 33 minutes played. They got their first of the game through a good passing move, resulting in a far post tap-in for Miguelito, before only a couple of minutes later the lead was doubled by Belmonte from a first time shot around 25 yards out, which flew into the top right corner of the net, a truly wonderful strike that gave the visitor’s goalkeeper no chance of saving.

CD Mijas were creating chances of their own and looked particularly dangerous from set-pieces, but failed to capitalise on any of their opportunities, as they trailed 2-0 at half-time.

A big downfall with this ground that I found was the lack of facilities available, as I couldn’t see any form of bar or toilets that were open to those who were in the stand. There did appear to be a café located on the opposite side, but that would have meant leaving the ground and walking around a couple of streets in order to reach it. This ground was primarily designed for athletics, not football, so maybe it was just a design flaw there. It meant that I had to stand around in the cold with no refreshments, as I waited patiently for the game to restart. I took up a new position at the very back of the stand for the second-half of the game, as the weather began to worsen and the rain was getting into the bottom rows, although, the cold winds were blowing onto our backs so it didn’t make for much of a relief. It also didn’t help that the hosts returned onto the pitch noticeably late for the second-half, with timekeeping in general being quite lacklustre here. Eventually the game was able to get underway and began in the same fashion that the first period had ended in.

Unlike in the previous weekend’s match, there wouldn’t be a comeback for Mijas, who continued to work hard and made a lot of positive changes of personnel, but ultimately to no avail. The contest was effectively over when Fuengirola scored their third goal of the game after 77 minutes, following another good period of play, which resulted in a back post shot from Gaby fooling the goalkeeper to dive the wrong way. The host’s forwards were too quick and skilful for the visitor’s defence which, proved to be the decisive factor in their victory. The full-time whistle blew with a 3-0 win for the home side and I made my way back towards the bus station. Now feeling extremely cold and damp, I caught my intended bus back to San Pedro and got home at around 10:30pm. Everything was worthwhile to me though.

Within a week of the game, tighter Covid restrictions meant that all football matches in the region would have to be played behind closed doors for the foreseeable future, with numerous leagues even suspending all games for a couple of weeks. It’d be a long and difficult wait until I could return to a ground again, but it was, in the end, an enjoyable one, with more on that to come very soon…

Chris Sharp

(All photos are taken by me, please can you give me credit if you wish to use my photos)