Two weeks ago on the ‘Tom Latchem’ show he spoke to Chris Darwen, Commercial Director at a small Spanish club called CD Torrevieja. He had an incredible tale to tell and after listening to the interview we here at FUBAR Radio Towers were really intrigued. So we are proud to announce them as our ‘Club in the Sun’ and want you to get involved but wait, I hear you cry. Who are they? Where are they? Why should I even care? Well Chris will fill you in on how and why you should become a member of the club in his own words.
I have started to take watching football in the sun for granted. When I was a child, growing up in the UK, football in the sunshine was a novelty. It usually spelt either the start of the season or the end. For me at that age, there was nothing better than watching the FA Cup Final, the old Wembley bathed in glorious sunlight. Here on the Costa Blanca, well you need to go to a lot of games to catch ninety minutes where the sun is not shining. Having been involved at CD Torrevieja for nearly seven months now, I am starting to get used to it.
For the vast majority of you that will have no idea who I am, I’m the guy who wrote the “Johnny Cooper, Championship Manager” books and then ended up being the Community, Commercial & PR Director of a small Spanish football club because of the legendary computer game, Football Manager. Yes, it is true. If you haven’t seen the video check it out below, but due to getting CD Torrevieja promoted to La Liga on FM15 I now live here and volunteer at the club.
Why might this be of interest to you? Well, the fact that you are even reading this would suggest that you either like football, sunshine or both. Therefore, my friend, you are my kind of person.
CD Torrevieja are a traditional little Spanish football club on the Costa Blanca. Five minutes from the Estadio Vicente Garcia are the most beautiful beaches and if you look out of the stadium in the other direction you will see a lovely mountain range. For a club playing in the Tercera Division (League Two in English money) the view is often better than the match itself. But that does not matter, it is real football at a real club.
Be honest, how many of you “support” a club in the UK but have been priced out of actually getting to matches, still go but resent how much it costs or are completely fed up that your opinion does not count anymore? Professional football in England has changed beyond all recognition in the last decade, if not longer. Over here, in Torrevieja, it is still real.
Every penny counts to us, if we want to be able to pay the players or be able to afford a coach to the next away game. At the Tercera level you play in your region. The biggest problem is that the region of Valencia is probably as far reaching as England. Playing Castellon away is like driving from Brighton to Newcastle – imagine your local non-league club having to do that every other week!
The biggest way we can raise money and survive as a football club, in my opinion, is by becoming that random football club that everyone adopts as their second club. We need new Socio members, and I am inviting you to invest a little cash and become one. A Socio basically owns the club, albeit not the bricks and mortar of the ground. The socios vote in the President and have the power to influence how the football club is run. Think FC United and other fan owned clubs, we are aiming to be the Spanish version for holiday makers.
What makes this a cracking idea? Imagine flying out to the Costa Blanca a couple of times a season to get some sun and watch a game. Flights cost as little as £50 return if you book early enough, and hotels are dirt cheap. And the beaches, you should see the beaches. Plenty of bars and cheap food and drink too. So, for just €52.50 (about £40) you can become a Socio of a Spanish football club, how cool is that? To sign up, just go to www.tiendaoficialcdtorrevieja.tictail.com
Now, FUBAR will be following our progress every couple of weeks and together we will have some fun on this journey!
Hala Torrevieja!
If you’ve become a Socio let us know by using the #ClubintheSun
