THE MAN DRESSED in the Celtic top screams into the camera. Almost Obama-esque, he’s seen shouting ‘Yes we can’.
But this isn’t Celtic Park or Ibrox. In fact, we’re around 2,400 km away from Glasgow and this isn’t a Celtic fan. He’s a Villarreal supporter and part of the club’s Villarreal-Celtic supporter’s association.
A superpower they aren’t but don’t call them small. They have supporters all over the world; Belgium, Finland and the USA all have supporters’ groups.
And, it’s not Spanish people aboard. They have fans from as far as India and a look on Twitter on match-day when some of their supporters stay up or get up in the early hours shows the true dedication of their followers.
La Costa Del Yellow
In a town that has the population of around 50,000, Villarreal have a ground, El Madrigal, which holds 25,000.
One look at the team and the ground (even the goal nets) and you might believe that it was here that Coldplay got their inspiration for their song ‘Yellow’ – but the theme song of the club is the Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’ . They even nickname themselves ‘El Submarino Amarillo’.
The irony is that Villarreal are not a team that lies low. On one of La Liga’s smallest budgets they are currently higher in the league than Atletico de Madrid and Sevilla. They managed to finish second in 2008 and earn respect for achieving a top seven finish constantly whilst shopping at the bottom end of the transfer market.
The President with a Heart
Much of their success comes down to club president Fernando Roig and ex-manager Manuel Pellegrini. Roig was on the Valencia board and his brother was president there.
He went and took over at Villarreal and made it the people’s club. He has a patient style and wants his side to play attractive football. When he signed Pellegrini the club just went upwards and onwards. Champions League semifinals and high league finishes were his reward.
When the global recession hit Spain most football clubs ignored the fact that many of their supporters were on the unemployment register. Not Roig. Believing that he owed the fans something for their faith, he offered free season tickets to those who had lost their jobs. Even when his own business took a knock he still refused to raise prices but was forced to sell players. It is here that we see one of Villarreal’s true strengths: The ability to perfectly replace players.
Wheeling and Dealing
The club signed Diego Forlán who had failed to impress in England. A Golden Boot winner they sell him to Atletico de Madrid and buy Rossi from United and rumour now has it that Barcelona are sniffing around.
Godin, Llorente and Ibagaza were all sold to be replaced with Carlos Marchena and Borja Valero and the team got stronger. A strong spine with Diego Lopez in goal with Marcos Senna, Joan Capdevila and Santi Cazorla, they have strength and creativity.
The fact that all their players seem like genuine, down-to-earth lads is a plus. Discipline is strong at the club and anybody who steps out of line is shown the door, just ask Joan Roman Riquelme who was sent packing and the players who were fined last year for drinking before a match.
When Pellegrini left to take over at Real Madrid many felt that it was the end for Villarreal. But Roig signed the very popular Ernesto Valverde. So popular was the appointment that some Sevilla fans posted on forums congratulating Villarreal for signing such a great manager. But it would all end in tears. Valverde changed the style of play and the team slipped towards the relegation zone. A slight improvement wasn’t enough and eventually he was sacked. Juan Carlos Garrido was appointed.
He was the coach at the B team and he had some very mixed results. They qualified for the Europa League because UEFA kicked Mallorca out. (Something that has caused a lot of ill feeling amongst the two clubs)
A New Dawn
Fans were worried about this season but Villarreal started well. They managed to stay in the Champions league spots and haven’t looked back. They have a light squad which makes their achievements all the more amazing.
A Europe League semifinal and 4th place finish in the league is what most teams would give their right and probably left arm for. They were hammered in Portugal against a strong Porto side. When Porto came to Spain the fans knew they needed a miracle but nonetheless they still believed in the team.
When Porto scored their second it was then that the man in the Celtic top was filmed. As the curtain came down on a dull and boring El Clasico series it was Villarreal who showed the world the true side of Spanish football.
Knowing they were out of the Europa League, every supporter stood up and sang. Roig interviewed afterwards was almost reduced to tears by the actions of the fans. This is one club where the fans and board really get on.
Around The Grounds
After watching four El Clasicos and listening to endless drivel, the top two will not be mentioned for crimes against football this week.
Speaking of Pellegrini, his Malaga side trashed Atletico de Madrid in Madrid. Julio Baptista showed why they were so desperate to buy him and why they performed so badly when he was injured. Poor defending and movement from Atleti should not take away from a great display from Pellegrini’s men.
The battle at the bottom just gets better and better. Team Dubai Getafe won at home and relegated Almería. A sad day as they played some decent football.
Racing paid a fitting tribute to Seve Ballesteros and to football, by beating Hercules away. Hercules were promoted under suspicion of match fixing and have failed to pay players a number of times.
Sporting and Deportivo played out a draw. Deportivo will feel a little robbed with what they saw as an unfair penalty. Manolo Preciado, Sporting coach, looked like it was the first time he had ever sat on a swivel chair as he explained that Sporting had chances that the ref ignored too.
All this while swaying from side to side.
And it got worse for Deportivo de la Coruña when Osasuna came from a goal behind to beat fellow relegation battlers Zaragoza. Osasuna went in at half time one down but an 18-minute spell in the second half saw them score three goals and leap to 14th in the league.
The last three games promise to be full of surprise.
Garreth Nunn is the co-founder and writer for the website www.madridatleticos.com. He contributes to a weekly podcast called ‘This is Atleti’ that gives insight into following a Spanish Club and is available via iTunes. You can find him also on Twitter: @madridatleticos and on Facebook
