Sunday night was one of those nights where you can say “I was there!”
Now let’s be honest me and my boys have been there through thick and thin with Real Mallorca and having watched some god awful games in recent years we were desperate to get back into the big time. My eldest can just about remember us being there 6 years ago but not my youngest so let’s take a look back.
In 2012/13 Real Mallorca were relegated from La Liga after an impressive 16 years in the top flight. In 2016 after a lot of turmoil, American Robert Sarver bought the club but things at the time didn’t improve.
June 4th 2017, they were relegated to Segunda División Bafter a draw against already relegated Mirandés. The club had spent 36 years between the first and second division so this was a new low point. On the 19th of June they appointed Vincente Moreno as their new coach which was probably their best signing.
On May 27, 2018, Mallorca returned to Segunda División in 2017–18 seasonafter winning against Mirandésin the promotion play-offs. The club was promoted to the second division in the same stadium where it was relegated in the previous season.
And so to Sunday, after a 2-0 loss last Thursday away in Coruña only the most die hard fan were saying or thinking Si se puede(yes we can). I said to my 2 boys that we’ll go down to the ground early to welcome the Mallorca coach to the ground. It took me back to how football used to be when I was growing up. Back then you thought nothing of getting to the ground 2 hours before a game but in this day and age arriving 5 minutes before the start is the norm. My boys were a little reluctant, “why so early Dad?” “What’s the point?” Were 2 of many questions they asked. That was until we arrived on the road to the ground which was packed with supporters singing and dancing. The atmosphere when the team bus arrived was incredible and those players sat on that bus couldn’t help but be inspired.
And inspired they were. 21,210 fans turned the Son Moix into a cauldron and pretty much the whole stadium were dressed in club colours. The first goal came on 21 minutes when Budimir hit a lovely left foot shot from just outside the area, the dream was on. Into the 2nd half and Mallorca kept pressing and looked like it would only be a matter of time before they scored. On 62 minutes they were awarded a free-kick. Salva Sevilla has been known to hit a free kick like David Beckham and sure enough he obliged, rifling into the bottom right corner. 2-2 which meant if Mallorca could survive extra time without conceding they’d be up as they’d finished above Deportivo in the league. They were then saved from conceding an expensive away goal by a terrific stop from Manolo Reina. It felt like everybody had accepted extra time everybody except Abdon Prats. Born in Arta he is the fans favourite especially the Ultras behind the goal. On 82 minutes he picked up the ball midway through the half and kept running towards the goal and about 25 yards out he let rip a screaming left footer which flew past the keeper. Fitting perhaps that a Mallorcan born should hit the winning goal. A tense last few minutes saw Deportivo miss a point blank header right at the end of the game which would have been heartbreaking. At the final whistle there were scenes of complete joy both on the pitch and off it too. Not for long though as those off the pitch ran to get on it including me and my 2 boys. You had to feel a little sorry for Deportivo, their supporters and probably more than most their coach Pep Lluis Marti. Born in Palma he played 316 games for Mallorca and Mallorca B and was a legendary club Captain. I probably think Mallorca was the last team he wanted to face in the play-offs.
Countless memories of a great night culminating in my boys saying “Dad, we’re going to be seeing Messi, Hazard and Griezmann on this pitch next season!” They couldn’t contain their excitement on the way home and went to sleep with their shirts on dreaming of the amazing games to come next season.
Real Mallorca are in La Liga!
Schools out for Summer and parents here on the island are now tearing their hair out of what to do with their kids for the next 3 months! Those of us whose work takes in the summer now struggle to keep them entertained. I’ve banged on for ages that it’s far too long a holiday but unfortunately I can’t see it changing. So we need to get on with it and our two will be doing tennis, boxing, swimming and football. Basically anything to wear them out!
I talked last week about anything that promotes the island in a positive way is a good thing. We’ve been blessed to have one of the greatest tennis players of all time who was born in Manacor on the east of the Island. Rafael Nadal Parera first won the French Open title in 2005 as a young 19 year old. I bet you would have got long odds on him winning it for the 12th time last Sunday as a 33 year old. It’s an amazing achievement and he still lives here on the island and fame hasn’t turned him in any way. Anywhere you meet him he’s happy to pose for photos and sign autographs. I was lucky enough to watch him train on grass last year over in Santa Ponsa and when you watch on TV it doesn’t show how hard these guys hit the ball. Physically tennis is a very hard sport and Rafa has had his fair share of injuries but he still manages to come back. His Academy is doing very well in Manacor and it’s worth a visit if you haven’t been yet. He will get married this year on the island to his childhood sweetheart Mery Perello. A few years ago the Government at the time paid him to do promotion for the island but in my opinion got it all wrong as they put him in normal clothes in some non recognisable areas on the island. Maybe it’s time to revisit?
In my eyes anything that promotes the island in a positive manor is a good thing. So last Monday Love Island started on ITV2. Like it or loathe it, it puts our island into a lot of people’s living rooms and that’s not a bad thing. No matter what the programme does the island still looks beautiful.
Forgive me if you’re not a football fan but I have to dedicate this weeks scribes to what is a really exciting time for the island and it’s two professional football teams. A young player breaking into the first team of a Premier League football club these days is pretty difficult and some might say for a young English player even harder. So over the last year we’ve started to see more English players move abroad to get first team football. High profile players such as Jadon Sancho moving from Manchester City to Borussia Dortmund and Reiss Nelson going on loan to Hoffenheim from Arsenal have encouraged more players to think about moving to another country to do what they enjoy doing and that’s play football. I learned at the beginning of the season about a young player from Tottenham who had moved here to Mallorca to play for Atlético Baleares. I got his number from former Spurs player David Howells but I’ve sat on it for quite a while to see how well his season panned out. Well we’re nearly at the end and to be honest it’s been pretty damn good. He Played 33 out of 38 games scoring 6 goals with 4 assists, although he mentions he’d have liked to have scored more! The team played 38 won 21 drew 12, lost 5 and won the Segunda B Group 3 championship and are now in the play-offs.
Dad Taxi Mallorca 