Tag: soccer

Climbing the Football Ladder: A Family’s Journey

We have two sons who are both working hard to climb the football ladder. Our eldest, Jacob, at 19 years old, is starting on the path to becoming a coach. He has been working at the Borussia Dortmund International Academy Mallorca for a couple of years, running various training sessions. This year, however, he will be coaching his own team while studying for a UEFA C licence and completing his education with an FP Superior in Sport.

Our youngest, Jude, at 16 years old, has his sights set on becoming a professional goalkeeper. He is playing at the second-highest level of youth football with Palma FC while studying for an FP in Sport, just like his brother.

Both realise that they are on a difficult path, as very few actually make it, which is why their studies become so important.

Footballers who do make it enter a life that most of us can only dream of. Whilst most behave in a manner befitting their standing, unfortunately there are some who don’t. Several cases have come to light this season, both here in Mallorca and back in the Premier League.

Dani Rodríguez is a player I admire at Real Mallorca. He has been at the club since January 2018 and always gives 100%. However, a couple of weeks ago he let himself down. He was suspended by the club after publicly criticising the club and coach on social media following a loss to Real Madrid. He was frustrated at not being brought into the game—especially as his family was watching—and questioned the value of loyalty and hard work in the dressing room. The club responded by suspending him for 10 days without pay and permanently removing him as vice-captain.

I hope he can train his way back into the team, whether under the current coach or another one (that’s for another day!).

Players thinking they are above the law are becoming more and more common. The case of Alexander Isak is probably the biggest one this summer. He refused to play for his parent club, Newcastle, while still under contract, in an attempt to force a move to Liverpool, who had submitted a bid for him. On the other hand, you have a club like Chelsea, who have sidelined two of their squad players—Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi—making them train in the evenings, away from the first-team squad. The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has become involved, reminding Chelsea of their duty of care.

But where were the PFA in the case of Isak, telling him he should fulfil his contractual obligations? You heard nothing from them. Yet when it comes to a player like Sterling, they suddenly come out of the woodwork and get involved. I am sure these players had opportunities to move on in the summer but, for whatever reason, chose not to. They are still being paid and have access to all the facilities provided to the first team. In Sterling’s case, he is still earning £325,000 a week! On that amount of money, I’d be training all day, all night, and twice on Wednesdays! I’m sorry, but the “duty of care” argument in this case doesn’t wash with me.

We have taught our sons to be respectful to others, and we hope that if either—or both—of them make it into the big wide world of football, they continue in that vein. As the old saying goes: be nice to the people on your way up, because you might well meet them on your way back down!

Real Mallorca’s Growth: A Community Football Vision

This weekend sees the return of La Liga here in Spain, and for fans of Real Mallorca, it’s another season where the first aim is to avoid the drop. Having finished in a very impressive 10th place last year, you’d think relegation wouldn’t be on our minds—but we all know Mallorca too well. This season will be their fifth consecutive one in La Liga, and the growth in interest in the club has been enormous. Since their promotion in the 2020/21 season, they have gone from 14,471 season ticket holders to 23,044 this season.

You cannot help but applaud the American owners for what they have done since buying the club in 2016. One sticking point in the sale of the club, however, was that the ownership of the stadium is not directly tied to the club’s ownership structure. While RCD Mallorca has a long-term agreement to use the stadium, the facility is owned by the local government, specifically the Consell de Mallorca. The club has a 50-year agreement with the city council to use the stadium, which they have occupied since 1999.

Where I think the Americans have been very clever is in getting their stadium improvements approved by the government in return for agreeing to open the stadium year-round. Both parties are working together to ensure it is not just a football venue but a place that serves the local community throughout the year. The broader aim is to increase the stadium’s accessibility and utility for residents of Mallorca, promoting it as a place for recreation, events, and social interaction.

Last month I had a tour of the stadium to see the improvements and to learn about how the La Liga salary cap works and how they manage ticketing. They had just finished a series of outdoor concerts on the pitch, which was being dug up and replaced. At that point, you would have thought it impossible to host La Liga matches just a month later.

The stadium is very impressive these days. With the running track gone, fans are much closer to the pitch, making the atmosphere far more intense. But it’s also behind the scenes where you notice the biggest changes. They have gone all-in on corporate hospitality, adding a tunnel experience, private boxes, and various lounges where you can enjoy food and drink both before and after the game. While I was there, stadium tours were running, the Mallorca Sports Bar was open, and a new sports clinic had just launched. The club shop has been transformed into a state-of-the-art space that does a roaring trade, not only on match days. Conference facilities of various sizes are now available around the stadium.

Every one of these extras contributes to how the salary cap is calculated for the club. La Liga’s salary cap, known as the Squad Cost Limit, restricts how much clubs can spend on player and staff wages, amortised transfer fees, and other related expenses. This limit is determined by each club’s projected revenue and expenses for the season, including debt repayment and overheads. So, all this investment ultimately supports the entire playing structure of the club, from the first team right down to the youth levels.

There’s little to criticise the owners for, but one thing I don’t understand is why the club doesn’t yet have a women’s team. You’d think that with Spain and the USA ranked number 1 and 2 in the world, respectively, they would. The other professional team on the island, Atlético Baleares, does have one, and they play in the second tier of women’s Spanish football.

Mallorca has produced outstanding women’s talent. Three players from the island were in Spain’s national team at the European Championships: goalkeeper Cata Coll from Pòrtol, midfielder Patri Guijarro from Palma, and forward Mariona Caldentey from Felanitx. All three started in the final against England. So, the talent is definitely here.

I’m hearing that Mallorca will finally launch a women’s team ahead of the 2025/26 season. It will initially compete in the Alevín eight-a-side category, for players aged 10 and 11. The club has emphasised a long-term commitment to the women’s programme, ensuring it will be a serious project with dedicated staff and resources.

Prior to this launch, the club focused on stabilising the men’s team and building a solid foundation for growth. The women’s team will be fully integrated into the club’s football structure, with shared facilities and staff. Hopefully, that will evolve into a full programme for women, giving girls on the island the chance to pursue their dreams here rather than having to go elsewhere.

The wait is over for the first team—and tonight they face the small matter of current La Liga champions Barcelona in their opening match.

Visca Mallorca!

Rob Croll’s Sporting Son Ferrer Joins Dortmund Academy

Probably one of the biggest things to happen in youth football here in Mallorca for a very long time was announced 2 weeks ago — and I was lucky enough to be there.

Many of you on the island will know Rob Croll and his very successful Russell Martin Academy, which is named after his foster brother — the former footballer, Southampton Manager, and now the Rangers Head Coach. What you might not know is that Rob also runs the football club Sporting Son Ferrer and Mallorca Pro Training. So, he’s a busy man. But before I tell you more about the announcement, let’s find out a little more about Rob.

Born and raised in Brighton, where he went to school and college, Rob realised at that time that he wasn’t going to make it as a professional footballer. He went on to study sports and marketing at university in Southampton. He did some coaching in the UK and the USA and then spoke to his foster brother, Russ, about starting his own academy. The Russell Martin Academy was already an established brand in the UK, and Rob thought it would be a good idea to bring it to Mallorca, where he’d put down roots since moving in 2011.

In the winter of 2018, he began the Academy. He admits the first three months were difficult and that he wondered if it was all worth it. But after offering free football coaching sessions for local schools, things started to kick off (excuse the pun!). He began to be the go-to academy for non-federated kids to learn the technical side of football.

The pandemic was a crushing blow to most small businesses, and Rob was unfortunately no exception. But he managed to build it back up. Being a non-federated player means you don’t play as a team, as you’re not permitted to — but as the academy grew, the need for a team became greater. Around that time, he was playing for a team called Sporting Son Ferrer and was offered the chance to take it over. This gave him the ability to start building teams and retain players who would previously have left to play competitive football elsewhere.

They went from one to two teams in the first and second seasons and gradually grew. Last season, they had six teams — and the hope is that next season this will become ten.

Now, back to the big announcement.

I was invited to the Sporting Son Ferrer trophy presentation night at Oceans Beach Club. My eldest son, Jacob, has been coaching there for a year, and I’ve also been doing some work with Rob through Mallorca Pro Training. It was announced that Sporting Son Ferrer had signed a partnership deal with the German side Borussia Dortmund! From now on, it will be known as Club de Fútbol Borussia Dortmund International Academy Mallorca.

This is something Rob had been working on for months, and after visiting all their facilities in Germany, a deal was agreed. It is an unbelievable opportunity for Rob — but I also believe it’s a great coup for Calvià and the island of Mallorca to be linked with such a prestigious club.

Borussia Dortmund has partnered with youth programs and established academies in 16 countries, including Germany, Japan, Poland, and the USA. In the US alone, they have multiple locations, including Florida, Texas, Washington, Arizona, and Louisiana. They also have five academies in China.

Dortmund sent over two representatives for the presentation. One was Roman Weidenfeller, a goalkeeper and club legend, who made 453 appearances for Dortmund between 2002 and 2018. He won two Bundesliga titles and two German Cups with the club. He is highly regarded for his loyalty and dedication to BVB and now serves as a brand ambassador.

Christian Diercks, Head of the BVB Evonik Football Academy, also attended. He explained that their football philosophy remains the same wherever they are in the world:

• Embrace and create the training environment and attitude of the finest quality that produces real opportunities for players to reach their potential

• Understand and replicate the methodology and training focus needed at the highest levels

• Demand excellence and quality in all aspects of the game

• Create professional pathways for our players at different age levels

• Offer the opportunity for players to be identified early in their career and then monitored for progression year to year by coaches from Borussia Dortmund’s academy

• Develop coaches to their highest potential with exchange and learning opportunities

• Implement playing style and player milestones like the professional environment

• Use resources directly from the academy

• Represent nationally the Borussia Dortmund brand, the club’s history, and its outstanding reputation for player development

Rob stresses that although this partnership has moved the club to another level, the pathway for players doesn’t change. He adds, “Whilst we are aligned with a professional brand now, it’s still football for all. From the very first day that we started RMA and moved on to Sporting Son Ferrer to today, it’s always been about football for all. I don’t want anybody to think that they’re not good enough for this club.”

On a personal note, I look forward to seeing my son Jacob begin his coaching career at the club — and also to witnessing the impact this partnership will have on the future of youth football here on the island.

If you are interested in your child joining the club, please contact Rob on 0034 691 173 265.

Discover Pre-Season Training Benefits in Mallorca

The saying “the best business ideas come from…” has been heard many times. Some ideas come from personal experiences—problems observed in your own day-to-day life. Others stem from a passion or hobby, where you’re leveraging your own knowledge and experience.

I would say mine came from a combination of both. I’ve mentioned on here before that, after working for 30 years at Pirates in Mallorca and wanting to continue living on this beautiful island, I needed to find something to do.

It was a natural step for me to move into the world of concierge, considering the number of contacts I’ve acquired over the years. I was constantly being asked for a variety of things, and turning that into a business felt like the perfect progression. I knew it was key, though, to be as diverse as possible and to build a team of professional people I could trust to deliver the quality and service required for such a business.

One of those diversifications came when I was out walking my dog in Son Ferrer early one morning. I saw some footballers training on the pitch there. These guys didn’t look like ordinary players, and I recognized the people training them. When I got home, I messaged one of the trainers to ask what he was doing. He explained they were running pre-season training sessions for professional footballers who were here ahead of their own clubs’ pre-season. That trainer was Rob Croll, along with his business partner and former professional footballer Sergio Torres. They run a business called Mallorca Pro Training, which does exactly what the name suggests.

I asked Rob if he needed a goalkeeper, as my son Jude was available. He said yes, and for the next few weeks Jude gained invaluable experience training with Rob, Sergio, and the professional players.

Once all the training had finished, the football season had started, and the winter nights were closing in, Rob and I sat down and put together a plan—not only to train the players, but to look after them while they were here. Rob and Sergio focus on the training, and that’s where I came in. We now offer a full service to the players, so not only do they train while they’re here, but they also get to enjoy everything the island has to offer.

Rob and Sergio are both fully qualified coaches, offering training sessions on the 3G pitches in Son Ferrer or on the grass pitches at Real Mallorca’s training ground. They also make use of the swimming pool by the pitch in Son Ferrer and the many beaches that surround us.

You might ask: why does a footballer need to do pre-season training before their actual pre-season? Well, it’s becoming harder and harder to succeed in the football world, so players are always looking for that extra edge to stay ahead of their opponents. Proof of that definitely came with the players who trained last summer with Mallorca Pro Training:

  • James Maddison – Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, Europa League winner
  • William Osula – Striker, Newcastle United, Carabao Cup winner
  • Dennis Cirkin – Defender, Sunderland, promoted to the Premier League
  • Alex Gilbert – Charlton Athletic, promoted to the Championship
  • Charlie Crew – Doncaster Rovers, promoted to League One

There’s your proof that hard work pays off.

I’d also like to add that the progress my son Jude has made over the last year is undoubtedly thanks to Rob, Sergio, and the professional players he has trained and played with.

You don’t have to be a professional, by the way—many semi-pro and amateur players have also benefited from Rob and Sergio’s expertise.

If you know a footballer who would be interested in this, please get in touch.

Email:

info@mallorcaprotraining.com

richie@prioritymallorca.com

Family Memories: Arsenal vs Real Madrid Experience

I’ve been lucky enough in my life to experience some amazing days watching football. That includes watching my sons play, watching Real Mallorca, and of course, the team I’ve supported since I was a boy—Arsenal.

I have to say that our experience together last Wednesday night in Madrid probably tops the lot. I’ve seen Arsenal win league titles and FA Cups, but the Champions League is something that has evaded us in my lifetime. My boys, in their lifetime, have only seen an FA Cup win—we’ve been nowhere near the Champions League final. We got there in the 2005/06 season, losing to Barcelona in the final. Interestingly, that year we played Real Madrid in the last 16 and beat them 1-0 with an amazing solo goal from Thierry Henry. This was the Galácticos Madrid team of Beckham, Zidane, and Ronaldo et al., who were expected to win the competition. I was at that game too, in Madrid, but my eldest, Jacob, was only a few months old, and my youngest, Jude, hadn’t even been thought about!

Twenty years on, we were preparing to play them again—and with a 3-0 lead from the first leg, what could go wrong? I’ve always kept good contacts in my life, especially football ones, as you never know when you might need them. So when we drew Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, there was only one person I needed to ask for the away leg. Florentino Pérez, the President of Real Madrid, had been to Pirates on a couple of occasions in the past, and his daughter, Cuchy Pérez, used to come to the show every year. She sent me the price list for Madrid fans, which ranged from €125 to €450! Not a cheap night out, but we couldn’t miss it. With our residents’ 75% flight discount, the flights were pretty reasonable, and with the flight times as they were, we decided not to book a hotel.

Arriving in Madrid, we made our way to Plaza Mayor, where the majority of the Arsenal fans were congregating. It was all good fun, with the beer flowing and songs being sung—that was until the national police decided at 17:00 it was time to move everybody on. Arsenal supporters don’t have a bad reputation, but I think it’s just because we’re English that we’re treated in such a way. There was no reason given to move us along four hours before kick-off—just a whistle and some pushing. We decided to get a taxi to the stadium and ended up in an Irish bar close to the ground. The reason? You couldn’t get anywhere near the stadium because there were thousands of Madrid fans preparing a special welcome for their players’ arrival.

Once inside the stadium, we quickly realised—after climbing staircase after staircase—that our €125 ticket wasn’t going to be anywhere near the pitch. The Santiago Bernabéu is an imposing stadium, and since it’s been refurbished, it’s gone to another level. If you suffer from vertigo, you might get put off—the banking of the stands and the closing of the roof made the atmosphere electric. We were so high up we had two big screens above us just to see the game close-up.

Arsenal played just as well in the second leg as they had in the first, but Madrid were, without doubt, very disappointing. On paper, a team that contains Mbappé, Vinícius Jr, and Bellingham—to name a few—should be a frightening prospect. But they didn’t turn up in either game, if I’m honest, and you could feel the frustration among their fans.

There were a lot of Arsenal fans, like us, sitting among the Madrid fans, but without any problems. At the end, we made our way to the away end to celebrate with the rest of the supporters. We were ecstatic, and the most popular song was: “Arsenal at the Bernabéu, Tottenham watching Emmerdale!”

If, like us, you decide not to book a hotel and try to get some sleep at the airport—let me warn you—it’s not very comfortable.

We’ve decided not to go to the semi-final against PSG, either in London or Paris, but hopefully save ourselves for the final at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

We can dream, can’t we?

Dare to Dream?

A few weeks ago, Real Mallorca started their season with a creditable 1-1 draw with Real Madrid. At the time, I wrote, “There’s always a sense of excitement and nervousness when a new football season starts. How will your team play, where will they finish the season, and will they win a trophy? These are three of the most important questions in most fans minds.” Now having been a Mallorca fan for many years, my expectations, to be honest, weren’t that high. Last season we finished 15th in the league, but we had made the Copa del Rey final, losing on penalties to Atlético Bilbao. More importantly, we had replaced our very cautious and defensive coach Javier Aguirre with a fairly unknown one in Jagoba Arrasate. He was in charge at Osasuna for six years, and they had become a solid mid-table team and two years ago finished in 7th place. What Arrasate was known for was encouraging youth team players to push for first team places, and he wasn’t afraid to throw them in. 

After the Madrid game, things got a little worse for Mallorca, an encouraging away win at Leganés was followed by two losses and a draw. So after 5 games they had 5 points. 

At that time of the Madrid game I had commented on how well the American owners had done in improving the stadium, its facilities and the atmosphere. I was hoping that all that hard work would also transfer onto the pitch. But it wasn’t happening. It looked like Arrasate was searching for his best 11 as he was constantly changing the team, even the goalkeepers. What he was doing though was giving the youngsters a chance. Marc Domenech who 2 years ago was playing with my son Jacob at San Francisco in Palma, was one of the first and encouragingly more are now coming through. Whilst this was all welcome, points on the board were what Mallorca was missing, and it was looking like it was going to be another relegation battle. However, in the space of three games, they have all of a sudden woken up. A battling 1-0 home win against Real Sociedad has been followed by what can only be described as two amazing 1-2 away wins against Real Betis and Valladolid. Bearing in mind that they only won two away games in the whole of last season, and already they have three this season. As they had played Valladolid on the Friday night it meant that for at least 24 hours they were lying in a Champions League place, with Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona above them. That did change over the weekend, and now they lie in sixth place. Today they play another away game at Espanyol, so let’s hope they can continue this run of good form. It’s a great start and has the fans dreaming of Europe next season but let’s not get too excited we are only 8 games into a 38 game season. 

The Euros 2024

The Euros started last night in Germany, in the group stages they’ll be 3 games each day which to any football aficionado is heaven. So here’s my definitive rundown of the winners and losers and who might surprise a few people. 

Firstly, the partisan bookies have England surprisingly as favourites even after that friendly defeat to Iceland. They’re closely followed by France, Germany and then come Portugal, Spain and Italy. I’ll let you know my pick at the end, and I promise that all this was written before last night’s game. 

Group A: Germany, Hungary, Scotland, Switzerland 

Germany as the hosts are one to look out for. But are they the team of years gone by and are they undercooked as they haven’t played a competitive game in quite a while? For me, they have enough to get through the group and if the crowd gets behind them, they should be one to watch. The Hungarians are the dark horses, remember they gubbed England 4-0 in the Nations League not long ago. Scotland have done extremely well just to qualify and will have great support from the Tartan Army. However, injuries to key players may have ruined their chances of qualifying. Switzerland are an ageing team, which could work for or against them. 

Group B: Spain, Croatia, Italy, Albania

This is the so-called group of death. Spain has a good mix of young and old, normally slow starters, they may grow into the tournament. The Italians are the holders, of course, after beating England in the final. Since then, though, they’ve had managerial turmoil and only just scraped through qualifying. Croatia are another team mixed with young and old and were the 2018 World Cup finalists. Albanian are competing in only their second ever Euros. They won their qualifying group and could cause a surprise. 

Group C: England, Slovenia, Denmark, Serbia

What team wouldn’t want Kane, Bellingham, Rice, Foden and Saka in their starting eleven? England’s problem though will be in defence, it may be a case of you score four, we’ll score five. Serbia’s goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic plays for my local club Real Mallorca, and they could be a surprise in this group. Denmark, of course, were surprise winners back in 1992, but not sure if they have enough this time round. Slovenia are definitely the outsiders in this group, and It will be their first major tournament in 14 years, following the 2010 World Cup. 

Group D: France, Poland, Netherlands, Austria

France are in most people’s eyes the favourites, and any team that contains Kylian Mbappé will have a chance. Poland, who have not missed a European championship since making their debut in 2008, will look to get through the group stage for a second time after reaching the quarter-finals in 2016. The Netherlands are the team with the most third place finishes in the Euros, another team that could go deep into the competition. Austria, have played only10 games at the European Championships, having featured in three previous editions of the tournament, reaching the last 16 once at Euro 2020.

Group E: Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine

Not much has been said about Belgium as they’ve disappointed with such a good team in so many previous tournaments. If I was a betting man (which I’m not) then I would have a wager on them. I’m sure many people would love to see Ukraine do well because of their current situation, but I think they’ll do well to get out of the group. Romania, who will play in their sixth European Championship, were a surprise package in the qualifiers, remaining unbeaten and topping their group, above Switzerland. Slovakia will play at their third consecutive European Championship and may struggle to reach the knockout stages after failing to do so at the last tournament.

Group F: Portugal, Turkey, Czech Republic, Georgia 

It’s Cristiano Ronaldo’s last ever tournament, so will they send him out on a high? They are playing in their eighth consecutive Euros after securing qualification with a 100 percent winning record in their group. The Czech Republic will hope to find some form after an uninspiring qualifying campaign in which they finished second in their group behind Albania. Turkey, who are taking part in their sixth Euros, last reached the semi-finals in 2008. Georgia are the rank outsiders. They will participate in their first major finals as an independent nation, after they secured their spot in the tournament by defeating Luxembourg and then Greece in the play-offs.

It’s great that this tournament is on terrestrial television and therefore everyone can watch the matches. My outsiders are Belgium, my heart says England, but my head says the host nation Germany. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi, or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com

Mallorca Leading The Way In Women’s Football

Something that isn’t talked about enough here on the island is women’s football. I have highlighted it in the past, and it is definitely time to talk about it again. 

I was watching my youngest Jude training in CD San Francisco in Palma this past week, and I met up with some friends who were bringing their daughter to do some training with the girls team there. It’s so good to see girls and women’s football thriving on the island. In fact, our other professional team on the island, Atlético Baleares are the ones leading the way. 

Despite only being formed in 2018, they have made their way from local leagues to the “Primera Federación de Fútbol Femenino”, which in women’s football is equivalent to the second division. It’s an amazing achievement, and they are now only one promotion from the highest women’s league in Spain. This week, the Government held a reception for the whole team in Palma to celebrate their promotion. The women’s football pyramid in Spain is set up like this;

Primera División de fútbol femenino 

Primera Federación de Fútbol Femenino

Segunda Federación de Fútbol Femenino

Tercera Federación de Fútbol Femenino

Conectabalear Femenina autonómica 

Femenina Regional Mallorca 

Fútbol 7 Alevin/Infantil Groups A and B 

The top division contains the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. In the Primera Federación next season, Baleares will play the likes of the B teams of the big clubs. Mallorca’s next representatives are in the Tercera FDFF, UD Collerense, AD Son Sardina and the Baleares B team, who all finished in the top ten this season. The local leagues contain teams from all over the island, so there are plenty of opportunities. These are divided into women’s and girls teams. The Alevin and infantil teams can take girls up to the age of 14, and then they must take the step to the amateur women’s teams. That has been a problem as it’s quite a big step, but apparently, this coming season the Federation will add a “F7 Cadete” category for girls aged 14–16 years that are not quite ready or comfortable competing with amateurs. No matter where you are on the island, I’m sure there will be a club near you that will be looking for players. Where I live in Calvia there are two clubs with girls/women’s teams. Platges de Calvia have 1 team in Autonomica and one in Regional, as well as 2 teams in Alevin/Infantil. Sporting Son Ferrer has 1 team in Regional and 2 teams in Alevin/Infantil. 

Both clubs are looking for experienced or entrance level players for the coming season for all those teams.

Now the elephant in the room here is, where is Real Mallorca in all of this? The biggest club on the island doesn’t have a female team? That’s not good enough, really, particularly when you see the success of Atletico Baleares. I would have thought that a female team would be an obligation for a team in La Liga. What I’m hearing from people in the game that may well be coming in. They have dipped their toes in a few years ago, but apparently it didn’t work due to a lack of quality and interest. That has all changed now when Spain won the World Cup last year. 

As you may remember, they beat England in the Women’s World Cup Final last year. More interesting for me is that three of their players come from Mallorca. The goalkeeper Cata Coll was born in Portol. She played previously for Sant Marcel, Cide, Marratxí and Collerense here on the island and was bought by Barcelona and sent out on loan to Sevilla. She’s now back in Barcelona and, after a bad injury, is now Spain’s first choice. Whilst here on the island, she was training at the Pablo Roca goalkeeping school, where my youngest son Jude goes. She has also trained with Jude a few times too. 

Forward Mariona Caldenty was born in Felanitx where she began her career. That was followed by Cide, Collerense and in 2014 she joined Barcelona. 

Another player from Mallorca, Patri Guijarro, was one of the players who boycotted the Spanish squad before the last World Cup tournament. She was born in Palma where she played for UD Collerense and at the age of 17 she joined Barcelona and has been there ever since. 

All three of the above played for Barcelona last weekend in the final of the Women’s Champions League, beating Lyon 2-0.

Hopefully all three will inspire more girls on the island to play football and to become World Cup and Champions League winners in the future. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi, or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

“I hope that it’s not another 20 years before we do son!”

You might be surprised when I say that Sevilla didn’t disappoint. Yes, of course it would have been amazing for Real Mallorca to win the Copa Del Rey, but the whole experience was a joy from start to finish. 

On the Friday, I talked to Hawksbee and Jacob’s on Talksport radio in the UK about how well Real Mallorca had done to actually get to the final. My youngest son Jude and I also visited the club shop at the stadium. Which, as you can imagine, was doing a roaring trade. Credit to the club’s owners, who have built a much larger one when the stadium was being converted. I’m not sure the old one, which was like a broom cupboard, would have coped. I talked about Nike last week, and it’s no surprise that with American owners, Mallorca swapped their shirt sponsor from Umbro to Nike in July 2021. Now they don’t make football shirts like they used to, and the more fashionable tighter fit means a fat git like me struggles to get into one. So I bought a much more flattering and cheaper t-shirt. My son bought the goalkeeper jersey and even though we got a 10% discount as season ticket holders, it was still an eye-watering €76.50.

Saturday morning we set off for Sevilla. We flew to Valencia and after a short stop we boarded the same plane for the trip to Seville. We arrived at three in the afternoon and asked the taxi driver to take us to as close to the Cathedral he could. As we got out of the taxi, all we could see was red and white Athletic Club shirts. Stories say there were 20,000 with tickets (which we’ll talk about soon) and another 50,000 made the trip without tickets. We found our way to our favourite tapas bar called “Pelayo”. It was a bar recommended to us by a friend, which we visit every time we go to Seville. It is very noticeable that when you’re eating out on the mainland, you can see that Mallorca is much more expensive. On leaving the restaurant, we found the square that quite a few of the Real Mallorca fans were congregating in. There was a great fun atmosphere with lots of singing and drinking. We bumped into quite a few friends, and then we all made our way to the ground. Up to that point, our day had gone really well. The checking of bags by the police just to get into the fan zone outside the ground was to me a bit excessive. But the same bag search happened again as you made your way into the grounds of the stadium. 

La Cartuja Stadium was built in the mid-nineties, as Sevilla fancied itself as an Olympic host city and set about building a stadium to the exacting standards laid down by the International Olympic Committee. Three years and 120 million euros later, it had a 60,000 capacity stadium, but no Olympic Games as Sevilla didn’t even make the ballot process for the 2004 or the 2008 games. They offered it to both the cities football clubs, but neither Real Betis nor Sevilla wanted an athletics track and to be tenants. So, since then it has hosted some Spain games, the Copa Del Rey, UEFA finals and music concerts. 

Once inside, it was clear that we were going to be outnumbered by the Athletic fans. They seemed to be everywhere. Each club was supposed to receive 20,000 tickets and the other 20,000 was supposed to go to dignitaries, sponsors and families of the players. But it looked to me that most had been got by the Athletic fans. Some had even got into the Mallorca end, and I think that Mallorca and the RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) should look into that. Nevertheless, we out sang their fans, creating an unbelievable atmosphere and most of our fans were in way before the start. Ironic that it’s called the Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) and yet all the Athletic Club fans booed & whistled at the Spanish National Anthem and the King when put onto the big screen!  I’m sure most of you have heard the result by now, so I don’t need to go into any detail. Suffice to say that when we scored it was absolute bedlam, and unfortunately we couldn’t hang on. 

Grown men, women and children were crying around me, but in truth the best team won. If you could win on heart and passion, the cup would have been ours. Athletic Club’s annual budget is €261.60 compared to Mallorca’s €87.10 and in Nico Williams (man of the match) they have a player arguably worth more than the whole of the Mallorca squad. 

It is something I will look back on fondly, when 20,000 islanders went to Seville via plane or ferry to the mainland and then car, train, bus, coach, and we showed the World what a passionate football club we are. My Son said “do you think we’ll ever create that atmosphere again Dad?” 

My reply, “I hope that it’s not another 20 years before we do son!”

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com 

The Nike Controversy

Last week I received a text that said “I predict you writing something on the new Nike England kit and flag.” Which made me smile, and in truth it would be amiss of me not to talk about it, as it created such a furore. If you’ve not seen it, Nike have produced an England football shirt with a purple, blue, black and red cross on the back of the neck. Changing the colour of the flag of St George was seen by most people as something you shouldn’t touch, and the public outcry is still running today. 

Firstly, for me, is it Nike (pronounced like the name Mike) or is it Nike (pronounced like the name Mikey). Well, it’s Nikey if you look it up. Founded in 1964, they have become the World’s leading apparel brand, worth $142.39 billion. The Nike tick and the slogan “Just do it” have become synonymous around the World.

Nike first signed a six-year deal with the English Football Association back in 2012, marking the end of Umbro’s sixty-year association with the National team. Umbro had been England’s official kit supplier since the 1950s, apart from an eight-year stretch from 1974-82 when Admiral took over. That was extended in 2018 to a twelve-year deal until 2030, said to be worth £400 million. 

I asked my two boys what they thought of the kit, and both were unimpressed and said why did they change the flag? Two boys who are 18 and 14 respectively and haven’t really been brought up with the flag of St George being part of our lives. In fact, both prefer the retro kits that England used to wear. 

High street retailer JD Sports has revealed that, for the first time ever, England’s away kit is selling better than the home kit. So, in my opinion, this is a great marketing ploy by Nike. Still sell the same amount of shirts but more away ones than home ones and next year produce a different one. And these shirts don’t come cheap, by the way, £124.99 in adult sizes and £119.99 for kids. With a deal lasting until 2030, what have they got to lose?

Remember that this is the same brand that didn’t want to produce a Mary Earps England goalkeeper jersey. They faced a widespread backlash and after mounting pressure, they relented and released Earp’s green long-sleeved Lionesses shirt for sale, with the product selling out twice in a matter of minutes. They’re not daft in the Nike marketing department, are they! 

Interestingly, England aren’t the only ones with kit problems. 

Germany has released a pink away kit, said to represent the diversity in Germany, but as you can imagine this has caused a bit of a rumpus. But the colour of the shirt was not the major talking point as far as the Germans were concerned. Last week, it was announced that the decades-long kit supply tie-up between German soccer’s DFB governing body and German sportswear giant Adidas, one of the most renowned technical deals in sport, will come to an end after the 2026 World Cup. And guess who’s taking over? Yes, you guessed it, our friends from Nike. Reports suggested that the Americans offered in the region of €100 million, almost double what their German counterparts at Adidas apparently offered. 

Even Spain has been caught up in a kit gate saga, although this dated back to 2017. German sportswear brand Adidas faced fury after critics claimed the colours of Spain’s national team’s shirt were too similar to the flag of Spain’s Second Republic – instead of its national flag.

Spain’s Second Republic spanned eight years from 1931 to 1939 and officially ended following the victory of nationalist leader Francisco Franco at the end of the devastating Spanish Civil War.

The republic’s flag featured a purple strip at the bottom of Spain’s red and yellow bands – and critics of the national team shirt drew comparisons due to the inclusion of a splash of purple down the shirt. 

Of the current top 10 in the FIFA football rankings, Nike produces the kits for France, England, Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal and Croatia. With Adidas producing the rest for Argentina, Spain, Belgium and Italy.

I find all this criticism of the shirt funny as we don’t really celebrate St George’s Day on April the 23rd, in fact English people celebrate St Patrick’s Day more. But you may have read earlier in the week that, due to a new initiative by the Calvia Town Hall, there are four days of St George’s celebrations this year in Palma Nova, which is great to see. Details can be found in the Majorca Daily Bulletin and at the Town Hall. We at Pirates are offering 50% off of our Main Deck seating that week on Wednesday 24th of April and Friday 26th of April. 

As for Nike, it seems to me they will keep on pushing the barriers and creating controversy, as it doesn’t seem to be affecting them. 

Richie is the MD at Pirates, the island’s number one night out featuring Adventure, Reloaded and Gringos. Subscribe to receive his blogs at http://www.dadtaximallorca.com

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com