Reply With Quote
A few of us used to go and watch Raqui a while back. They did very well for a time, we saw a very young Pedro of FC Barcelona make his debut for San Isidro, and there were some good games. I still claim that the Final Play-off where they gained promotion was one of my best ever football experiences, a crazy afternoon.
The problem was that they did not have a big fan base at all. Even though they got promoted they sacked their manager (a popular Canarian guy) and the majority of the local players were transferred and players from the mainland(Spain) were brought in. This caused alot of resentment amongst the hardcore support and the "new fans" started to go to matches for a while but as poor results followed the numbers dropped off.
Prices were also an issue. At the time CD Tenerife were doing okay in the 2nd division, in a nice stadium and with a decent atmosphere yet it cost more to go and watch Raqui in a "non-league" stadium and the atmosphere was down to only about 30 fans behind the goal with drums but as I said the team never caught the imagination of the South of the Island.
The high costs and little financial backing resulted in disaster and the club were demoted two divisions in one go.
None of us have been for years now and crowds are down to 100-200 max. Lower league football is very badly supported in Spain in general. I mean high flying CD Marino(Las Americas) who are 2nd in the league and win at home reguarly only attract crowds of 200 if they are lucky. They know that a possible promotion to 2nd B (where Tenerife play now) could/would mean a financial disaster.
Bookmarks