Saturday 20th January 2024 – La Liga – Estadio de Balaires, Vigo
If Sky and the Premier League announced a 9pm Saturday night kick off, there would be outrage. It would be inconceivable that such a kick off slot would be chosen for a local derby or high profile game, with the police wanting to avoid any alcohol fuelled high jinx. But in Spain, it’s a regular occurrence. Even when fixtures are set with less than a couple of weeks notice, and with the away fans having no means to return home after the game, it’s accepted by all.
This week’s game saw Celta Vigo host Real Sociedad – a journey from San Sebastián to Vigo of 475 miles each, 7 hours in a car or 7 days walking if you were following the El Camino de Santiago. Now that’s a fixture change to really kick up a fuss about.
With the freezing weather in England ripping apart the fixture list, and having a free Saturday on the cards, the Football Tourist crystal ball suggested a trip to Galicia, to see Celta Virgo’s game. Ryanair delivered in terms of decent timed flights at less than £15 and it was game on. Alas, I had to pass on a second game over the weekend, leaving Danny to go solo to A Coruna for their third tier match on Sunday night against Ponferradina.
But we had the pleasure of a late tapas lunch and then a wander around the compact city centre of Vigo, the setting, as all literature aficionados will know of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a challenge for any serious ground hopper to complete in their lifetime.
The Estadio Municipal de Balaídos is a fair walk out of the centre, as we would find out later when we couldn’t get a taxi post-match. Owned by the city council, it was initially opened in 1928 and then went through significant redevelopment for the 1982 FIFA World Cup where it hosted Italy’s three group stage games. In 2017 further redevelopment began, starting by rebuilding one of the end stands, removing the curvature and bringing the fans right up to the action. The final work will see the Gol end demolished and rebuilt bringing the capacity up to 31,000 but there’s no timescales for that.
Despite over ninety minutes until kick off, the bars around the stadium were rocking. We chose Nuovo Balaídes, with its walls adorned with Celta scarves, memorabilia and the hub for the requisite bocadillo purchasing for half time.
Celta Vigo hold a number of records in Spanish football. Alas, none are related to on the field success. Having the longest running shirt sponsorship deal (Citroen from 1985 to 2016) or 24 years with one kit manufacturer (Umbro) may not populate the trophy cabinet, but means less dusting. The biggest game in their history came back in 2017 when the club reached the semi-finals of the Europa League against Manchester United – an event still celebrated by the fans with plenty sporting half and half scarves from the game.
The fans piled into the stadium in the last fifteen minutes before kick off, a very English trait but just in time for the lights to dim, the club anthem to begin, cumulating in the teams emerging onto the pitch. A few hundred Real Sociedad fans were dotted around the game, aside from a hundred or so in the away section. One strange chap, wearing a paper chef’s hat decided he was trot around the concourse at the top of the away section for the duration of the game. Nobody knew why but apparently he did this at other games too.
the game was as tight and even as it could be, aside from the final result, with former Celta midfielder Brais Méndez scoring the only goal of the game in the 11th minute, a superb effort from 25 yards. Celta thought they had scored themselves ten minutes later but the referee deemed that when the Sociedad keeper dropped the ball over the line, he was unfairly challenged by a forward.
Five minutes before the break Sociedad were forced into a substitution, Aihen Muñoz departing on a stretcher with a leg injury, replaced by Scottish International and former Arsenal midfielder Kieran Tierney.
In the 52nd minute Méndez almost had a second but his shot hit the post. Three minutes later Luca de la Terra forced the visitor’s keeper into a good save. The Celta fans in the stands behind the goal kept the atmosphere up, willing the team to keep the pressure up but there was no cutting edge. Up front for Vigo is former Liverpool striker and club legend, Iago Aspas. At 36 years old he’s not the player he was, understandably but still chased every ball. But ultimately his efforts fell short. Sociedad grabbed all three points.
The two sides would meet again on Tuesday night back here at the Balaídos in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. In the grand scheme of things, the Spanish Cup offers more hope to break the 101 year trophy hoodoo than the league.
A short, but very sweet trip. Vigo is a big yes on the Football Tourist map. Just be prepared for an uphill walk on the way back after the game.
The Ball is Round 
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