Spain's oldest club on brink of extinction

[rascal]

Recreativo de Huelva: Spain's oldest club on the brink of extinction

"It would be a national disaster if Recre disappears. Because if it can happen to El Decano, it can happen to anyone."

A decade is a long time in football. In December 2006, Recreativo de Huelva enjoyed one of the greatest moments in their history with a 3-0 win at Real Madrid.

The Bernabeu was stunned into silence as Spain's oldest football club produced one of the biggest shocks in La Liga history.

The Spanish press called it a "humiliation." It was inconceivable that Real Madrid's Galacticos, featuring David Beckham, Robinho and Ronaldo, could suffer such a humbling defeat by the Andalusian side, newly promoted to Spain's Primera Division after three seasons out.

But now Recreativo is languishing in the country's third division and 126 years of footballing history is being threatened with extinction.

"This is precisely where football entered Spain. This makes us very proud," says Jose Antonio Cabrera, president of Recre's supporters' organisations - the man who talks of a national disaster.

Spain's oldest football team was founded in 1889, when two Brits formed a club for overseas workers in the Rio Tinto mines. It's a story well known in Huelva and one that has put the small port city, with a population of just 150,000, on the map.

A bust of Recre's first president, Charles Adams, stands to remind those that pass of Huelva's heritage. Football is more than just a game here.

"Recreativo de Huelva passes from grandfathers to fathers, from fathers to sons," said Cabrera. "When we go to watch the team play we remember our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. We are the inheritors of the 1889 spirit."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35884725

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[The Cowboy]

Really, who cares? Just cos something was first doesn't give it a divine right to exist forever.

 

[Eric Djemba-Djemba]

Good

 

[royalblue66]

Really, who cares? Just cos something was first doesn't give it a divine right to exist forever.

Don't think anyone would be bothered if it were say, Notts County.

 

[No8Bally]

I long for the day when I hear this about the wallpushing vermin

 

[royalblue66]

I long for the day when I hear this about the wallpushing vermin

Could you imagine the celebrating ?

 

[tommye]

I long for the day when I hear this about the wallpushing vermin

Could you imagine the celebrating ?

 

[Ashtonian]

Still think it is shocking that there is so much money in he game and these types of clubs have to go under because of a relatively small fee owed.

How many clubs each players from them and then spend 100 times the club's value on a player years later without batting an eyelid.

 

[Eric Djemba-Djemba]

The important thing to think about is when they were the only club in existence in Spain who did they play?

 

[rascal]

Really, who cares? Just cos something was first doesn't give it a divine right to exist forever.

Normally I agree but I don't think it's possible to appreciate football in its entirety without appreciating its history. Fair enough if you think differently, though. I appreciate that.

 

[rascal]

Don't think anyone would be bothered if it were say, Notts County.

Yes they would. For a comparison just look at the coverage Sheffield FC get. Dortmund have been keen to raise money for them.

 

[royalblue66]

Yes they would. For a comparison just look at the coverage Sheffield FC get. Dortmund have been keen to raise money for them.

Don't think too many would be worried over here,just my opinion.

 

[rascal]

Don't think too many would be worried over here,just my opinion.

Another example is Chester City - It was getting loads of coverage before going under. Hereford too.

 

[The Cowboy]

Yes they would. For a comparison just look at the coverage Sheffield FC get. Dortmund have been keen to raise money for them.

Does anyone know who the second oldest team is, though? There's always this clamour to save clubs simply cos they were the first, when in reality that shouldn't afford them any more right to exist than any other club.

 

[rascal]

Does anyone know who the second oldest team is, though? There's always this clamour to save clubs simply cos they were the first, when in reality that shouldn't afford them any more right to exist than any other club.

It's a people's passion, it's not as if one can just simply walk away and support a different football club. Unless of course you're sick of modern football and all that entails.