FC Torrevieja

In Torrevieja, football started to become popular during the time of the World War I. The first official ground was inaugurated in 1920, near the town's bus station, with a statue of a footballer being erected in the small plaza behind it in later years. The first reference to Torrevieja CF is in 1923 and, although there was no official league for the team to play in, friendlies and summer cup competitions were arranged against other teams in the Vega Baja del Segura region. During the Spanish Civil War football came to a standstill, and it was not until the mid-1950s that Torrevieja again had an official team, with both Español Frente de Juventudes (known as el Hueso) and Club Deportivo Torrevejense (known as el Remiendo) being formed, with the peculiarity that no admission was charged, with fans making whatever contribution they could. Over the next 15 years, both of the clubs folded, leaving a void which was filled in 1971 with the foundation of Torrevieja Club de Fútbol. The town's mayor, Vicente García García, and his administration, took on the task of building the football ground, which was named after the politician, being inaugurated with a match with neighbouring Hércules CF. In 1978, Torrevieja reached the fourth division–the first national category–for the first time, competing in that level for ten years after which it promoted again, now to the third level, a spell that ended in the 1992–93 campaign, with the club suffering another relegation in 1994 due to…