FC Malaga - The Rosadela - Capacity: 33,000 All Seater
The Stadium – The Rosadela Paseo de Martiricos s/n, Malaga After years of rebuilding, the Rosadela has now re-opened as a fantastic venue for La Liga football. But La Liga football has to wait for a while as the club were not able to fight off relegation last year and have ended up in the second division with derbies against Almeria and Cadiz instead of Seville and Real Betis to look forward to.
With over 300 days of sunshine per year in Malaga, it is no surprise to see the Rosadela being an open air stadium, although the recent redevelopment has seen roof’s added to the two main stands. With such a huge ex-pat community based on the Costa del Sol, Malaga still continue to get good attendances, despite their recent poor form – averaging over 19,000 last season. In fact, Malaga have more English speaking season ticket holders than Millwall have!
The stadium was originally constructed in 1936, although due to the civil war it did not officially open until 1941, with an opening fixture versus Seville. The ground was redeveloped on a number of occasions during the next thirty years, with additional tiers added to the Preferencia and Tribuna’s, doubling the capacity to nearly 46,000 in time for the 1982 World Cup finals, when the stadium hosted the games between Scotland and New Zealand, USSR and New Zealand and USSR versus Scotland.
Today, with all of the redevelopment work completed, the stadium offers unobstructed views, stands closely hugging the pitch and a decent set of fans who are passionate about their team. A game here during the early or late part of the season is definitely a welcome distraction from the beaches of the Costa del Sol. The hardcore Hinchas (the Malaga ultras) can be found in the Fondo End of the stadium.
Who Plays There? The current team Malaga CF only actually came into existence in 1994 after Club Deportivo Malaga had gone into bankruptcy. As with most clubs, CD Malaga actually had a second or “B” team who were a legally separate club (having been formed in 1948) and so the resources in terms of playing and coaching staff were moved lock, stock and barrel to the smaller team and within three years were back in La Liga.
It is amazing to think that the club has had such a short history. They have only had 6 seasons at the highest level, although their 20th place finish last season has returned them back to the Segunda division. The club have not won any major honours in their short history, although they did “win” the Intertoto Cup in 2002, beating Villarreal in one of the three final matches and thus qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Their first major European adventure saw them beat Zeljeznicar of Bosnia, Amica, AEK Athens and Leeds United before an away goals defeat to Boavista of Portugal in the Quarter Final’s stopped their march for the title.
The club has never had the resources to compete with the likes of Mallorca, Seville and Villarreal and has struggled to avoid relegation for the last few seasons. Last season saw the club finally relegated with just 24 goals scored in the league. The future on the field at least does not bode well for Malaga with plenty of ambitious teams in the Segunda division wanting a shot at the big time.
How to get to the Rosadela The stadiun is located a few minutes off the main costal highway, linking Gibraltar in the west to Nerja in the East. Signs direct you from the highway towards the ground, and there is able parking on the side streets within a 10 minute walk of the stadium. If you are coming from the city centre then you have two options. Firstly, if you fancy a walk then simply follow the Medina river inland – the stadium is a 15 minute walk on the left hand bank. Alternatively, buses 15 and 17 run from the train station to the stadium on a regular basis on matchdays.
If you are staying along the cost then you may be interested to know that the International Supporters Club of Malaga actually run coaches from Marbella’s Tavern Pub to each game. Contact Ken on mec@malagafootballenglish.com for more details. Ken can also sort out tickets in advanced for most games.
For a more detailed view on who plays where in Spain go to Footiemap.com to access their excellent Football map site.
How to get a ticket for the Rosadela With an average attendance of around 19,000, and only one sell out last season (unsurprisingly versus Real Madrid) getting a ticket for a La Liga B game this season will not be a problem at all. Tickets go on sale from the ticket windows at the ground approximately 7 days before the game. If you are staying in Marbella, then see the information above about obtaining tickets from the Tavern Pub.
Malaga is the main airport in the south of Spain, serving around 7 million passengers a year. The airport currently has two terminals, with a third one due to open in 2008, along with a second runway in 2010. To reach the centre of Malaga you can catch the Cercania Malaga train which runs every 30 minutes to the city and then onto Fuengirola and Marbella. There are also regular bus services right up the coast to Almunecar, and south to Gibraltar. The airport is currently served by the following airlines from the UK.
British Airways – London Gatwick and Heathrow Easyjet – Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, Newcastle and Nottingham Flybe – Birmingham Exeter, Norwich and Southampton Flyglobespan – Durham, Edinburgh and Glasgow Jet2 – Belfast, Blackpool, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle Monarch – Aberdeen, Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Newcastle Thomsonfly – Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Doncaster, London Gatwick, London Luton, Manchester and Newcastle
Who Plays There?