SOLLER-TUDE

If you know Majorca (or Mallorca as we travelled hardened tourists spell it), you will think of stag parties and hen nights. It is not all like that! In fact I am sitting quietly on my own overlooking the Port of Soller with a glorious Mediterranean sun just starting to "beat" down on me. Needless to say I think of futbol (as we travelled hardened tourists call it in the vernacular).

Club de Futbol Soller is a small town club in the Tercera Division Group 11, Level 4 of the Spanish Football league. They have been up to the heady heights of Segunda Division B (3) in their recent past but that caused a nose-bleed and so they have nestled back into the bossom of a lower region.

There are plenty of "divisions" in Spain. At the top is La Liga with 22 clubs, another La Liga 2 with 22 clubs in, then the Segunda regionalised into four groups each with 20 clubs and then the Tercera (18 divisions) each with 20 and then out to the regions such as the Balaeric Islands. Mallorca of course has its own team in the Segunda and Soller sits way underneath that level, but they are happy.

Antoni Collom (Tuni) is a well known Sollerian (I made that up) who was playing at a decent level between 2001-11 and managed to turn out for Mallorca as well as venturing to Greece for a short period. Angel Pedraga, a Soller footballer between 1995-7, also played in the midfield or full back 229 times for Mallorca, as well as spending a short time at Barcelona. Unfortunately he died at the young age of 48.

I am hoping to catch a game this weekend, maybe Mallorca v Elche or Soller sadly not at the lovely little stadium above but somewhere away on the island.