Jen and I had driven up to Valencia for some La Liga action at the Mestalla and arrived a few hours before kick-off to see the sights around the city. We’d managed to dump the car about twenty minutes away from the ground, next to the Jardi del Turia, which is a park that runs through a lot of the old centre.
Lots of people were taking a stroll through the trees and there were yoga classes going on as well as some salsa dancing. I had more interest in the football pitch that I’d spotted and we paused for a while at the Camp de futbol municipal L’Exposicio to watch some matches where the kids were probably around six years old. They played across the pitch in eight-a side matches.
Three hours or so later we were back in the park, having had our lunch and with the intention of picking up coats and jumpers from the car before heading to the match. As we passed the park pitch, I could see there was still football going on but this time it was larger kids playing eleven -a-side. That counts as a tick by my rules and so we hurried over for a closer look.
I asked a fella behind the goal who the teams were and fortunately he knew. He also told me that the players were fifteen years old. This was enough for me to be able to track down and confirm the details online of the Infantil A Division of some Valencian League.
Apolo were in a blue and back striped kit of the style made famous by the Boro’s infrequent adoption of the colours as an away strip. Think Hickton in the Charlton’s Champions team, Barmby in Robbo’s first Premier League campaign or Boksic a few years later. The other lot were in a white kit, something that we’ve occasionally turned out in, but which is more naturally associated with Dirty Leeds.
Apolo looked to be the stronger side and scored whilst we were there, before running out eventual three-one winners.
Tags: Spanish football U15, Valencia
Trail of the Lion King 
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