I got to Callosa with plenty of time to spare before the sixth-tier Liga Comunitat Valenciana Grupo Sud game between Callosa Deportiva and near-neighbours, Redovan. There’s only a couple of kilometres between the two towns and it’s possible that I may have actually parked closer to the away team’s ground. The ticket office was open and so I got myself a ten euro ticket.
I had a pre-match wander into town but it was mainly shut. There were a few Spainers doing spainy things, old men drinking in rough looking bars, families taking a stroll with granny in a fur coat, the granddaughter’s boyfriend in a wife-beater to show off his pecs and grandad in his pre-civil war suit as if he was worried that he might drop down dead any moment and not be coffin ready.
With kick-off approaching we were treated to some shit mid-eighties music. You can probably predict the playlist of Final Countdown, She’s a Maniac, Maneater and Forever Young (Alphaville not Dylan). As nobody’s taste in mid-eighties music can be that bad, I can only presume that it’s cheaper to licence for compilations than the same-era stuff by the likes of Tom Waits, Billy Bragg, Jesus and Mary Chain or the Style Council.
Come to think of it, what is it with football and music from forty years ago? When I started going to football in the seventies the music seemed fairly up to date. We weren’t treated to George Formby pre-match or a blast of Glen Miller after a goal.
There wasn’t much choice of food. The pizza looked like squares of the cheapest supermarket margherita, but in its pre-cooked state. Instead, I chose an empanada, which I think was filled with tuna, egg and tomato.
If only I’d been as well prepared as four old fellas sat behind the goal. They had a table with a pig leg on it. One of them was on carving duties and he kept his mates supplied with slices of jamon throughout the game.
The first half was fairly even with both sides having their opportunities, but failing to take them. Callosa came the closest with a missed penalty that came back out off the inside of the post.
It was good natured for a derby, although I suppose when you all know where everyone else lives or you shop in the same Mercadona then you might tone the aggression down.
The game opened up in the second half with Callosa going in front soon after the break. Redovan equalised a few minutes later only for the home side to successfully convert their second penalty of the game.
A well-taken half-volley clinched the points for Callosa shortly before the end but Redovan managed a consolation deep in added time to make the score a respectable three-two home victory.
Tags: pig leg, shit eighties music, sixth-tier Spanish football, supermarket pizza
Trail of the Lion King 
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