Spain

R.F.E.F. 1 Grupo 2

Sunday 22nd February 2026

Kick Off 19.15 Actual 19.17

Antequera C.F. 0 Club Esportiu Europa 2, attendance 1,800

55’ 0-1

90’ + 7, 0-2

@ Estadio El Mauli

43a Avenida Del Alcade José Maria Gonzalez

29200 Antequera

€15 Admission + €1.98 Booking Fee, Print at Home Ticket.

No Programme.

From our afternoon game in Malaga it was a 26 mile drive north to Antequera, which took just over fifty minutes.Plenty of street parking available a couple of hundred yards from the stadium and inside around twenty minutes before kick off. It’s a two sided ground as far as spectator access goes, with nothing behind either goal. There’s a main stand that’s covered, flanked by sections of open seating, with the dugouts in front of the seats, sunken below ground. We chose to sit on the opposite side, which was open to the elements and had 17 steps, with the two nearest the pitch being just concrete, whilst the rest had bucket seating and despite having allocated seats, there wasn’t a problem sitting in any unoccupied ones. There are also proper traditional floodlight pylons too, set at the side of the pitch, rather than in the four corners.

This was our highest level game we’d be watching today, being level three of the pyramid. It was a game that had a bearing on the promotion places too, with 6th in the league table hosting 4th. There was very little of note to recall from a lacklustre first half, but the game improved dramatically once Europa broke the deadlock ten minutes after the interval, cutting in from the right before curling a left footed shot in off the far post. It certainly woke up the hosts, with the visitors sitting back, hoping to hang on to what they’d got. In a seven minute spell just after the hour mark, Antequera had a goal ruled out for offside, a shot cleared off the line, a long range effort that the ‘keeper made a mess of which just squirmed wide of the post for a corner and another long range shot that hit the post. With six minutes left they hit the post again, but never looked like grabbing an equaliser after that. Europa made the points safe seven minutes into stoppage time, chipping the ball to the far post before sending a header back into the bottom corner. The win sees Europa now go third in the league table, five points behind leaders Sabadell, whilst Antequera drop to ninth.

So, that brought down the curtain on another successful Iberian trip. Fantastic weather and all seven games planned were achieved and it was only about 450 miles driving to do so. Having stopped overnight in Antequera, it was about fifty minutes drive back south to Malaga on Monday morning, from where our 13.00 flight with Vueling, back to London Gatwick, left twenty three minutes late.

Spain

Segunda Andaluza Malaga

Sunday 22nd February 2026

Kick Off 16.00 Actual 16.06

Atletico Juval 1 Union Manilva C.F. 1, attendance 39

25’ 0-1

89’ 1-1 (pen)

@ Campo de Futbol Pedro Berruezo

Calle Pintor Pepe Bornoy 4

29004 Malaga

€5 Admission

No Programme.

The 36 mile drive east along the coast from Estepona took just over 50 minutes, but despite arriving here an hour before kick off, it was nearly a case of having to drop this match from our schedule. We already had tickets for an evening game, so were working with a limited time window between matches and we had a problem here with parking, as the ground was in the middle of a residential area of tight streets and high rise buildings. We must have driven up every street in the vicinity looking for a space and just as we’d resigned ourselves to having to give up, a space appeared, just about big enough to squeeze in a vehicle. Luckily, it was only five or six minutes walk from the ground.

As with a lot of lower level games in Spain, it’s a 3G pitch, with spectator access limited to behind the near goal, where the refreshments (rolls done freshly to order) and changing rooms were and along the right hand touchline, where there was a covered stand, with concrete steps that were used for standing, rather than sitting on. The only problem was that the entire area had mesh netting in front and there was no option but to watch through it!

The match was 11th versus 3rd in the league table. It was no surprise to see the visitors take the lead after twenty five minutes, when a diagonal cross into the box was knocked down for a shot hammered low into the bottom corner. Despite dominating for long periods, they failed to get the all important second goal and were made to pay for it dearly, when Juval equalised with a penalty a minute from the end.

Spain R.F.E.F. 2

Grupo 4

Sunday 22nd February 2026

Kick Off 12.00 Actual 12.01

Club Deportivo Estepona 2 U.C.A.M. C.F. 0, attendance 2,100

58’ 1-0

71’ 2-0

@ Estadio Francisco Munoz Perez

272 Avenida de Juan Carlos I

29680 Estepona

€20 Admission

No Programme.

From our overnight hotel to the west of Seville, it was a 135 mile drive down to the southwest coastal resort of Estepona, which took around 2 hours 20 minutes, taking in views of Gibraltar en route. The Estadio Francisco Munoz Perez holds just under 4,000, with spectator access limited to three sides. Due to the heat, we chose to sit in the main seated stand, as it was the only part that offered shade, but it also offered the best backdrop of the hills too. Parking was in the streets, maybe 200 yards away, with the ticket office behind the main stand. Tickets were available online, but no problem buying on the day. There was a very good refreshment area at the back of the stand, with lots of very well known chocolate and sweets available, giving testament to the fact many Brits now living in Spain have adopted the club, with plenty of Union flags on view too.

The match was 16th versus 2nd in the league table. U.C.A.M. (Universidad Catolica Murcia) looked the better side early on, especially on the break, but Estepona had the majority of possession, but did little of note with it. Right on halftime a bad challenge saw a U.C.A.M. player red carded and two yellow cards dished out following the pushing and shoving that followed and for good measure, two red cards were also shown in the direction of the visitors bench. The second half was still evenly matched, despite the hosts having a man advantage. They made the breakthrough just before the hour mark, cutting in from the right, beating two defenders, then curling a shot into the far corner from just inside the box. They made the points safe with a second goal nineteen minutes from the end, with a left footed shot from just inside the box that gave the ‘keeper no chance.

Despite the win Estepona remain 16th (3rd bottom) in the table and U.C.A.M. now drop to third, five points adrift of leaders Aguilas, having played one game more.