History and Statistics of Football in Lanzarote

History and Statistics of Football in Lanzarote is a work that has become a reality after 15 years of dedication. To this long @empo I must add some more years of seeking financial support from public institutions, private companies, and sports organizations, until the Cabildo de Lanzarote heeded my request and took charge of the publication.

Thanks to the people who saw the need to publish the history of our football, this work finally sees the light. I have grouped it into three volumes and an annex containing about two thousand pages. The cover drawing is by a young César Manrique and the back cover is by Luis Pérez Oliva.

Football went through delicate moments in its beginnings, as it was a misunderstood sport both on and off the island.

The first reference we have about the beginning of football practice in Lanzarote dates back to 1903, when a Swedish ship anchored in the bay of Arrecife, near the old Muelle Grande, and its crew played a match on the sand of El Reducto beach. It was quite an event.

A few years later, in 1910, the brothers Manuel and Antonio Molina returned from England, where they had studied, with all the necessary accessories for playing football. The first matches were played on a field located near the current IES Agustín Espinosa, in Arrecife. Years later, they began to play on a field located in the salt flats of La Vega, also in Arrecife.

In 1925, the first football team, CD Arrecife, was founded, sponsored by Francisco Fábregas Ferrer, a Catalan who settled on the island after returning from Argentina and who was key to the development of this sport.

The Fábregas were a very football-loving family. The father was in charge of administrative and organizational tasks, and his sons Narciso, Hiram, Paquito, and Óscar followed in his footsteps, especially the first one.

Narciso stood out as a player in the twenties and thirties, and after retiring, he dedicated himself to teaching footballers through apprenticeship courses, as well as coaches and referees. In the fifties, he was president of the association of coaches, referees, and the Lanzarote Football Federation. His brother Óscar also did great work for local football.

The work of this family continues to go unrecognized, and the same happens with many other people from past eras.

Lanzarote's football was very rudimentary then, but the teams showed courage and will in every match. There were three teams: two in Arrecife and one in Teguise.

In this first period, a player born in Lanzarote stands out, although he trained as a footballer in Tenerife: Rafael Morera. He achieved national recognition and played for Real Madrid between 1927 and 1930.

After the end of the Spanish Civil War, in 1939, the arrival of the military marked the beginning of a new era for local football, as teams were organized in the Army Barracks and championships were held in which civilian teams participated. On the other hand, the Sociedad Deportiva y Cultural was established, which broadened horizons for the population, especially young people.

In 1944, with the start of the Liga Regional de Adheridos, the military took charge of CD Arrecife, which competed until 1950. Many of these soldiers had played in first and second division national teams, thus enriching the island competition and serving as an incentive for local young footballers, who learned from their experience and style of play.

In those years, Manuel García Negrín, “Meluco”, stood out, who debuted in the Liga Regional at just fourteen years old and was on trial at Real Madrid.

Also noteworthy is the presence of the Lanzarote soldier José Hernández González, later known as “Lobito Negro”, who triumphed at Atlético de Madrid, and Rafael Rodríguez Cabrera, a native of Guatiza, who played for UD Las Palmas in the 1949-50 season, created that same year.

The fifties brought years of good football, with new teams and much rivalry: CD Puntilla, UD Arrecife, and CD Juventud competed with the already veteran CD Torrelavega, CD Lanzarote, and CD Teguise. At that time, on cloudy days, it was a pleasure to see the stands of the Arrecife Stadium, also known as Olímpico, full of enthusiastic fans in the morning or afternoon.

Inaugurated in 1942, this playing field, located in La Vega, had an enviable project that could not be carried out due to a lack of agreement between public institutions and landowners for its acquisition. The football field was located between Triana and Argenta streets in Arrecife. The facade faced Doctor Fleming street and to the east it bordered Paraguay street. Portugal street crossed the pitch from goal to goal.

Despite the fact that the fifties were fantastic for Lanzarotean football, it was an era, along with the sixties, of crises that frustrated the hopes of players and fans. There was little help and understanding from public institutions, and the action of sports entities left much to be desired. Added to this were a series of atmospheric incidents in the form of heavy rains that flooded the football field on several occasions, leaving it unplayable for long periods of time.

However, I believe that the most important cause of the paralysis of our football was the disagreements between political authorities and sports leaders. These disagreements caused three almost consecutive crises in 1955, 1957, and 1960, which weakened football structures that had been built with great enthusiasm and effort. Everything withered and had to start again.

Left behind were the three San Ginés tournaments, a great success in organization and good football; the great rivalry between teams and fans; and the feeling towards certain colors and their crests.

In the fifties, goalkeeper Román Cabrera and winger Miguel Eugenio moved to UD Las Palmas. The former played in the reserve team and in several trial matches for the first team, while the latter played for Marítimo de Funchal and Rayo Vallecano.

To the three crises mentioned above, the one in 1965 was added, after which a new football emerged with youngsters led by four iconic figures of the beautiful game who have left an indelible mark thanks to their selfless work and their good performance.

These are Agustín Betancort Morera, known as "Tino Talega"; Antonio Gutiérrez Tejera, known as "Antonio el Cojo"; José Ramos Herrera, known as "señor José el Gomero"; and José Díaz Pérez, known as "Contreras".

In this stage, three important events occurred. The first is the visit of the Las Palmas team, champions of Spain in 1962. The second is the resumption of official competitions in the Tercera Regional category on a continuous basis until the present day. The third is the inauguration, in 1968, of a new football field, the Complejo Polideportivo Avendaño Porrúa, currently known as Ciudad Deportiva Lanzarote.

In these sixties, Fifo, Cándido “el Paraguayo”, Segundo García, and Manolo “Castañeta” stand out, who played in the Canary Islands and on the Peninsula.

In the mid-1970s, the island's representative team, UD Lanzarote, was created, continuing the legacy of the historic CD Lanzarote. In subsequent years, new football clubs emerged, especially in the interior of the island.

Another important milestone was the creation of the Tercera División Canaria, in which UD Lanzarote played a prominent role. Furthermore, the Las Palmas Football Federation approved the promotions of the island's regional teams, a possibility that had previously been denied to them.

In the nineties, grassroots football experienced a resurgence with tournaments and competitions, and with the participation of teams and players abroad, who represented our football very well.

With the new millennium came the promotions to Segunda División B for UD Lanzarote and O. Marítima, as well as visits from teams to play Copa del Rey knockout rounds, such as the all-powerful Real Madrid, RCD Mallorca, Atlético de Madrid, Athletic de Bilbao, and CD Tenerife. Jonathan Pérez Olivero, Jotha, a native of Tinajo, Lanzarote, debuted at Real Madrid and also played for UD Las Palmas.

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Likewise, the Navarro Leal brothers (Andrés and Sito), José Miguel, Gustavo, Jonathan Torres, Morant, the Aparicio Leal brothers, Marcos Machín, Manuel Orlando, Emeterio, the Rosmén brothers, and Yaco Quevedo, Semi, and others, stood out off the island, as it is impossible to name them all.

Currently, football has changed a lot compared to the past: there are rules of the game that are confusing and the video assistant referee system, or VAR, has appeared. On the other hand, the players' attire seems more suited for a carnival than a football match, the economic aspect takes precedence over the sporting one, the sentiment for club colors and crests has declined, and there is little support for regional football from institutions.

Therefore, today's football is neither better nor worse than what other generations enjoyed; it is simply different.

To conclude, I want to express my gratitude to the fans, the football clubs, the coaches, the players, the Insular Football Delegation, the individuals responsible for archives, civil registries, and libraries, and all those associated with football who are no longer with us, as well as the photographers, always willing to collaborate. Thank you all for making this work possible.

I want to express my most sincere gratitude to the collaborators of this work, Aitor and José Ramón Mesa Márquez, Antonio Montelongo Franquiz, Paco Hernández Delgado and Cristian Guadalupe Páez.

Likewise, to José Juan Ramírez, president of the César Manrique Foundation, I especially thank him for the loan of some drawings by César, one of which illustrates the cover of this work. I also want to express my gratitude to Luis Pérez Oliva for allowing me to use one of his watercolors on the back cover.

To Tomás Rodríguez Barrios, I thank him for his valuable help in the final stretch of this work, with visits to companies and institutions in search of funding for its publication. Help that we finally found in the counselor of Publications of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, María Ascensión Toledo Hernández, and in the director of the Publications Service of the corporation, María José Alonso Gómez. They have been fundamental for us to be able to present today "Historia y Estadística del Fútbol en Lanzarote", and to both of them I am deeply grateful.

I thank my wife and my two daughters for their time and for accompanying me on this very long editorial adventure.

I hope that you like this "Historia y Estadística del Fútbol en Lanzarote", that it brings good memories to the older people who leaf through it with affection and that it serves for the younger ones to know what our football was like over time.