Global Fútbol

Arriving in LaLiga is a relief for many clubs. Following the titanic effort, both sporting and financial, which they have had to undertake to gain promotion, the new members of LaLiga SmartBank have a fervent desire to consolidate their position, grow professionally and dream of a future with more ambitious challenges. The clubs are well aware of the infinite opportunities for development and evolution offered by LaLiga, which means that they are also keen to make the most of the opportunity for growth in conjunction with the league.

Burgos CF, Real Sociedad B, SD Amorebieta and UD Ibiza are the four teams who have earned promotion to LaLiga SmartBank this season. They face the challenge of remaining in and consolidating their position in the division to grow as clubs, strengthen their brands, increase their fanbases and act as platforms to increase the visibility of their regions and give them an economic boost.

Burgos CF: back in the silver tier after a 20-year absence

Burgos CF have returned to LaLiga SmartBank after a 20-year absence. With a Saul Berjon goal in extra time in the match against Bilbao Athletic, Burgos put an end to two decades outside professional football. "We want to strengthen the identity and pride of a historic club for our province, which will be reflected in the support of a fanbase who will stand out throughout the country," the club president Rodrigo Santidrian opens by saying.

The main objective on the pitch is to shore up the sporting development to "manage to stay up" and to be able to "dream of the possibility of promotion in the short term". To do so, it will be essential to have "a large fanbase of season-ticket holders, who will form the cornerstone of the club's consolidation and growth".

Burgos CF want to take advantage of their promotion to LaLiga SmartBank to "consolidate a professional management structure, which allows a sporting and financial project to be developed for sustained growth".

Santidrian also stresses that the main growth factors include "the increase in the support of local companies" to enjoy a historic season packed with emotions which Burgos has not experienced for 20 years.

"We aspire to turn the club into a platform which gives Burgos an economic boost, to showcase its cultural heritage as the main tool for promoting the city and the province, and acting as a driver of social activities to support the groups who are most in need," the Burgos president concludes.

SD Amorebieta: from the most modest rungs of football to LaLiga SmartBank

This is the first season in the history of SD Amorebieta in which they are competing in LaLiga SmartBank. The Basque outfit head into the 2021/22 season with "the hopes of a recently arrived newcomer, but committed to living up to the expectations and rising to the challenge ahead of us". The words of the SD Amorebieta president Jon Larrea symbolise the dreams of any modest club of playing in LaLiga SmartBank. "The most remarkable aspect is that we're representing the city; it's a mark of recognition," he added.

"We know where we come from and just staying up would be a success in itself," he remarks regarding the main sporting objective. "We also want to strengthen the youth system and stabilise the club's financial situation. Another objective is to give the city a sounding board to put Amorebieta on the map and demonstrate who we are and who we want to be."

Among others, the biggest motivations for this season are wanting "to make the city a part of our achievement, given that they couldn't be with us last season". Larrea is also seeking to bring about "a good commercial and social situation" for SD Amorebieta, as well as to "strengthen the Amorebieta brand and represent Biscay and the Basque Country with the values of the people".

UD Ibiza: the youngest club in the division

In another of the playoff finals for promotion to LaLiga SmartBank, UD Ibiza undid UCAM Murcia with a solitary Ekain Zenitagoia goal. His decisive strike saw the Balearic side achieve the historic feat of being promoted to the second tier just six years after their inception. The club was founded in the summer of 2015 by a group of businessmen led by Amadeo Salvo, the club president. "With hard work, hope and no shortage of effort we have managed to reach the level of professional football," he assures.

"From the outset, the objective was to be a club that does things differently, an innovative club in an industry resistant to change. As a company, UD Ibiza wants to provide that novel and transformative vision, and prove that modest clubs can also achieve great things," says the president.

Ibiza represents one of the best-known places and tourist destinations in the world, and for many it is a unique and exclusive location. "Together with a brand as powerful as LaLiga, UD Ibiza is capable of adding greater global visibility to LaLiga SmartBank."

As Salvo explains, the season would be a successful one if three fundamental aspects come together. The first two would be staying up and ensuring the fanbase and membership continue to grow exponentially. Finally, and no less importantly, would that "the Ibiza brand, one of the most powerful in terms of tourist destinations and lifestyle, starts to become a leading one in the football and entertainment industry, generating more fans and converting tourists the world over, who visit our island, into fans of the club and Spanish football."

UD Ibiza wants to continue growing as a business and a club based on its roots, inspiring the island's children with the project and for older people, who have spent a lifetime hoping to experience professional football in the flesh, to be able to enjoy this historic moment.

One of the greatest desires is "to be able to represent and promote the island of Ibiza and help to de-seasonalise tourism". More than anything, Ibiza wants to "offer added value to our sponsors for having trusted in our club and prove to them the huge potential and visibility that the Ibiza brand, in association with football, can have around the world."

Finally, it also sought to continue promoting respect for the island and its natural heritage through corporate responsibility actions. "UD Ibiza wants to innovate in this sphere by developing projects aimed at conserving the beauty of the island and its incalculable heritage."

Real Sociedad B: a great opportunity for the academy

As with Burgos CF, the Real Sociedad reserves secured promotion in extra time. Karrikaburu's late goal to make it 2-1 will go down in the San Sebastian club's history for catapulting the reserves into professional football after a hiatus of almost 60 years. They enter this exciting season with a great opportunity to prepare the club's youngsters. "Facing opponents of the level that exists in LaLiga SmartBank every weekend will bring them even closer, if that's possible, to the demands faced by the first team," says the club president, Jokin Aperribay.

"The fact that it will be the only reserve team in the division is testament to the fantastic job which has been done in the Zubieta academy by all of its members over the course of many years. All of this, accompanied by the positive dynamic of the first team, undoubtedly means that the image of Real Sociedad has grown and makes the project more and more attractive for high-profile international players," he adds.

In this regard, Real Sociedad B's objectives, as stated by the president, are always the same, because regardless of the division which they play in, "the coaching staff work to prepare the players so they are available and in their best form when they get the call from the first team." Likewise, "extending our stay in LaLiga SmartBank would be great news."

Since the relegation of the FC Barcelona reserves in the 2017/18 season along with Sevilla Atletico, the second tier has not featured any other reserve teams. Of the 169 clubs which have played in LaLiga SmartBank since 1928 up to the present day, only 12 of them have been reserves. "The reserves are a fundamental part of the success of Spanish football," assures Aperribay.

"Our first team has always been able to rely on young academy players who have been sufficiently prepared to turn to them at any time and continue to maintain a good competitive level nationally and internationally," he concluded by saying. "With these teams competing at the level that this division demands, future generations will come through better prepared than ever."