Getafe

Ground: Coliseum Alfonso Pérez

Visits: 1

Date: 19th February 2018

Match: Getafe - Celta Vigo 3-0 (Primera División)

Attendance: 7 929

The Monday evening game in La Liga this weekend was Getafe v Celta Vigo. With Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, the home of Getafe CF, being a new ground for me this was of course good news for me. I woke up in sunny Sevilla on Monday morning and at 10.45 I boarded the AVE-train bound for Madrid Atocha. After checking in at my nearby hotel I had a late lunch and then decided to take it easy in my room. I guess I could have done some sightseeing but being tired after all my travels I stayed in my room for a few hours. Having finally downloaded the Groundhopper app I was at least not bored, plenty of grounds for me to add!

Getafe Club de Futbol was founded in 1983 as a merger between Club Getafe Promesas and Club Deportivo Peña Getafe. Before then the club(s) had several other names and mainly played in lower divisions. In 2004 Getafe CF reached La Liga and with the exception of the 2016/17 season the club has played in Spain´s top division since then. The current ground, Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, was opened in 1998 and has a capacity of around 17 000. Staying near Atocha station going to the ground is quite easy. With the C4-commuter train it only take 15 minutes to Las Margaritas and from there it takes 10-12 minutes to walk to the ground. I was a bit hungry but outside the ground only the usual “food” (nuts etc) was on offer. A few minutes walk from the ground I found a tiny and very cozy cafeteria though. No-one could speak English but I still managed to order a bottle of water but above all a Calamares baguette. It was delicious and exactly what I needed. I then headed back to the ground and an hour before kick-off I entered the ground. All the turnstiles are behind the main stand and you have to walk to the other stands from there. This means it was possible to take of all four stands and for people like myself that is something positive! My seat was in row 14 of the East Stand and I had a great view of the action. In total 7 929 were at Coliseum Alfonso Pérez this evening and apart from 50 or so Celta Vigo fans those of us present had a great evening. Getafe were the better team and in the 37th minute they scored the first goal of the evening. In the second half they scored twice to win the game 3-0. The journey back to my hotel went smoothly and I was back at the hotel before midnight. Tomorrow I will be flying back home but I can look back at a great trip to Spain where I have now visited 11 of the 20 La Liga grounds. No more visits planned this season though.