A RARE WEEK OFF FOR THE ROJILLOS THEN FULL STEAM AHEAD
Last Sunday UD Lanzarote salvaged their season with six minutes to spare. Tomorrow they will find out the five other teams that they will do battle with over ten games to see which two teams will move into the next step of the promotion playoffs.
The league system this season is unusual yet quite radical. This is my interpretation of it all. Please comment or email if you believe something to be different. The Canarian Third Division (Group 12) is split into two league groups this season. The teams from Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are in Group A and the sides from Tenerife and La Palma are in Group B.
Lanzarote´s Group A finished their 18 game season last Sunday whereas Group B play their final round of matches tomorrow. The season is far from over for all clubs in both groups. Every team will be involved in the next step of the playoffs whether it’s for promotion or relegation.
The top three teams from each group will go into a six team league playing each side home and away (10 matches) and the two sides that finish at the top will be promoted to Segunda B (Third Tier). It’s still not over for the four teams that missed out.
The teams that finished in fourth, fifth and sixth (Lanzarote finished 6th) spot from both groups will also go into a six team league, playing home and away (10 matches). The top two teams will then join the four other sides who failed in promotion and yes you’ve guessed, will go into a six team league playing each side both home and away (10 matches) and the side that finishes top will also be promoted to Segunda B along with the original two winners.
Yes it’s complicated, though I think a lot of thought went into this idea and overall it has tried to make everything as fair as possible.
The nine sides from both groups who finished below sixth spot will also go into league playing each side both home and away (16 matches) and the four teams who finish at the bottom of that league will be relegated to the Regional Preferente league.
There have been plenty of hiccups en route and personally I still believe that the league should have been abandoned after seven matches. The Fuerteventura clubs and most definitely Lanzarote have had huge disadvantages. Happily I can say now that it wasn’t abandoned and here we are with months of exciting football ahead of us. Our fans returned last week for the first time in over a year and were treated to a blinder of a game.
The challenge ahead is enormous but challenges are what Lanzarote has had all season. To be where we are now with a glimmer of a chance of promotion is far better than just fighting to maintain fourth tier status. The players have overcome no pre season not once but twice, the only side without fans, unable to train as a unit, playing 10 games in a month and really so much more.
The important thing now is that we are in with a shout. The positivity within the club was blatantly evident to those 200 or so souls that saw the Rojillos battle to the end last Sunday in Arrecife.
The players, management and the fans together ensured last week that at the very least the club will maintain its third division status but there is that possibility and the belief that playing football in Spain’s Bronze league next season could become a reality.
The first game of this playoff league will be played on either Saturday 1st or Sunday 2nd May. The draw will be finalised on Monday and tickets for the first home match will be on sale soon thereafter.
The club is trying to make it easier for fans to purchase tickets but please be aware that they are under the instructions from the Cabildo (local government) so please have patience.
Last week the Cabildo were delighted with all connected to the club especially the fans. It was them along with the protocol in place by the club that proved that going to watch UD Lanzarote at the Arrecife stadium is a safe place to watch a game of football.
