CD Tenerife (Spain)

CD Tenerife

Ground: Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López

Capacity: 22,824

Club Founded: 1922

League: Segunda División (current level)

The holiday island of Tenerife is famous as a dream destination, and it also has a football club with a proud history that plays in a fabulous city-centre stadium in its capital, Santa Cruz.

Club History

Early Years

Club Deportivo Tenerife played its football in the Primera Interinsular, the top division of local competition in its early years. Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López was opened in 1925 in the centre of Santa Cruz. After winning the title nine times, Tenerife progressed to the Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football in the 1950s.

The team was promoted in 1960-61 but spent just one season in La Liga before going back down. A ninth-place league finish in 1967-68 saw ‘Chicharreros’ drop to Grupo VIII of the Tercera División. The title was won in 1970-71, with Tenerife returning to Segunda División.

Real Madrid's Nemisis

They went down another level to Grupo II of Segunda División B before the goals of Agustín Lasaosa clinched a runners-up spot in Grupo I in 1982-83, sealing promotion, before going back down a couple of seasons later. After winning the Segunda División B title, Tenerife won the playoffs against Real Betis to return to La Liga in 1988-89.

Deportivo La Coruña were beaten in the relegation playoff to retain top-tier status the following year. Juan Antonio Pizzi scored the goals as Tenerife became accustomed to life in the top tier managed by Jorge Valdano. In consecutive seasons, the team miraculously beat Real Madrid on the last day of the season to secure their safety and deny them the title.

UEFA Cup Semi-Finalists

1993-94 saw the team reach the last sixteen of the UEFA Cup, before Jupp Heynckes arrived as manager, taking his team to fifth place in his first season in charge. The following campaign saw Tenerife reach the UEFA Cup semi-final, where they were defeated by Schalke 04.

The team was relegated to Segunda División in 1998-99, returning to the top flight a couple of seasons later. After being relegated once more, the goals of Nino and Alejandro Alfaro helped Tete to promotion in 2008-09. However, the side led by José Luis Oltra again only lasted one season in La Liga.

The disastrous 2010-11 season ended in relegation to the third tier, Segunda División B. The playoffs were reached twelve months later, where hopes of promotion were dashed by SD Ponferradina. The title and playoffs were won two seasons later, sending Tenerife, managed by Álvaro Cervera, back to the second tier. 

Getafe CF defeated Tenerife in the 2016-17 playoff final, as Dani Hernández had a fine season in goal. Managers continued to come and go at Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López before Luis Miguel Ramis led the team to the playoff final in 2021-22, which ended in defeat to Girona.

More managerial mayhem ended in relegation to Grupo I of the third-tier Primera Federación RFEF in 2024-25. The title was won a year later under manager Álvaro Cervera, when Enric Gallego led the scoring.

My visit

Thursday 1st December 1994

I was in Tenerife on holiday for a week, sorted out through my mate Steve and his pals Julie and Heath and some employees at the Pizza Hut in Scarborough. We had hired an open-top jeep to get us around during our stay, which seven of us somehow squeezed into.

We decided to go out for the day and began by driving up to the capital, Santa Cruz. I saw the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López as we drove by a side street. We stopped for a while in the centre, but found we had hit siesta time, with most places closed. This was a bit of a blow as the city seemed very nice. 

However, we went on a drive to Puerto de la Cruz and then back home over the hills. When Julie, Heath and Steve suggested going back to the capital the following Thursday, I was well up for it. I saw my chance to grab a look inside the stadium. We found it, but it was all locked up. A gent was coming out of the offices, no doubt for his siesta. 

I enquired if I could have a look inside. He wasn’t massively helpful. Eventually, he gave in a little and said I could go inside at 4pm. It was only lunchtime, so it didn’t look good for me.

My travel mates felt sorry for me and agreed to hang around. They did some shopping while I went into an extremely cheap local bar and refreshed myself. 

We returned to the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López. I think the bloke was shocked to see us come back. To be fair, he grudgingly allowed us inside the Main Stand. This was a towering two-tiered structure. Seated stands stood behind both goals on two tiers, before giving way to a single-tiered area opposite. 

The ground was totally fitted out with seats and looked excellent. I had loaded the film into my camera incorrectly some days earlier. Oh, for digital cameras back then! I have used the web to source the images in this post. The stadium has since been completed.

Owing to my incompetence at loading my old camera, the photos for this section were taken from the internet.