UD Unificacion Bellvitge
Ground: Camp Municipal de la Feixa Llarga
Capacity: 300
Club Founded: 1986
League: Segona Catalana Gruppe 3 - 8th Tier (current level)
Unificacion Deportivo Union Bellvitge is a football club with a strong youth and women's section, based in the Bellvitge district of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, a municipality southwest of Barcelona.
Club Background
The first football club to represent the newly developed Bellvitge was Unión Deportiva Bellvitge, which began in 1967. Several other clubs were formed before Peña Bética de Bellvitge and Agrupación Deportiva Bellvitge-Norte merged to create Unificación Deportiva Union Bellvitge in 1986.
The new club competed in the Segona Catalana, the second level of regional football and one of numerous seventh-tier leagues of the day in the Spanish football pyramid. Home matches were played at the new Camp De Futbol Municipal de la Feixa Llarga.
While the first team continued at the regional level, the club's youth team progressed all the way to the top-ranking División de Honor. Success finally came to the adult side as they were promoted from the Segona Catalana to compete in Grupo II of the Primera Catalana in 2016-17.
The team was relegated before the 2020-21 campaign was used to place each club in the right divisions going forward. Unificacion went forward playing in the Segona, which was now the eighth tier of national football, and the third-highest in Catalunya.
My visit
U.D. Unificación Bellvitge 1 RCD Espanyol 1
Juvenil Division de Honour Grupo III - Saturday 20th January 2018
👨👨👧👧 c140 🎟️ €3
Saturday had reached its midway point for me, and all was going to plan without any worrying hitches. I’d gained access to four excellent grounds and watched the match at RCDE Stadium between RCD Espanyol and Sevilla FC.
My previous venue was a stray goal kick away. I’d been next door to Estadi La Feixa Llarga, the home of CE l'Hospitalet, and taken in a little bit of junior action. The view from where I sat revealed that I may be in luck regarding access to Municipal Feixa Larga.
Sure enough, I walked a little way along Carrer de la Residencia and entered a ground belonging to Rugby Club L'Hospitalet, with its little stand and dreadful playing surface. A few patrons sat outside the club bar, enjoying a very pleasant sunny afternoon.
The gate further up was indeed open, taking me past the small-sided matches involving the club next door and to the entrance to the ground, where the gate was closed, despite a sign announcing the match and entrance fee.
The gents by the gate soon opened it when they saw me take out my! I paid €3 and was given raffle tickets in return. There was no sign of any programmes or teamsheets. Music was playing, keeping the early attendees entertained.
The ground was relatively basic but offered plenty of scope for development as and when needed. The main facilities were behind the goal, with a smart bar, café and club offices standing next to the changing rooms.
Towering floodlights stood over the baseball field next door on the far side, where a few stone benches offered a seat to spectators. There were more of them spread around the rest of the tidy venue.
The far end had wide steps to offer a little elevation, along with a colourful mural on the perimeter wall. The final side had two open semi-temporary structures with seats, of the type found at big golf events.
I had a look at the extensive menu at the café, which had a hatch inside the ground but mainly served those outside, but found it a little confusing, so I didn’t bother despite being peckish. If only I had learned Spanish as a second language!
The 4pm kick-off time meant that I would only be able to see the first half before heading away to see the 6pm match in the Tercera División between Santfeliuenc FC and Unió Atletica d´Horta. I settled into one of the seats to watch the opening encounters.
It was quite an achievement for the youngsters of Bellvitge to reach the highest national level available, and one that would surely set the club up well at the senior level in the years to follow. They were certainly not overawed in any way by their illustrious neighbours.
If I didn’t know any different, I would have struggled to say which side was which, despite the hosts occupying a place at second bottom of the table. Espanyol’s youths used the whole of the pitch to try and create an opening, but they were up against determined opposition.
Bellvitge broke with pace and created chances of their own. However, the visitors came closest through Nico Melamed, who was denied by home custodian Aitor. He also saved from Sergi Garcia, while a good cross from Pau Salvans flashed across the goal.
It would be Unificación who took the lead, when a fine free kick was kept out by Espanyol stopper Yaroslav, but only as far as the marauding defender Bruno, who pounced to force the ball home on twenty-four minutes.
The goal sparked Espanyol straight into action, as Sergi Garcia fired home to level things up just a minute later. Gonpi really impressed me for Bellvitge, playing as an attacking midfielder.
There was no further action before referee Jonathan Miguel Teruel blew his whistle for half-time. I made my way back the same way and cut through the hospital grounds opposite to catch the metro to Rambla Just Oliveras before taking a train next door to my next entertainment.
