The Union Deportiva Marbella: Marbella football club/ video

The Unión Deportiva Marbella, was founded in 1997 by Mr. Antonio J. Pérez Ramos, forming its board of directors and initiating its path to the “Regional Preferente”, 97/98 season.

You can see an interesting video about Marbella, Marbella football club and Buddha beach on The Best of Marbella website or You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmwNYDc0g1g







UD Marbella condemns racism in any form - either on or off the pitch. Racism at football matches may not be as widespread as it was in the 80s but it still exists. It can occur intentionally or through a lack of understanding and ignorance. If you are the target for racial abuse or hear or see someone making racist comments or gestures at a football match, you should immediately report it to your nearest steward or police officer.

Football in Marbella article
The Future

Michel Cruz from Manifesto speaks to UD Marbella Chief Executive Ian Radford about his plans and ambitions for the club

I know you’re a lifelong football fan but what made you invest in a football club?
I Love Marbella, I love football...

What plans did you have when you stepped into the club – was it a five-year plan of sorts?

Yes, this is a five-year project. In Year One our first task was to improve the team on the field, who were at the bottom of the league when we took over. We also needed to introduce some basic business principles to the club and bring new commercial initiatives, and spent six months working on the stadium redevelopment project. This has now been presented to the Mayoress and the Junta Andalucía.

Year Two will be about having a team in the top half of the league, challenging for the play-offs and getting the stadium project to the next stage. In Years Three and Four the investment that the new stadium project attracts will enable the club to move to another level. We believe we can build a team that can really compete for promotion to the 2a Division.

Is the rate of progress to your satisfaction?
The first six months were slow. A football club should be at the heart of the community, and normally it is, but I realise that a lot more work and time will be needed to develop more support for the club - and for what we are trying to achieve for this great town. I am constantly reminded that Marbella does not have a football history and that many of the residents are actually not originally from Marbella. But I am determined to succeed. The past three months have been encouraging as the fan base is steadily but consistently growing.

What club did you support as a kid and did you play football yourself?
Come on, you should be able to tell by my London accent!...Manchester Utd of course. I started supporting Man Utd when I was seven. I remember them beating Liverpool in the FA Cup final, and from that day they were my team. I played 24/7 as a kid, and represented my district, but unfortunately never went beyond that.

What are the main plans and ambitions for the future, both for the short and long term?
Short term, it is all about survival, both on and off the field in these difficult financial times. Business is tough around the globe. Long term is about securing the (long term) future of this football club. The only way that can happen is with the stadium project. This will create a fantastic venue for UD Marbella, with year-round income from all the other facilities we have included.

Do you have the support of the Marbella Town Hall, for instance with regard to the youth programme?

Politically this may not be the best way to answer this question, but I believe in saying it as it is. Currently we are getting no support from the Town Hall. Within our group of companies, HI Group, we have a company that brings around 40 professional football teams per year to the Costa del Sol, plus all the international press that comes with it. We now have a new stadium project that will be financed by outside international investment, yet we get no support for our youth teams, our pitch, and this year no financial support for the football club either. Other clubs we compete against receive an average €500,000 contribution from their Town Hall per season – some over €1m. This is very disappointing, and in my opinion very short sighted for such a great town like Marbella.

Where would you like to see UD Marbella in five to ten years time?
I would like to see the club in La Liga competing against the best. Villareal is a great example of what we can do with Marbella. To achieve this we will require the support of our local community, the Town Hall, and not to mention a lot of hard work.

You may also wish to visit the following links:
http://thebestofmarbella.blogspot.com/2008/11/beatiful-beaches-in-marbella.html
http://thebestofmarbella.blogspot.com/2009/01/buddha-beach-puerto-banus-you-tube.html