Although football has been played in the City for more than a hundred years, and at the beginning of the 20th century there are photographs showing evidence of the existence of Torrevieja CF, it was only in 1971 when the torrevejenses fans of football were unified by the same club logo, the same club name and the same home venue, at the Municipal Soccer stadium “Vicente García”.
As such, next year, TORREVIEJA CF, will celebrate fifty years of uninterrupted history (1971-2021).
The new club first played in the 1971/72 season in the Second Regional Murciana Group 2.
Subsequent seasons saw it promoted to First Regional and Preferente Regional Murciana, until in 1978 it was finally elevated to the national category when promoted to Tercera, the Third Division.
After ten years in the league, the club was promoted to Second Division B, where it played five consecutive seasons, leaving such good footballing memories among hundreds of local fans. Also for fifteen seasons, the team played on several occasions in the Copa del Rey.
It was also during that period when ‘The Torry Army’ came onto the scene. This was the International Supporters Club of CD Torrevieja which quickly gained recognition throughout Europe.
From its inception it just grew and grew, in line with the influx of ex-pats to the Torrevieja area and although it has since diminished in numbers as the movement of ex-pats has reversed, during the glory days of the early millennium, the membership counted many thousands of supporters.
In the 2002–03 season, Restituto Marroquí (Tuto) was elected as club president by the local council. The manager was Croatian Vlado Macan, who took his squad of young, local players, to a mid-table finish.
In January 2003, at a meeting in the “Total Football Bar” owned by founder member Rob Palmer in the Urbanización San Luis, a group of mainly British fans met and established a supporters club. This group had been following the team all season (both home and away matches), and had helped to increase crowds at the ground from 100 or so to almost 5,000. The name chosen was “The Torry Army”, and the first president was Eduardo “Eddie” Cagigao.
While the Torry Army went from strength to strength the fortunes of the club fared rather less well although it comfortably retained it’s Tercera status until it was eventually relegate to Preferente at the end of the 2016/17 campaign.
Playing performances were good, bad and indifferent, but what was always dominant in the club’s concerns was it’s financial situation which was never really adequate, particularly as support from the Torry Army diminished and the council subsidy reduced year on year, and it was largely it’s financial situation, together with poor management at board level, that led to it’s subsequent demise.
But there is still a great deal to celebrate and commemorate during that period and on the eve of the club’s 50th anniversary there are plans to hold a “Commemorative Exhibition” in 2021.
At the moment the details are still to be agreed but the Club’s Social Department, which already has more than five hundred historical references, from photographs donated by fans, commemorative objects and newspaper articles from its newspaper archive, is adamant that it will go ahead.
As such it is appealing for new items of whatever nature, images, creations and memories, which it can add to the forthcoming “Commemorative Exhibition” in the future.
Fans who are interested in participating or contributing can do so by contacting mobile 670 335 199 or by email: tpfutbol1@gmail.com
