Marbella FC Secures Third Place for 1st RFEF Playoff
Marbella FC has secured the third spot for the playoff to ascend to 1st RFEF this afternoon. The draw will take place on Monday, pitting them against one of the teams that finished fourth in the other groups of the category. Their potential rivals are Guijuelo, Utebo, Sant Andreu, and Getafe B. The first match will be away, with the return at La Dama de Noche.
Draw for the First Playoff Round to Ascend to 1st RFEF
The draw for the first playoff round to ascend to 1st RFEF will take place at the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Football Federation on Monday. Marbella FC has achieved its goal of finishing the competition in third place this afternoon. This third place allows Fran Beltran’s team to face the first of the playoff rounds with a slight advantage. Marbella will play the return leg of the round at home, and in case of a tie, after extra time, they would benefit from their better league position.
Marbella FC’s Potential Rivals
Marbella FC already knows the four teams that could be their first rival on the path to category promotion: Guijuelo, Utebo, Sant Andreu, and Getafe B. Guijuelo, despite starting the season in top positions, has had several ups and downs but managed to secure the fourth place with a good final stretch of the season. The team has made the most of its victories despite only scoring 36 goals and conceding 34.
Utebo FC, Sant Andreu, and Getafe B
The fourth-ranked team from Group II is Utebo FC, one of the season’s big surprises, which managed to stabilize in the playoff positions seven rounds before the end of the championship. Their numbers are similar to Guijuelo with 40 goals for and 31 against. Sant Andreu has improved over the course of the season, securing the fourth place on the last day of the competition. The Catalan team, a regular in the now-defunct 2nd B, wants to return to the third category of Spanish football. Their record has been 53 goals for and 33 against. Lastly, Getafe B from Group V has qualified. The subsidiary is, possibly, the rival to avoid in this first draw.
Distances and Locations of Potential Rivals
Guijuelo is a town of 6,000 inhabitants in the province of Salamanca, located 50 kilometers south of the capital. The journey is just over 650 kilometers. Utebo, a municipality in Aragon with 19,000 inhabitants, is 14 kilometers from Zaragoza. From Marbella, the journey would be almost 900 kilometers. Sant Andreu is the team from the Barcelona neighborhood of Sant Andreu del Palomar, which has 57,000 inhabitants. It would be the longest displacement with just over 1,000 kilometers. Getafe, south of Madrid, has about 190,000 inhabitants and its first team is in the First Division. It is the shortest trip, although it is 575 kilometers.
Path to Promotion
To achieve promotion to 1st RFEF, Marbella FC will have to overcome two rounds. In this first one, they will face a fourth. In the next, they could have to face a second (depending on how the first round is resolved), so they would lose the advantage of their league position. If they overcome it, they will move up a category.
