Gran Alacant’s Elche CF SUPPORTERS GROUP

A group of football fans in Gran Alacant have set-up their own supporters club to watch the local professional club, Elche CF, at their home games at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, and their away games in local bars around Gran Alacant.

Members include football fans from England, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and of course Spain. And while the first love of these might be Newcastle United, Liverpool, Manchester United, Celtic, or Rangers, the common ground is that on match days everyone is green and white in support of Elche.

It has not been a great season for the Franjiverdes in what is their centenary year. Elche have found themselves in last place in La Liga all season and face a mammoth task to survive relegation to Segunda. Though hope is not lost just yet, especially after gaining a first league win of the season against Villarreal in February.

For away games, depending on the kickoff time and date, and what game bars will be showing to accommodate their numbers, the group usually meets 30 minutes before the start to watch the match together.

Home games see the group move around different bars in Gran Alacant as their meeting place, with bars used this season including the Jolly Roger, Naty’s, Shooters, The Pub, and Tommy’s.

From there, the group arranges carsharing to get up to the ground in time for some pre-match beers and food before returning to Gran Alacant afterwards.

Travel to the ground historically was problematic with no easy public transport links, other than changing buses in Santa Pola which would take an age, and would also leave you stranded in Elche after some of the late final whistles. With the group sharing driving duties, the group has managed to shift larger groups of fans to games.

Tickets are always easy to come by via the club website at www.elchecf.es apart from for the visits of Real Madrid and Barcelona. There is also the occasional spare ticket available through the group as well.

Jornadas in Spain have games all spread out with each match being televised. It is normal for the actual date and time of the match to not be announced until 2 to 5 weeks beforehand. So if you look at any fixtures now and see a Sunday kickoff at 4pm, remember that this will never be the exact time or date of the game.

The only confirmed home game in March is on Saturday 11 March at 16:15 against Valladolid. The next home game after that is the visit of Barcelona (we have no spares available for this match) which will likely be played on Saturday 1 or Sunday 2 April. Check the official website around mid-March for ticket details.

If you are interested in watching an Elche match, find the group on Facebook at ‘Peña Elche CF de Gran Alacant’.