Villarreal hoping for 20,000 season ticket holders; CD Castellón have new ownership

Probably not the most useful news to those of us far away from Vila-real, but Villarreal’s season ticket campaign launched this week and is off to a good start by all accounts. President Roig set a target of 20,000 season ticket holders, which would be pretty dang impressive given that we only have 50,000 people in the town (sure, the surrounding area contributes some, but our appeal is quite regional). We had about 19,000 last season.

This is at least giving folks something to do, since (and we’ll be happy if it continues) this promises to be the quietest summer in the transfer market for Villarreal since the summer of 2010. That time we brought in Borja Valero and Carlos Marchena—that was it. So far this season, Ünal and Semedo (I’m not counting returning players like Andrés and Adrián Marín).

Meanwhile, news of our near neighbors CD Castellón. They were eliminated from the promotion playoffs with a goal at the end of extra time, but they now have new owners, which should please the fans greatly. The new ownership group includes Pablo Hernandez, former Castellon youth player (and current Leeds United player) and Angel Dealbert, who was a stalwart for Castellon from 2001-09.

I know the rivalry is a big one and there are a lot of Villarreal supporters who mock Castellón for being in the Tercera now, but it would sure be great for our region if they were to become a successful club again. Founded in 1922, they’ve spent about half their life in the Segunda (11 years in the Primera, the last in 1991) and have a Copa del Rey final appearance (1972-73, so long ago that retired World Cup-winning Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque was a star player for them). We wish them good luck.