New opportunities for Spanish regionals

This year, for the first time in history, the Copa del Rey has welcomed regional teams. Twenty humble regional clubs were given a place in the preliminary round, with ten (who survived the preliminaries) lucky enough to be going head-to-head with top professional clubs.

The Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) is massive in Spain. Born in 1902, its full name is, “Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey» meaning «Championship of Spain – Cup of His Majesty the King.»

FC Barcelona: kings of the Kings Cup

It’s not going to do UD Ibiza’s pre-match jitters any good to note that Barcelona FC has won this competition the most times, with thirty titles and forty-one Copa del Rey final appearances under their belt. UD Ibiza, on the other hand, is yet to make its first official appearance in the tournament. In fact, in its current incarnation, the team was born very recently (2015) and sports a mere 4-year history. According to the teams’ official website, they’re currently in 3rd place in the Spanish 3rd division with 37 points.

David vs Goliath springs to mind.

Despite Barcelona’s massive prowess in the Copa Del Rey, the 2018-19 edition of the competition did see their winning streak come to an end after Valencia surprised themselves (and nearly everyone else) with a 2-1 win in extra time. Could UD Ibiza be in with a chance, however tiny, to win?

Well, stranger things have happened at sea, m’hearties!

Here’s the ID Ibiza team, nailing their last training session before the Copa Del Rey.

Huge growth

The competition has grown hugely since the early days. The first Copa del Rey championship was played by just three teams, while the most recent was played by 84 sides. And this year, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) made a decision to include more teams & give the tournament a makeover.

The 2019-20 edition of this tournament will feature no less than 110 teams making a play for the title. The tournament began on November 13, 2019, with the final set to be played on April 18, 2020 (neutral venue to be confirmed). The winner of this competition will earn a spot in the 2020-21 UEFA Europa League.

2019-20 Copa del Rey dates

• Preliminary round (regional teams) – November 13, 2019.
• First-round (Professional teams + surviving regional teams) – December 18, 2019.
• Second-round – January 12, 2020.
• Round of 32 – January 22, 2020.
• Round of 16 – January 29, 2020.
• Quarter-finals – February 5, 2020.
• Semi-finals – 1st leg: February 12, 2020. 2nd leg: March 4, 2020.
• Final match: April 18, 2020.

The Boats Ibiza team are waiting for news of how to get tickets for the match – Twitter promises news will come soon so watch this space! Failing that, we’ll be glued to our screens on January 22nd, cheering the lads on, praying to Tanit & hoping for a miracle! After all, this is Ibiza and anything can happen, right? 😉

Words | Jane C