AD Ceuta: the exclave club on the rise

The side from the African mainland will return to professional football for the first time since 1968.

While the news has been dominated in recent weeks by the conclave and the votes for a new Pope, in Spain an exclave club is dominating the news with AD Ceuta gaining an unlikely promotion to the second tier of Spanish football.

Ceuta is a story that has maybe slipped under the radar unless you follow us on X or the brilliant Sweeper pod. In the 1950s La Liga saw the rise of Atletico Tetuan based in a part of Morocco which was part of a Spanish protectorate. While they lasted just one season in the top flight they finished 4th in Segunda in 1956 when Morocco declared independence. That independence though didn’t stretch to two exclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish outposts on the African mainland. The directors of Tetuan merged the club with Ceuta. Ceuta who took Tetuan’s position in Segunda held on to it for most of the next decade dropping out just once but when they fell out in 1968 that looked like that was that.

The exclave of Ceuta is just 18.5 kms in total or 7 square miles, the exclave has two official languages Spanish and Darija Arabic. This part of the world has always had huge strategic importance, just over the strait is another enclave of sorts with Gibraltar ruled by the British. To Spain and also by extension Morocco, Ceuta has a similar importance as the rock did to the British in helping to control the flow of the straits and as an important base to defend or attack enemies. It was for almost two centuries controlled by the Portuguese and even today the flag and coat of arms come from a time when the Portuguese controlled the city until Portugal ceded the city to Spain formally in 1668.

Even as recently as the 1930s the city was being fought over with one of the first skirmishes of the civil war seeing Franco and his forces overrun the city with republican forces in return using their air force and navy to try to wrestle back control.

The two exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla lived a life under the radar, officially they were part of Andalucia despite the strait between them until 1995 when given the status of autonomous cities and similar to Gibraltar where the royal family don’t visit to ensure tensions don’t rise between the Spanish and British over control, the Spanish royal family went 80 years without visiting until Juan Carlos came in 2007 and indeed caused protest and tensions from Morocco.

Football in the exclaves hasn’t always thrived even if players did, Pirri a Real Madrid icon who played over 500 games won 10 La Ligas, a European Cup and 4 Copas came from Ceuta as did Nayim a name who lives on in infamy in North London. In the 90s while Nayim was terrorising Arsenal in the Cup Winners Cup final, football was almost extinct in Ceuta with the stadium falling into disrepair. Clubs with the name of Ceuta came and went sometimes at an extraordinary pace and despite being stuck in “regional” football for Ceuta every game involves a ferry and a lengthy coach trip unless it’s against strait of Gibraltar rivals Algeciras or Real Balompedica Linense the love for football held on.

Ceuta despite it’s small size has a population of 83,000, for context Gibraltar which plays international football has a population of 30,000. With space at a premium there is no airport although there is a heliport which Barcelona have used twice on Copa del Rey trips so Ceuta lives through it’s port.

The port not only brings in goods and tourists but most importantly is the connection point for it’s football team and the league system they play in and to the mainland which can at times feel disconnected.

Having had decades of decline the club started to see growth in the late 2010s with the club reaching the play-offs for tier 3 a number of times but failing to clinch promotion. The city council had provided the foundations through redeveloping the stadium to make it fit for purpose and to provide some financial support to keep football alive.

The president Luhay Hamido a former player of Ceuta took over in 2016 and he set out some simple principles, the players will always be paid on time and they will need to live in the city and not the mainland. Running a team such as Ceuta is a costly affair and while the RFEF provide some financial support for both Ceuta and teams travelling to the enclave the club has to attract players to relocate to the area. The club also brought Nayim in as a sporting director and both have played a vital role in the success the club has had both on and off the pitch in the decade since.

With the restructuring of the lower tiers in Spanish football enacted in 2022 promotion and relegation suddenly became easier and Ceuta finally returned to tier 3. The way the league was split became west and east and Ceuta fell into the eastern side meaning they would be in the same league as Galician sides such as Depor and Racing Ferrol. Tier 3 is supposed to be regionalised but this split meant Ceuta would undergo 2000km round trips to play these sides.

For most of that first season, the step up proved difficult and the side lost 13 of their first 14 matches finding themselves cast adrift in the relegation places. The club returned to a familiar face to lead them through their struggles with former coach Jose Juan Romero returning to take the helm. The club were 13 points from safety at the start of January but eventually the players adapted to the level and Romero’s methods and climbed to safety losing just two games in the second half of the season eventually finishing 12th.

The following season saw the distances they’d have to travel cut as the league went more towards a north and south structure but it also saw them taking on historic sides such as Castellon, Malaga, Cordoba and Real Murcia. They also faced the novelty of the enclave derby with Melilla gaining promotion to Primera RFEF.

Against all expectations Ceuta finished 5th ahead of Recreativo Huelva the oldest club in Spain to clinch the final play-off spot. That saw them go against second from group 1 and take on Nastic. The play-offs again weren’t their friend as they lost 4-3 on aggregate. The club had achieved this unexpected play-off place through smart recruitment such as signing teenager Christantus Uche for €800, great leadership at boardroom and Sporting Director level and the coaching of Romero.

The following summer saw the vultures circle and a number of players leave, Uche went to La Liga side Getafe paying his buyout clause of €500k a healthy profit albeit he’s shown he’s an asset at La Liga level with sides such as Chelsea linked but also saw a number of players leave to Segunda and fellow Primera RFEF clubs on a free. Cedric Teguia and Ale Melendez left for Cartagena and Albacete.

The club again showed their eye for talent signing Andy from Nastic who has been a pivotal player and veteran forward Dani Aquino from San Fernando who has contributed nine goals. The club also signed Kialy Kone from Al-Yarmouk in Kuwait in January and he’s provided quality down the wing contributing four goals from his fourteen appearances so far.

Where in the past the club has found younger players and developed and moved them on, this season they’ve focused on experience in what is a league that is about know how and they have the fifth oldest average age in the division. Their direct rivals for promotion in Real Murcia and Antequera both have an older average age and third place Ibiza have an average age of 26.9 just slightly younger than Ceuta’s which is exactly 27.

That experience and a strong defensive record has seen them string together a 23 match and counting unbeaten run a record in Primera RFEF. That run has seen them pick up results against all their direct rivals including a brave performance in front of 29,000 Real Murcia fans where they almost took the three points but for a late equaliser.

The coach Jose Juan Romero has to take huge credit for the turnaround picking up 50 victories in his second spell and turning the side from relegation fodder to champions of their third tier group. At 50 he will get the chance to manage in the second tier for the first time in his career and it’s something he deserves having done solid jobs at Betis B and Eldense alongside his previous spell at Ceuta.

Financially the club has received €4 million from the local council and now they have reached Segunda they’ll no longer be allowed to accept public money as they will become a public limited sports company. The club though will receive more money through TV rights, sponsorship and also through increased gates with sides such as Real Zaragoza, Sporting and many others expected to be opponents next season. Their ground holds 6,500 and tickets will be in high demand with thousands pouring out onto the streets this weekend as promotion was clinched. The club can also rely on the novelty factor with such an unusual back story and plenty of groundhoppers will be getting their maps out planning a visit from Europe to the exclave.

The club can also look at Segunda this season and feel confidence, all four sides who were promoted are all but safe and none of them underwent wholesale changes to their squads in order to stay up with just slight tweaks building on their solid foundations.

Their will of course be an increase in travel as they leave a “regional” league for a national league but that could also be an advantage. With no airport in the city clubs might find the trip to Ceuta arduous, the easiest way to get there is to fly to Malaga and then a 90 minute drive to the port of Algeciras to board a ferry unless of course you can afford to hire helicopters to fly from Malaga to Ceuta. Home advantage could be a big factor and their defensive record will also be needed in a league full of big hitters.

Regardless of how next season goes AD Ceuta have now put their city on the map and will have plenty of neutrals interested in their story as a side from the African mainland competes in a major European league.