Granada confirmed this week that the long-running dispute with the city council over their tenancy at the Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium has been resolved and that the club will remain at the stadium for the foreseeable future. An announcement today confirmed the details to that deal, one that took several months to formulate and last weekend had stalled enough to see the club threaten to leave the ground.
Discussions about the Andalucian club’s continued use of Los Carmenes had been going on since the summer, when the city’s mayor, Jose Torres Hurtado, announced that from the start of the 2012-13 season the club would have to cover costs of around €1m a year that had previously been borne by the city authorities under the terms of their agreement with the club.
The row has been seen as the latest spat in an ongoing battle between club president Quique Pina and local politicians. The city council argued that taxpayers should not have to pay towards costs which ultimately benefit a privately owned and run business while having to tighten their belts in the current economic crisis.
In response, Granada club secretary Pedro Gonzalez Segura argued this week that the club had never refused to pay for using Los Carmenes, but objected to what it saw as ‘unreasonable restrictions’, such as the use of a security service that had proved previously to be inadequate. Last year the club was fined for failing to control fans after an umbrella was thrown at an assistant referee, causing a match against Mallorca to be abandoned.
Whilst Granada and the city eventually came to an agreement, this club are no strangers to such difficulties. Their history and near demise as well as their present ownership model all point to a club with a fanatical and vocal fan base but without permanent roots.
That support has been mobilised in response to this latest crisis – last weekend’s home defeat against Real Zaragoza, which only went ahead at Los Carmenes at the last minute after the city council relented in its demands, saw fans protesting against the mayor, with whistles at 19 and 31 minutes, reflecting the club’s founding in 1931. Most pertinent to the episode, however, were the rumours of a possible move away from Granada, which brought back painful memories of Pina’s ill-fated sale in 2007 of Ciudad de Murcia, who subsequently relocated to Granada before goign bust.
At that time, La Grana were in the third tier of Spanish football and by 2009 they were then also in dire financial difficulty and on the brink of closure. They then signed a partnership agreement with Italian club Udinese, whose President Giampolo Pozzo had supported Pina financially at Ciudad de Murcia. Under the agreement, which continues to underpin Granada’s existence, the Andalucians have effectively become a feeder club for the Italians.
While many of Granada’s fans are ambivalent about the sustainability of the ties with Udinese, the arrangement has delivered success, with La Grana returning to La Liga last season after a 35-year absence. After such a long time away, life in the top flight was always going to be difficult, but a 17th place finish at least yielded survival.
In a difficult financial climate, Pozzo’s continued interest in bankrolling a club that might otherwise be facing an uncertain future is benefiting Granada, even if their reliance on the Italians’ support and a home ground that is not their own creates its own uncertainty. At a time when many clubs in La Liga are facing mounting debts, Granada’s domestic situation is at least offset with security and a subsidised wage bill, at least in the short term under Pozzo.
On the other hand, the Italian family’s controlling interest hinders any long-term strategic planning for the club’s development, with some Granada fans frustrated that success in reaching the top flight, and the capacity to remain there, has come at a price. The club’s identity, they say, has been diluted, the players have no loyalty to Granada and, ultimately, Pozzo and Pina could one day sell up and start again or move the whole project elsewhere and the players with it.
This week’s issue with the council may have been resolved, but the club’s preparedness to up sticks as a solution should serve as a warning for fans.
