Celta Vigo are one of the great traditional clubs in Spanish football.
Os Celestes were founded on August 10th, 1928, and alongside Galician rivals Deportivo La Coruña dominate the north-west of Spain. They’ve never won La Liga or the Copa del Rey but have competed in Europe. Their fans care deeply about the club.
And the people who work at Celta do too. Like many of their counterparts throughout Spain, Celta are a cultural entity, a representation of a region as much as a football club.
“We have a big responsibility as a football club,” Celta’s general director Antonio Chaves told Football España. “We represent an entire region as Celta is the most important club in the north-west of Spain. This region has something like three million people.
“We represent the Galician people. Celta is a representation of them and their values. Afouteza is a Galician word that means the struggle against all kinds of impediments or obstacles, things you face along the path. You have to do as much as you possibly can to overcome these adversities and obstacles.”
Borja Oubiña, a former Celta player who now works for the club as a coach, is in agreement with Chaves. It’s clear that afouteza is a vital element of the club’s identity.
“Afouteza is our word,” Oubiña told Football España. “It’s difficult to explain what it means but it’s basically never giving up, never surrendering, continuing to fight in spite of whatever difficulties may be in your path. Working hard, showing pride. It means lots of different things but it’s difficult to explain.”
An important way to maintain that link between the club, the supporters and the first-team is by utilising the club’s academy. And Celta do that; they have a history of giving young players a chance and pride themselves on running the finest youth system in Galicia.
One such product, of course, is club captain Iago Aspas. Born in nearby Moaña, the 35-year-old joined Celta when he was just eight and broke into the first team in 2008.
He left for Liverpool five years later, although he failed to make much of an impact at Anfield and was loaned out to Sevilla in his second season with the English club. He returned to Balaídos upon the culmination of that loan and has remained since.
And he’s thrived.
Aspas is frequently cited as one of the most important footballers in La Liga and is never far from the top of the goalscoring charts. He’s contributed 179 goals and 59 assists in the 409 matches he’s played for Os Celestes and has earned 18 caps for La Roja.
“I think we’ve got a great academy,” Aspas told Football España. “We’ve always produced great players. I joined the academy young and there’s many other examples. I think Celta’s academy has seen positive changes over the last 15 years. But we’ve always been one step ahead of others in Galicia and we’ve managed to sell talent and recruit well.”
Oubiña concurs. A defensive midfielder born and raised in Vigo, he also came through the youth system with Celta and spent the majority of his senior career at Balaídos save for one season on loan with Birmingham City.
The 39-year-old made 205 appearances for Os Celestes and earned two caps with the Spanish national team. He can speak on the club’s academy from two sides given he was a player and is now working as a technical assistant.
“The profile of players here in Vigo is very technical,” he said. “They use the ball well but they’re also very competitive, so our academy is pretty far ahead of the rest of Galicia. One of our problems is actually that there aren’t many local teams that can compete with us, so it can be difficult for our academy teams to test themselves against other teams.”
The real challenge for Celta is to translate their regional dominance into national competitiveness. The next step for the club is to return to Europe and compete in the Europa League, a competition they made the semi-final of back in 2017 only to lose to eventual winners Manchester United.
That isn’t looking all that likely this season, however.
Celta are currently eleventh in La Liga, having taken 36 points from 29 games. They’re 12 points behind sixth-placed Real Sociedad (in a European Conference League place) and 14 behind fifth-placed Real Betis (in a Europa League place).
“We’ve still got a quarter of the season to go,” Aspas said. “We’ve got a lot of objectives ahead. We really want to remain in La Liga and maybe even earn a European place. We have an important match next weekend against Real Madrid at home and if we can get three points there it would be fantastic and help us to climb the table.”
They’re certainly enjoying a moment of stability, aided by the leadership of current coach Eduardo Coudet. The Argentine took charge at Balaídos in 2020 after a spell in Brazil with Internacional and has built a cohesive and competent unit that’s going places.
And that’s being complemented by work off the pitch.
Celta are looking to North America to expand their fiercely loyal fanbase and build revenue streams that can help the club go to the next level and continue growing.
“The strategic agreement we’ve signed with CVC is part of an expansion project we’re developing. The idea is that football clubs should develop, not just remain football clubs in the strictest sense of the world. We need to grow through different lines of business.
“There’s a certain synergy that can only be found due to the strength of modern football clubs. We’re focusing on these things and developing them to help us achieve profitability. The project is initially based in Mexico, the United States and Canada. Through digital content we’re trying to find new forms of sponsorship to expand the brand.”
And if they can grow through organic means it will be a great story. Because Celta, in many ways, are the embodiment of what makes the tapestry of Spanish football so rich. They’ve not achieved great success in their history but they remain a proud institution.
Speaking to those working for the club – whether that’s in the boardroom, the dugout or on the pitch – it’s clear that it’s a group that are all rowing in the same direction. And so, little by little, their goals are going to be pursued; working on the academy, achieving greater profitability and improving on last season’s tenth-placed finish in La Liga.
But all their focus right now is on the visit of league leaders Madrid next Saturday night.
