It is probably easier to talk about the senior teams in Burgos in three distinct phases. The first covered in this post is the original Burgos Club de Fútbol, founded in 1936 as Gimnástica Burgalesa Club de Fútbol, they played their matches at the Campo de Laserna and reached the Tercera in 1943. Gimnástica moved to the Estadio Zatorre in 1944 which was located just south of the town centre on the southern bank of the Rio Arlanzón. The club was renamed Burgos CF in 1948 and reached La Segunda four years later. Although it was not a successful season, they finished bottom and well adrift, the club gained valuable experience. Three seasons later and with two Tercera championships to their name, Burgos CF returned to La Segunda. Once again the stay lasted a season, but it was a much closer affair, finishing just three points from potential safety. It took a further four seasons of graft in the Tercera before Burgos CF returned to La Segunda in 1961-62. Stability was achieved with a series of mid-table finishes and on 13 September 1964, Burgos officially opened El Plantio with a 2-0 victory over SD Indautxu.
 |
| A packed Estadio Zatorre in 1955 to watch the champions of the Tercera |
To start with, El Plantio was a two-sided stadium with open ends. It was built on the north bank of the Rio Arlanzón, around a kilometre east of the Estadio Zatorre and featured a covered, seated tribuna on the north side of the stadium. To the south and a stones throw from the river, stood a two-tiered covered terrace. Burgos CF continued to look comfortable throughout the sixties, neither troubled by relegation or seriously pushing for promotion to La Primera. That changed however, in season 1970-71. With a practically flawless home record of 16 wins and just 3 draws, El Plantio became the rock on which the club built promotion. In the end, 45 points and a superior record against its rivals, Deportivo La Coruna, Cordoba & Rayo Vallecano, all of whom also gained 45 points, secured promotion to La Primera for the first time.
 |
| A fortress. It's 1971 & El Plantio gears up for life in La Primera |
Burgos CF maintained their excellent home form during the first season in the top flight, and whilst they failed to win on the road they picked up important points, notably a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. In the end it came down to the final weekend of the season, but before you get too excited, the final fixtures favoured Burgos CF. Of the three teams who could go down; Deportivo La Coruna, Sevilla & Burgos CF, Sevilla had drawn the short straw by having to play away at Real Madrid. Sevilla needed to win, whilst Burgos CF travelled to La Coruna, knowing a point would keep them up if Sevilla failed to win. With Sevilla 0-2 down after 20 minutes, Depo and Burgos CF played out a tame 0-0 draw, a result that kept both teams up, whilst an eventual 1-4 defeat saw Sevilla relegated. Their second season in La Primera was far more straightforward as they finished eighteenth and last in the league. Home form was again very good, with just three defeats, but on its travels Burgos was dire. Sixteen of their seventeen matches ended in defeat, with their only success, a 2-1 win at Sporting Gijón, scant reward as they headed back to La Segunda.
 |
| Mirror image - The stands at the east & west Ends were added in 1977 |
It took three years to get back to La Primera, but they did so in style, winning the league with 51 points. The following season in La Primera was a close affair, but 32 points secured fourteenth place. During the close season two end stands were constructed at El Plantio, bringing the capacity to 16,500. The 1977-78 season brought fewer points (31), but a highest final place finish of twelfth. It was still an incredibly tight affair and another convenient 0-0 draw on the final day ensured safety for both Burgos CF and their opponents Hercules. 1978-79, Burgos CF's third consecutive season in the top tier, was reasonably comfortable and thirteenth place was achieved, but their stay in La Primera came to an end following a poor showing in the 1979-80. Just 20 points were won, only three on their travels and whilst they were unaware of it at the time, Burgos CF would never return to La Primera. Back in La Segunda, Burgos CF struggled to compete on the pitch, whilst off it, debts were mounting up. A ninth place finish in 1981-82 was of little consequence as the club was demoted to Segunda 2b after failing to pay their players by the season's end. The 1982-83 season was to be the club's last, for although third place was achieved, the financial situation became unsustainable and on 24 May 1983 the club was wound up. The club's reserve side, Burgos Promesas had just won promotion to the Tercera, so it was decided to make a complete break from the failed Burgos CF and Real Burgos CF was formed, taking over the place of Burgos Promesas in the Tercera.
 |
Nice club crest. I just wish they had
spent as much time designing the kit |
Now a word of warning to the fashionistas among you. Real Burgos played in a combination of colours so awful that I feel duty bound to caution you in advance of any reference. Red, brown and white were the clubs colours and not surprisingly, this has yet to resurface as a kit of choice in Spain or for that matter, anywhere on God's planet. Real Burgos set about the Tercera at a furious pace and won the title in 1983-84, but lost out to Barcelona B in the play-offs. Another Tercera title was won in 84-85 and this time promotion was won with a play-off victory over SD Huesca. Despite finishing in second place in their first season in Segunda B, Real Burgos had to wait a season to progress further. 1986-87 saw the club finish fourth, but with the promotion places extended, Real Burgos had won a place in La Segunda. The next two seasons saw Burgos finish in relatively lowly positions, but with little threat of relegation. Then in 1989-90, Real Burgos took the net step, dominating the division from start to finish and securing promotion at San Mames against Bilbao Athletic. So in seven short seasons and a decade after their predecessors played there, Real Burgos had reached La Primera.
 |
| What made them think red and brown could work? |
Possibly shocked by the shear temerity of Real Burgos's kit, the great and good of La Primera did seem to be caught unawares by the newcomers. Real Madrid lost both league games to Real Burgos and a creditable 0-0 draw was gained at the Camp Nou, one of nine stalemates on the road that season. In fact, that first season in the top flight was built on a miserly defence and by the end of the season, the total of 27 goals conceded was the lowest in the division. The following season saw the club finish in ninth place, just shy of the UEFA cup places. The 92-93 season saw the club start with an impressive 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad. They also won the final game against Osasuna by a goal to nil. Unfortunately, there were only two other victories in the 36 matches in between and Real Burgos finished rock bottom with 22 points. The following season in La Segunda was overshadowed by a series of financial problems, triggered by relegation and the Federation's insistence that the club become a public limited sports company or S.A.D. The club finished one from the bottom, but with outstanding debts, they were demoted an additional division. Such was the internal turmoil, that Real Burgos didn't compete in the Tercera in 1994-95, but did play in the league a year later, finishing a disappointing tenth. Now Real Burgos did not played a game after May 1996, but technically still exist. Owned by the club President, Juan Antonio Gallego, they sat in a time warp, a footballing equivalent of Miss Havisham, until being dusted off in 2011 and now play in the lower reaches of the regional league.
 |
| El Plantio in 2011, with the Plaza de Torres |
With Real Burgos inactive, José María Quintano decided to resurrect the name of Burgos Club de Fútbol. Starting the the lowest levels of the Castile-Leon regional leagues, the club won three successive promotions to earn a place in Segunda 2b for the 1997-98 season. The first season was to prove a difficult step up in class and relegation was only just avoided. Over the next few years however, Burgos finished in the top four places, before eventually winning Segunda B and promotion to La Segunda in June 2001. The stay in the second flight lasted just a season, demoted not on performance, but the club refusal to become a S.A.D. Back in Segunda B the club continued to pepper the top four spaces, but miss out in the play-offs. In fact, Burgos has only finished outside of the top four in Segunda B in its first season and in season 2007-08, but boy did they finish outside of the top four. Just nine wins and forty points saw Burgos finish eighteenth and relegation to the Tercera followed. Here they have stayed until June of 2011, when they won promotion to Segunda B, only to return to the Tercera a year later. Promotion to the third tier was once again achieved in June 2013, and this time Burgos will be aiming to stay around a little longer.
 |
| El Plantio has faded - Just like the hopes of Burgos CF, |
To many Spanish football fans, El Plantio is the very epitome of an Estadio Inglés, or English style stadium. Square, with four stands close to the pitch, El Plantio is also among the coldest stadiums in Spain, rivalling Valladolid's Nuevo Jose Zorrilla and Soria's Nuevo Los Pajaritos for the title. The stadium even looked rather warm when in 1991 blocks of red, tan and white seats were installed on three sides of the ground. Unfortunately, the Iberian sun has got to them and the red and tan seats have now faded, leaving the three stands to look like large blocks of Neapolitan ice cream. Despite being propped cantilevered stands, these stands offer excellent views, whilst the south stand or Lateral is terraced except for a 60 metre stretch of benching on the lower tier. Functional rather than exciting, its design ensures that when full, El Plantio is an intimidating arena. Regrettably, this has happened on too few occasions for the Burgalés in the past 20 years.
Labels: 2BG1, Castile-León, Segunda 2B
