Now here is a great looking stadium that shows you that all new builds don't have to look like a branch of Halfords at your local retail park. The Estadio Nueva Balastera was the home of Club de Fútbol Palencia, but before I get too carried away about its vital statistics, let's have a look at the club and its former homes.
 |
| Contemporary classic - Estadio Nueva Balastera
|
The
first recorded senior team in Palencia was Club Deportivo Palencia, who was
founded in 1929. After playing its formative years in the Regional Castellana
leagues, the club won promotion to the Tercera at the end of the 1942-43
season. Up to this point, matches had been played at the Campo de las Eras del
Monedero, but at the beginning of September 1943, the club opened a new ground
to the north of the city, on the banks of the Rio Carrión. The new ground was
called La Balastera, as the site had been previously used to extract
ballast and stone for the construction of railways. To say the club milked the
opening is a bit of an understatement. The first unofficial match was a
friendly played on 1st September against Cultural Leonesa, which resulted in a
5-2 victory. Three days later and League & Cup holders Athletic Club Bilbao
were visitors and then finally, on 12th September, the ground was officially
inaugurated with a match against Atlético Aviación. CD Palencia folded in 1952,
thanks in part to an unpaid tax bill. In its place rose Club Atlético Palencia,
who following a merger in 1960 became Palencia Club de Fútbol. This union was
short lived and this club dissolved in 1964. This paved the way for one of the
city's smaller clubs, Otero Club de Fútbol to reorganise and become the most
successful club to emerge from Palencia.
 |
| The original Balastera & a near full house for the play-off versus Real Oviedo |
Under the presidency of Bonifacio Aguayo, Otero CF worked its way through the regional leagues and reached the Tercera in 1969. The club was then renamed Palencia Club de Fútbol and came close to promotion to La Segunda when losing out to Real Oviedo in a play-off at the end of the 70-71 season. Decent finishes in the Tercera throughout the 1970's, saw the club elevated to the newly formed Segunda B in 1977-78 and a year later, under the guidance of Real Madrid great Paco Gento, the club earned promotion to La Segunda for the first time. The club spent four of the next five seasons in the second division, finishing fifth in 1982-83. Relegation to Segunda B followed a year later and deeply in debt, the club folded in August 1986. From the ashes emerged CD Cristo Olímpico, an affiliated feeder club to Palencia CF, that was founded in 1975. It had already reached the Tercera by the time of the collapse of its parent club and took up the reins of the city's leading team. Progress over the next twenty years was somewhat unspectacular, with the club eventually reaching Segunda B in the 1990-91 season. There followed six seasons in the third tier, with a best finish of fourth in 92-93. Seven seasons in the Tercera ended with promotion back to Segunda B in 2003.
 |
| La Balastera's heavy iron cover over the Southern Terrace |
By now, La Balastera was beginning to look its age. The stadium had seen a couple of upgrades since opening, such as the addition of a cover to the southern terrace in the 1977 and the main stand gaining purple and white seats in 1995. It had an official capacity of 12,000, but only came close to filling it on a few occasions, including a visit from the Vuelta a España. The main stand was unusually on the northern side of the ground and was 80 metres in length and slightly off-centre. Around 1800 purple and white seats sat beneath a shallow propped roof, whilst a paddock area separated the stand from the pitch. Opposite stood a large terrace, at the centre of which was a large propped cover. This was 50 metres in length and was constructed using quite the heaviest looking iron girders I've seen in a ground of this size. In profile, the cover resembled a line of steam cranes that had been topped off with some rusty corrugated sheeting. The final match at La Balastera took place on 1 October 2006, when Palencia CF beat CD Guijuelo 2-0. The ground was demolished in 2008 to make way for a housing development.
 |
| Palencia's old home became 300 new homes in 2008 |
On 10th October 2006, the Spanish Under-21 side played Italy U-21's in the first match at the Estadio Nueva Balastera. Regrettably the chief driving force behind the development, former director Alberto de la Corte López had died in 2002, but I am sure he would have been impressed with what was unveiled. Designed by Navarrese architect Patxi Mangado, the Nueva Balastera is minimalist in design, with the principle focus being one of light. From its use of translucent sheeting on the exterior, to the recessed lighting and brilliant white finish on the underside of the roof, the stadium positively radiates. However, the stand out feature is undoubtedly the floodlights. Clad in the same pale green translucent material as the body of the stadium, these four towers lean into the stadium at an alarming angle. However, it is at night that the stadium comes into its own. Within the body of the floodlights translucent exterior are rows of bulbs that illuminate the entire pylon with a bright white light. Resembling four crooked light-sabres, this lifts the stadium above the ordinary and into the realms of functional art.
