The cradle of Spanish football

Spanish football is a rich and vibrant tapestry: the grandeur of El Clasico giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, a plethora of academies producing glittering talent, and a reinvigorated national team boasting a European Championship trophy.

- Henry Flynn

All of that and more can be traced back to a small town in the province of Huelva, Andalusia.

Minas de Riotinto does not stick out on a map of Spain. It takes its name from the mines over which the town hangs and the river, dyed red by minerals, which runs through it. The landscape surrounding the town is otherworldly. Indeed, its likeness to a Martian terrain has seen it used as a filming location in a number of sci-fi movies, and its extreme acidic conditions have been studied by NASA's astrobiologists.

The nearest big cities are not exactly in different galaxies, but infrequent bus services to and from Huelva and Seville make visiting without a car tricky. Home to around 4,000 people, the town has a timeless, low-key vibe: cottage-like areas, a few eateries, and pale walls enveloping a sports pitch.

Approaching the ground, everything seems unremarkable. But the name of the stadium offers a clue to its important history: Estadio Municipal Cuna del Futbol Espanol - the Cradle of Spanish Football Stadium. Outside, a monument stands proud and lonely in the chilly evening air bearing the same moniker. Just a few feet away is an inscription, installed in 2023, marking 150 years since the first football game played on Spanish soil.

Once through the door, there are concrete terraces – mainly scruffy steps but for a small seating area and an abandoned stand flanking an artificial grass surface of white and yellow lines. Gradually, as the home fans gather to watch the game against regional neighbours Moguer, the ground where everything began comes alive.