Modest Spanish Football

The derby of Jaén

Real Jaén versus Linares is a classic in Andalusian football

The province of Jaén has two big clubs with very different identities. In the capital Jaén, we find Real Jaén, a white-purple club with a past in the Primera División, and in the industrial town of Linares, there’s Linares Deportivo with a less successful and more tumultuous history. This is the derbi jiennense.

The provincial rivalry means white against blue. © Juande Ortiz.
the biggest cities in the province

The province of Jaén has its origin in the Moorish Taifa of Jaén, but is not as populous as during the Middle Ages. Its capital is Jaén, a city with over 100,000 inhabitants. The capital is known for being the province’s economic, administrative, and cultural center, and its nickname is the World Capital of Olive Oil, as the zone around Jaén produces the most olive oil in the world.

The city of Jaén with many olive trees in the background. © Getty Images.

Linares, contrastingly, has half the inhabitants of Jaén and does not dispose of the heritage and status of the capital. However, Linares has a long and rich history in the secondary sector, more specifically in the mining and mechanic industry. This has been Linares’ economic engine for years, but as the industrial revolution came to an end, the local economy did so too. As of 2023, the province of Jaén is one of Spain’s poorest and one with one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.

A panorama view of Linares. © España Fascinante.
Real Jaén

Real Jaén was founded in the 1920s as the representative club of the capital, even though the team would only make its debut in the Tercera División in 1943. This promotion would be the basis for the successes in the 1950s, including two consecutive promotions in 1952 and 1953, meaning that Real Jaén would play in the Primera División against Spain’s biggest teams.

The Nuevo Estadio de la Victoria, the most important stadium in the province. It was built in 2001 and replaced the historic Estadio de la Victoria. © Cadena Ser.

Even though Real Jaén got relegated in their first spell in the elite, the lagartos would return for another two seasons later in the 1950s. Ever since, Real Jaén has not played in the top tier anymore but used to switch between the second, third, and fourth tier. Real Jaén’s last season in professional football was 2013-14, which introduced an institutional crisis.

The fans of Real Jaén invaded La Victoria after their team’s promotion to the second level. © José Rojas.

The club appeared to be in high debts, and in 2020, with Real Jaén playing in the Tercera División, the campaign SOSREALJAÉN was launched. The situation was horrible, but the club’s dissolution was avoided by new directives. As of 2023, Real Jaén is developing in many dimensions and aims to return to the Segunda Federación as soon as possible.

The players of Real Jaén celebrate a goal in 2023. The shirt commemorates the 100th birthday of the club, just like the crest does. © Jaén Deportiva.
Linares Deportivo

Linares also has a long football history, but its first successful club was Linares CF, debuting in the Segunda División in 1973. Linares became an even more known name in Spain after playing four consecutive seasons in the second tier during the 1980s, the team’s golden era. However, at the end of this decade, the entity entered in a financial crisis and had to dissolve.

The Estadio Linarejos, a relatively big stadium. © Ayuntamiento de Linares.

Its successor would be CD Linares, a club that slowly climbed up the Spanish football pyramid, reaching the Segunda B in 2000. During the 2000s, Linares was very close to returning to the Segunda División, but after another moment of mismanagement, the club was not able to pay its players and disappeared. It’s hard to describe how multiple dissolutions hurt a fanbase, but the fanbase of Linares worked on a refoundation and created a club that still exists.

The players of Linares thank the supporters in an away match. © Linares Deportivo.

Linares Deportivo was founded in 2009 and is the current representative team of the city of Linares. Linares Deportivo had difficulties in mirroring the achievements of its predecessors, but managed to do so in the 2020s, qualifying for the playoffs for promotion to the Segunda División almost every season. Especially since the crisis of Real Jaén, Linares has become the best team in the Jaén Province.

Hugo Díaz celebrating a goal against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey in 2022. Unfortunately, Barcelona managed to come back and left the Linarejos with a 1-2 victory. © AFP.
The Jaén Province Rivalry

In the beginning of the 20th century, the best teams of both cities were Jaén FC and SG Linarense, who played against each other in a cordial way. However, the good spirit turned into a more negative one in 1924, when the old Linarejos stadium was opened by a controversial and heated match between Linares FC and Jaén FC.

An image of the derby between Real Jaén and Linares in 2022. © Juande Ortiz.

In the following years, Real Jaén would usually be the stronger team. However, Linares – and its precursors – have won more matches against Real Jaén than the other way around. Moreover, Linares currently has a stronger team, a better-maintained stadium, and more financial capacities. Still, the most important element of this derby is the rivalry between the capital of Jaén and the industrial city of Linares.

Linares – Real Jaén in 2017. © La Contra de Jaén.
The future

Even though Real Jaén has a bigger stadium, fanbase, and legacy, Linares is the better team. In the 2023-24 season, Linares plays in the third tier and Real Jaén in the fifth one. However, as Real Jaén is working hard to return to higher divisions, it’s not strange to imagine the return of the derbi jiennense in this decade. This was…the derby of Jaén.

The fanbase of Real Jaén (left) and that of Linares (right). © Cadena Ser & Linares Deportivo.
Sources

Posted

in

by

Liam Borchers

Tags:

, ,

Comments

Leave a comment

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started