Welcome to…Ponferradina

A century-old club from El Bierzo

In El Bierzo – one of Spain’s culturally most interesting regions, there exists only one big football team: Ponferradina, a team that used to play in the third or fourth division. However, after some great results, Ponfe is recently often present in the Segunda División. Welcome to…Ponferradina.

The fans of Ponferradina, of which one holds the flag of El Bierzo. © Deportes Cope Bierzo.

El Bierzo

El Bierzo lies in the west of the province of León, even though its inhabitants do not feel like belonging in this province. Culturally speaking, El Bierzo is a region where Galician, Leonese, and Castilian cultures come together to create its own, unique combination. For example, the Bercian dialect contains elements of the Galician, Leonese, and Castilian (Spanish) languages.

The location of El Bierzo. © Google Maps.

As the zone has over 130,000 inhabitants – of which half live in the capital Ponferrada, it’s also a politically relevant region. Many bercianos are in favor of separating El Bierzo from the León Province, which has translated into a political movement: bercianismo, or Bercianism. There’s also a big group of people from El Bierzo who do not see the urge to separate, but the groups agree on one thing: El Bierzo is different from the rest of León.

The most famous building in El Bierzo: the Castle of Ponferrada. This old building in the capital is so important that it’s present on the coat of arms of Ponferrada and in the logo of Ponferradina. © spain.info.

The pride of El Bierzo

The very first football club in Ponferrada was created in 1922: Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina. However, the club struggled to develop in the early years due to problems in the Castilian Football Federation, the lack of professionalism, and the Civil War. Only in 1943 would Ponfe make its debut in the Tercera División.

The crest evolution of Ponferradina shows that three elements have always been present: the crown, the initials, and the Castle of Ponferrada. Only the background colors and the general design have changed over the years. Interestingly, not only the castle but also the colors show a close relationship between Ponferradina and El Bierzo: blue and white are the colors of the regional flag. © lafutbolteca.com

For many decades, Ponferradina remained in the third division and even saw how the Tercera División became the fourth tier in 1977. Only in the 1980s did the blanquiazules escape this division, but not yet definitively. The very last season of Ponferradina in the Tercera was 1998-99, and since then, things have only improved for the bercianos.

The Estadio El Toralín, a place with much atmosphere. The stadium, with a capacity of 8,400, is considered the heart of football of El Bierzo. The first football ground of Ponferradina was the grass field inside the city’s castle, but due to the building being a National Monument, the club could never play official matches in it. If this would have been different, Ponferradina would have had the most unique stadium in Spanish football. © Luis de la Mata.

Ponfe in professional football

In 2005, Deportiva won its first championship of the Segunda División B but did not achieve promotion to the Segunda División. This only happened in 2006, followed by a quick relegation to the Segunda B one year later. Nevertheless, this season in the second tier would not be the last one.

The celebration of the promotion to the Segunda División on the balcony of Ponferrada’s city hall. The text on the banner says: ‘Thank you for making Ponferrada bigger’. © SD Ponferradina.

In 2010-11, Ponfe experienced another short-lived spell in the second tier, but after the third promotion in 2012, the Bercian club managed to stay up for four seasons. Twice was Ponferradina very close to qualifying for the playoffs, and twice was Ponferradina fighting against relegation, failing the second time.

Kepa Arrizabalaga is the most famous player with a past in El Toralín. He was signed on loan in 2015, just three years before moving from Athletic to Chelsea for 80 million, becoming the most expensive goalkeeper so far. © El Desmarque.

Some seasons in the third tier passed, but it was clear that Ponferradina’s intention was returning to the Segunda as soon as possible. The ponferradinos did so in 2019. Curiously enough, Ponfe repeated the same formula as before: they played four consecutive seasons in the second division, of which two involved battling for promotion and two against relegation. In 2023, Ponferradina failed to stay up and is now facing a season in the Primera Federación.

Isi Palazón in the shirt of Ponferradina. He was one of the most important players at Ponferradina from 2017 to 2020. In the latter year, he moved to Rayo Vallecano, where he became one of the best Spanish players in the Primera División. © Leonoticias.

A legendary player

‘O Fenomeno’ is usually used as the nickname for Ronaldo Nazário, but in El Bierzo, they use it for another Brazilian striker: Yuri de Souza Fonseca. Yuri arrived at Ponferradina in 2009 when he was already 28 years old, but broke all records in the years that followed. He only made a short transfer to China in 2016 but has stayed at Ponferradina ever since, becoming the team’s leading scorer on most occasions. Moreover, he is the all-time top scorer of Ponferradina, the player with the most appearances for the club, while also being the all-time foreign top scorer of the Segunda División AND the Segunda División B. In short, he is considered a legend of Spanish football and the best player in Ponfe‘s history, enough reason for the government of El Bierzo to adopt Yuri as a son of El Bierzo in 2021. If you ask everyone from El Bierzo who the best player in the history of football is, most will give you the name of a Brazilian striker most football fans never heard of: Yuri de Souza Fonseca.

Yuri, celebrating yet another goal for Ponferradina. The eternal captain renewed his contract in 2023, despite being 41 years old. © AS.

The future

After a tough relegation, Ponferradina’s future looks less optimistic than the years before, as well as uncertain, after the long-time club president recently announced considering selling the club. However, Ponfe is building a team to return to the Segunda División and has been able to keep Yuri for another year. Moreover, the club has become more popular than ever, especially after celebrating its centenary and visiting the Pope for it. Finally, Ponferradina knows that El Bierzo will always stand behind its team, which might just be its biggest advantage. This was…Ponferradina.

Away fans of Ponferradina, showing not only the club’s flag but also El Bierzo’s flag. © LaLiga.

Sources

• Borchers, L. (2021). GOLAZO. Self-published.
• Borchers, L. (2022). CARA O CRUZ. Self-published.
• https://www.sdponferradina.com/club-historia
• http://lafutbolteca.com/sociedad-deportiva-ponferradina-s-a-d/