Troubled Times In Cartagena

FC Cartagena had their best ever season in 2009/10, finishing 5th in the Segunda Division and only 6 points from promotion to La Liga. Cartagena had been in the top 3 for most of the season, but poor form late on in the season saw promotion slip away from them as Real Sociedad, Levante and Hercules took their place amongst Spain's elite. Cartagena's next opponents, Real Betis, missed out on head-to-head on the last day of the season.

On Saturday the two teams who came so close to promotion meet at Estadio Cartagonova, with one team bouncing back from the disappointment much better than the other. With 12 games gone Real Betis are 5 points clear at the top of the league, with 9 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss so far. The Seville-based side were relegated from La Liga in 2008/09 and were strongly tipped to bounce back last season. Spain's 6th best supported club didn't quite manage it, but look set to put things right this time around.

Cartagena, on the other hand are currently in 14th place after suffering a 3-0 loss at 19th place Huelva Recreativo last week. Los Albinegros have failed to live up to expectation thus far, picking up only 4 wins and are currently only 4 points clear of the drop zone. Cartagena's chairman slammed the players after last week's loss, but assured manager Juan Ignacio Martinez that he still has the full backing of the club's hierarchy. Despite this, the pressure is certainly mounting from the ever more deserted stands of Estadio Cartagonova. Around 8,000 season tickets were sold during the summer, but only around 7,000 turned up for the recent home match with Granada - Around 3,000 down on last season's average attendance.

Playing host to Real Betis should be one of the biggest matches for any second tier side - Betis are a club with the 37th highest attendances in Europe, have a stadium that holds 52,000 and played Champions League football just 5 years ago. They look set to get back to where they feel they belong in Spain's football pecking order and will provide a very stern test for JIM's under fire side, who have struggled to cope with the loss of big players such as goalkeeper Ruben, who was sold to Malaga for €1.3m and Enrique De Lucas who left to join Celta Vigo.

This is the season that Cartagena finally stepped out of the shadows of their more illustrious neighbours, Real Murcia, who were relegated to Spain's 3rd tier last season. A 4-1 victory for Cartagena at Nuevo Condomina was a clear sign of the power shift in the region, but with Murcia currently top of the Segunda B and Cartagena looking nervously over their shoulders, things could well revert to the norm.