Real Club Celta de Vigo Sociedad Anonima Deportiva

Vigo's football team is described by one guide book as a 'have-a-go football team', this isn't far off the mark, although I prefer to call them the 'yo-yo team' as they seem to be up in the first division (La Liga) one season then down in the second the next.

Real Club Celta de Vigo Sociedad Anonima Deportiva is the teams full name or Celta Vigo or just Celta. The team was founded on August 23rd, 1923 from the merger of two Vigo teams, Real Vigo Sporting and Real Club Fortuna de Vigo, this merger gave the chance to perform more competitively at a national level.

Celta's performance in La Liga has been mixed, their best achievement was finishing 4th in 1947/1948 and 2002/2003 season, earning them the right to play in the Champions League. In total Celta have spent 45 seasons in La Liga, 25 in the Second Division and even one in the Second Division B. Celta have never managed to finish top of La Liga and have had three attempts at winning the Copa del Rey (Spanish equivalent to the FA Cup) but on each occasion, even though they went in as favorites, have stumbled at the last. They have been referred to in the past as 'giant killers' and are not a team to be taken lightly, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Juventus and Liverpool are a few of the big teams that have been on the receiving end of Celta on a good day!

Celta don their sky blue strip at Estadio Municipal de Balaidos (Celta's home Stadium), with a capacity of 31,800 and is situated 3km to the south west of town. The stadium inaugurated 23rd August 1923, also houses a Museum and a shop for all your Celta needs. El Museo Deportivo was opened on the 12th March 1999 and covers all Celta's history since it's inception.

There is one match that has to be watched at Balaidos and that's the derby between Celta and Deportivo La Coruna, the atmosphere is amazing and you can't help but be swept up in the euphoria! Unfortunately there will be no derby during the 2007/2008 season as Celta were relegated to the Second Division last year... never mind there's always next season!
If you are in town and there's a match on, make the effort to go along and watch a game, you won't be disappointed, it's hard not to get caught up in the emotion with the locals, whilst watching Celta's highs and lows!

Tickets:
Those wishing to see a game can buy tickets from the stadium a couple of days before the match or ticket booths which open a couple of hours before the game.
Adults prices start from €10 for the cheap seats and €35 for the best in the house.
Junior starts from €8 - €20

Getting There:
By Bus: From Porta do Sol (centre of town)
Take the C4 "A" Fragoso - Coia
Then get off at Plaza Manuel de Castro, stadium can't be missed!

By Taxi: Expect to pay around 7-8 euros and will take less than half the time.