During my time in Spain I was always looking for fixtures that would tie in with places I wanted to experience, so when I saw that Valladolid were playing Villareal in La Liga on a Saturday afternoon; it fitted in perfectly with my desire to visit the region of Castilla and Leon, and the extended Friday to Sunday weekends I enjoyed whilst working at a language school.

The kick off time was 2pm which locals remarked was a little strange given that 2pm is one of the multiple sacred times of the day at which the Spaniards like to eat! But having grown up on an English football timetable I found the kick-off time to be quite pleasant compared to the particularly late kick offs of 9pm which I had experienced in Spain before.

This gave me plenty of time to make the journey from the city to the stadium on foot which I always like to do if weather permits as it allows you to experience more of the city and you can always stop off (as I usually do) for a beer, coffee, or bite to eat along the way.

The stadium is just on the outskirts of the city in a more residential area, and it looks pretty striking given its spacious low-rise surroundings and striking purple colour. The home team play in a striking purple and white striped kit which I think is pretty good looking and unique, it’s just a shame that the merchandise has sponsors plastered all over it otherwise I may have made a purchase in the club store!

The spacious surroundings were made use of by the club and there was a designated fan area which had a stage with a live band playing (who were pretty good) and a place to grab a beer! I arrived at the stadium quite early, so I grabbed another beer outside the entrance to my gate of the stadium and then entered about 15 mins before kick-off.

I had looked at lots of photos of the stadium online beforehand and it looked a pretty cool stadium which turned out to be the case in real life also! Again, the purple and white combination made for a really unique looking stadium and there was also a healthy attendance with almost all of the 27k+ seats taken. The only shame which is common in Spanish football was that there were no more than 50 fans in the away section.

In terms of matters on the pitch it was a pretty good game with the away side deservedly winning 2-1. This wasn’t all that surprising as Valladolid were recently promoted and struggling at the bottom of the table whilst Villareal who are known across Europe had started the season well. The home side did level things up at 1-1 with a penalty on the hour-mark, but Villareal kept attacking and the substitute Ayoze Perez who I was familiar with from the Premier League scored a header late-on to grab all three points for his team.

All in all, it was another enjoyable football match experience in Spain and as always planning began for the next one!