Solidarity or Ovineality?

In the lead up to the game the atmosphere in Murcia is tremendous. Please take 8 minutes of your time to see this video and you'll see what I mean.



Hundreds, thousands, queueing for Kilometers to get a ticket, incidents when the ticket office had to close, police having to keep guard, this morning people sleeping at the stadium to be first in the queue when they opened again, insults.....wow....it's looks like it will be a sell out.

We couldn't have asked for more. The anger....people are despearte for tickets. The black marketeers must be rubbing their hands, re-sale value may be high. Great.

But hang on a minute! These aren't Real Murcia supporters looking for an entrada for our "do or die" game against Lugo on Sunday. No.....these are the SHEEP out in numbers again, and the game isn't the one we hoped.

After the awful and damaging earthquake in Lorca last week, a hastily agreed friendly game has been arranged for Wednesday at the New Condomina. The game will be between a selection of Murcian players and.....you guessed, Real Madrid.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea, anything that can be done to help alleviate the suffering of those who have lost a loved one, a home or any of their belongings is a just and moral cause. But it is just indicative of what football is about in Spain.

Many of the people so desperate to get a ticket and contribute to such a noble cause, could have attended the Lorca - Estepona game at the same venue on Sunday, where the gate money also went to help Lorca. But they didn't. Some of them are the same people who complained bitterly when the prices for the Real Murcia play off came out....."too high!" they screamed. But for a Real Madrid kickabout and the chance of seeing Ronaldo and Kaka.....money and queues are no object.

In the meantime, for Sunday....for a real game, with real drama, a lot at stake....the 2 posts open to sell tickets are EMPTY, while the posts open for the Madrid game have a queue stretching back to the shopping mall. So not expecting more than 15,000 in a city of 500,000. That's Spanish football in a nutshell.....Madrid, Barcelona or nada.

For the non-ovine...Real Murcia play Lugo in the first leg of the promotion play off at thre New Condomina on Sunday at 8.30 p.m.(7.30 p.m. UK time). Tickets are available from the box office for between 15 and 45 euros, it's open from 10 until 2 p.m., then 5 to 7 p.m. But I would wait until Thursday when the dust has settles and Madrid are back in Madrid if you are planning on buying....

To contribute to the earthquake relief, Cajamurcia have opened an account for donations : 2043 0090 39 2007007310