How Soccer Returned From The Dead In Spain’s Poor Extremadura Region

In 2022, Bermuda-based businessman Daniel Tafur sensed a unique opportunity where most saw an irreversible collapse.

Extremadura is a sparse region in Spain and one of the country’s poorest autonomous communities. It’s better known for medieval towns, solar energy, jamón ibérico and sparkling Cava wine than holidays, landmarks and prospects. And it’s hardly a professional soccer fulcrum, either.

The area—just above southerly Andalucía and bordering Portugal to the west—has three credible clubs: Extremadura, Badajoz and Mérida. In their various guises, they have each bounced up and down Spain’s soccer divisions, with Extremadura briefly playing against Barcelona and Real Madrid in the late 1990s. They were two heady seasons following as many promotions to the promised land, eventually culminating in a drop back down to earth.

Broadly, soccer has mirrored economic stagnation in the region. All three have previously folded and shuffled aimlessly around the lower competitive echelons for the most part. So, when UD Extremadura was going under last year, 13 seasons after CF Extremadura entered liquidation, things weren’t looking good. Then ex-banker Tafur, with family links to Extremadura, walked onto the scene and relaunched the club, currently CD (Club Deportivo) Extremadura, betting on building the new iteration from the ground up.

Another world to Madrid and Barcelona

While chaos is not limited to any soccer level, including La Liga, almost starting from zero in the more obscure lower divisions makes for a particularly bumpy ride.

Contacted by the team while its ex-president Manuel Franganillo was sealing Extremadura’s demise, Tafur passed but was nonetheless intrigued. Eventually, after declining an ownership opportunity with Badajoz, too—saddled with significant debt and burdened by alleged fraud involving former president Joaquín Parra—he came on board with a new plan for Extremadura.

Since hitting refresh, Extremadura’s long journey from the foot of the Spanish soccer pyramid has begun after topping its regional category by 15 points this month. Indeed, an exciting project is taking shape. Although the side coached by José María Cidoncha is still far away from the more established competitors in Madrid, Barcelona and other renowned cities, the team’s home matches are drawing over 3,000 spectators—unprecedented attendance levels for such a soccer standard in Spain.

“We decided it would be a good idea to bring it back, but starting from scratch,” Tafur told me in an interview. “It’s a longer path towards competing in the higher leagues but a true opportunity to build an unencumbered club.

“You’re creating. You’ve got a great brand and town for soccer—the 11,000-seat stadium is in the town centre and has a legacy for sporting excellence. By starting from scratch, we can build Extremadura’s infrastructure in a way that we believe will maximize long-term success and value creation rather than being burdened by outdated structures, financial obligations and legal processes.

“We’re not putting out any fires from the past. Everything that we do is building the club and its brand.”

Turning over a blank slate and injecting money makes sense. Because despite its quirks, the game cannot automatically flourish in the locality. That it’s not a thriving, prosperous metropolitan area offers clues as to why.

“Here, there are no large factories or companies generating thousands of jobs,” Juan Manuel Fernández Heras—a broadcaster from the area—told me. “The most important economic activity in Extremadura is the agricultural sector. You can live peacefully, but many services are deficient, like public transport.

On Extramadura’s last soccer incarnation, he added, “I think the past team’s economic problems came from a lack of income and the same mismanagement. They are teams with very local fans. Ticket sales and team products generate modest income.

“If you ask a person from Extremadura which team they like, they will probably tell you Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Sevilla, but not Extremadura, Badajoz, or Mérida.”

A unifying name once home to Benítez

For all its trials and tribulations, Extremadura does have some long-lost soccer pedigree. The former Real Madrid and Liverpool coach Rafael Benítez spent two years there while the ex-Spain and Sevilla winger José Antonio Reyes—born in nearby Utrera—played his last matches with the team before tragically passing away after a car accident in 2019.

Unlike Badajoz and other neighbours, the team and its brand encompass the entire region—one of 17 in Spain. That carries significance, especially in a zone with many small, isolated communities. To illustrate, a developing story in the area is Don Benito and Villanueva de la Serena—two towns poised to merge—which many inhabitants believe will see their distinct identities evaporate. At this point, supporters can rally together around one refreshed entity.

“Extremadura—the team—has an appeal that extends throughout its region. It’s the only team representing the entire area, so there are fans and season ticket holders from across the region,” Tafur adds.

“There’s a unique soccer culture there, particularly among children. That is reinforced by warm weather and Almendralejo’s superb sporting infrastructure. You can find soccer fields across multiple areas in the town, resulting in over 1,000 children playing for its youth teams.

“This is further evidenced by a high number of players from Almendralejo (in Badajoz) competing in Spain’s top divisions, which are super populated by players from Extremadura—disproportionately compared to other regions.”

Investing to progress

Tafur, who spent over 15 years as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley and now runs an asset management company, is an entrepreneur and a soccer fan rather than a soccer figure per se. Yet the drive for this venture—overseeing an entity reestablishing itself—is close to his heart.

“My father was from Extremadura,” he continued. “He was from a nearby town, a 20-minute drive from where the team plays. I spent a lot of summers there as a child. I have a very close link emotionally in terms of my family history.

“If you want to acquire a soccer team, then plenty are available. We could have become involved with a team in a much higher category and a different region. But, for us, the focus had to be on a club with an emotional connection. After all, that’s what soccer is all about.”

“As we grow, we will hire the people we need for different areas. We’re not going to interfere with the lower parts of the chain. We’re here to implement a philosophy of what type of soccer the club should play and let the professionals do their job putting together the pieces to deliver that goal.

“We’re going to create the infrastructure for long-term decision-making and drive a very strict process with budgeting and capital allocation.”

Becoming a renewed force doesn’t happen overnight and will require funds and calculated decisions at the board level. But for a historical brand starting fresh—with a redesigned crest to match—there is a path forward.

“We’ve backed it financially to compete and rise as quickly as possible. I don’t think in this category, or the two above it, that there’s a team with the infrastructure and financial commitment that Extremadura has.

“We have a good runway ahead of us and can be competitive economically. That should translate into being competitive on the field,” the owner concluded.