With the Professional Football League competitions coming to an end, in the absence of determining who will accompany SD Huesca and Cádiz CF in moving up to the First Division, pending the resolution of the match between RC Deportivo and CF Fuenlabrada to end the Second Division competition, almost a third of teams in the upcoming LaLiga SmartBank campaign will be new to the division.
Following a lengthy period in the elite, since the 94/95 season until 19/20, RCD Espanyol de Barcelona will be one of the rivals to watch in terms of honours and history. RCD Mallorca, meanwhile, having moved up to the Second and First Division consecutively between 2017 and 2019, return to the silver division and are also a historic side. The third team relegated from LaLiga is Madrid outfit, CD Leganés, who has competed in the top flight for four consecutive seasons.
In addition, there are four teams moving up from Segunda División B to form part of professional football. Recently founded UD Logroñés (2009) has been in the bronze division for 11 seasons on the bounce and returns professional football La Rioja. FC Cartagena has been in Segunda B for eight seasons. The last time this team competed in Liga SmartBank was in 11/12, with Manolo Gaspar and Josemi in the ranks.
Just yesterday, the last two promotion places were sealed with a Malaguista and Blue and White stamp. CD Castellón defeated Cornellà at La Rosaleda to return to the Second Division after a decade between Segunda B and Third Division. Another club with a great deal of history in the two main divisions of Spanish football, CE Sabadell, beat FC Barcelona B in Marbella with a coach who as a player was a legend of Malaguismo, Antonio Hidalgo. The side from Catalonia hasn’t competed in the Second Division since the 14/15 campaign.
In short, a lot of history and more competition than ever in what is possibly the strongest second division in continental football.
Photo: Archive (Cifu, in action against RCD Mallorca at La Rosaleda in the 18/19 season)
