As in so many aspects of their life, the Spanish are PASSIONATE about their football. Whilst attendances are in general much lower than say in leagues of comparable levels in the UK, that does not stop the average Spaniard being very knowledgeable and passionate about their local club. Yes, their local club, as Spaniards are much less fickle than British fans and it is the norm to follow your local team and/or the team of your parents. One reason for the lower attendances might be that every single La Liga (Primera División) game can be found on some TV station (albeit Pay Per View) and, with staggered kick-offs, it is possible to see four games every weekend on TV. Spain also has two excellent daily sports newspapers which are predominantly football - Marca and AS
La Liga is undoubtedly one of the strongest leagues in the world and, in Real Madrid and Barcelona, Spain has two of the very finest club sides but the performances of the national side in the World Cup Finals (even when they qualify!) has been pretty lamentable. They have often been amongst the favourites but since the Second World War they have never even reached the semi-finals. In 1982 they staged the World Cup which was marked by a series of great matches and is widely regarded as the second-best ever after the legendary 1970 tournament. However, Spain yet again failed to impress and were beaten by Northern Ireland and drew against Honduras in the group stages. Only a penalty saw them through to the next round against Yugoslavia. Wikipedia tells all.
I consider myself a football fanatic and a close follower of all things to do with "The Beautiful Game" but my knowledge pales into insignificance against Phil Ball who has written one of the greatest ever books about football Morbo. This book details the history of football in Spain in an utterly compelling and thought-provoking way. It is a definite "must-read" for anybody in the slightest interested in Spanish football in particular and Spain in general.
Below you will find all the official web-sites of the teams competing in La Liga 2007/2008 and those for the teams in the second tier (Liga BBVA) will be found on the site of La Liga de Fútbol Profesional Another great football site although again all in Spanish is Futbolme whilst in English there is the less comprehensive but still impressive Soccer-Spain
Finally, I must make mention of a relatively knew phenomenon in Spanish football - the rise and rise of the expat supporters clubs (peńas). The best example is at FC Torrevieja but all along the costas club presidents are trying to woo the expat fan. FC Torrevieja despite playing in the fourth level of Spanish football regularly attract crowds five to ten times more than their opponents. Why? Well, the Torry Army is more than 75% of the home crowd and similar stories can be told in Jávea, Málaga and at countless tercera and preferente grounds in expatshire. Some of their sites include:
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