Betoño Sports Complex

The Betoño Sports Complex (Spanish: Complejo Deportivo de Betoño, Basque: Betoñu Kirol Esparrua), also known as El Glorioso, is a football training ground and match venue located in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava (Basque Country).

Betoño Sports Complex
El Glorioso
Former namesMichelin sports grounds
LocationVitoria-Gasteiz
Álava, Basque Country,
Spain
Coordinates42.8623938°N 2.6524563°W / 42.8623938; -2.6524563
OwnerVitoria-Gasteiz City Council
TypeFootball training facility
Opened1970
Tenants
CD Betoño-Elgorriaga
Deportivo Alavés (training)

Facilities

The complex is situated to the east of Vitoria city centre, adjacent to the village of the same name and close to the Salburua wetlands reserve. As of 2018, the facilities for 11-a-side football consisted of three full-size grass pitches (one with a basic covered and seated stand for around 188 spectators) and one artificial turf pitch, and associated changing areas.[1][2]

History of the site
Stand at Betoño, 2015

The 17,000m² complex[3] was originally the recreation grounds of the Michelin tyre company who have a large factory in the area;[4][5][6] their other factory in Lasarte-Oria had a football team which reached the Spanish third tier in the 1970s.

The facilities were used extensively by Deportivo Alavés for many years before being purchased by the club, upgraded and renamed El Glorioso ('The Glorious', referencing one of their nicknames) in 2001.[7][8][9] Betoño became the home ground for the Alavés B-team[10] and C-team[11] who at that time were competing in the third and fourth tiers of the Spanish football league system. However, the club's fortunes declined rapidly under the ownership of Dmitry Piterman, with the senior team falling to the third level, the B-team to the fifth and the C-team disbanding, and in 2006 Vitoria-Gasteiz city council reacquired control of the facility.[9]

Since then, many smaller teams have trained regularly or played their home fixtures there, including CD Betoño-Elgorriaga,[12] Gasteizko Neskak (a women's club whose senior squad was merged into a new Alavés female team in 2017)[13][14] and, until 2015, CD Vitoria.[15][16] As of 2016–17, the various age group teams of Alavés have been holding training sessions at Betoño, having secured a deal for the exclusive use of one of the pitches,[17][18] although the club also has a dedicated training facility of a similar size, Ciudad Deportiva José Luis Compañón (also known by its location, 'Ibaia'), to the south-west of the city.

Future developments

Since becoming owner of Alavés in 2013,[19] Josean Querejeta forged close links between the football club and his basketball team Saski Baskonia including a joint training initiative for children (5+11 Foundation).[20] He also stated his desire for Alavés to have an elite training facility, and this became a more urgent concern when the team were promoted to La Liga in 2016.[3] The proximity of the Betoño grounds to Baskonia's Fernando Buesa Arena and BAKH multi-sports centre[21] led to it being the preferred site to be developed,[22] ahead of Ibaia which has only basic facilities and is located at an isolated site on the other side of the city. However, if Alavés were to take back full exclusive control of Betoño, the local teams based there would be without a home ground close to them.[23][24][12] The higher land value of Betoño and its importance to amateur football in the city were considerable obstacles in the club's proposals to re-acquire ownership of the complex.[25]

As part of a wider project involving a €50 million investment in the Alavés infrastructure and stadium jointly financed between the club and public bodies,[24] in summer 2017 an agreement in principle over the purchase of Betoño, involving an annual fee to the city until 2020 when a land purchase fee of €6 million would be paid, accompanied by a proposal for the local teams to have use of Ibaia for their matches,[26][27] appeared to have been reached in summer 2017,[28][29] but some months later this became less certain when the price of the land involved, including the former Michelin factory adjacent to the sports complex, was set at €16 million by the city council, prompting Alavés to release an alternative plan to purchase farmland to the east of the Buesa Arena, outside the city limits of Vitoria-Gasteiz.[30][31]

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References
  1. "Campos de fútbol Betoño" [Betoño football fields] (in Spanish). Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  2. "Campos de fútbol Betoño" [Betoño football fields] (in Spanish). Basque Government. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  3. "El Alavés quiere una estructura de Primera" [Alaves wants a top level structure]. Marca (in Spanish). 5 September 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  4. "Michelin, medio siglo de una gran factoría alavesa" [Michelin, half a century of a large Álava factory]. El Correo (in Spanish). 14 January 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  5. "Production facilities". Michelin. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  6. "Las nuevas instalaciones de Michelin en Álava crearán 50 nuevos empleos" [Michelin's new facilities in Álava will create 50 new jobs]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  7. "Inauguradas las instalaciones "El Glorioso"" ["El Glorioso" facilities inaugurated] (in Spanish). Glorioso.net. 16 December 2001. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  8. "Las coincidencias presiden la visita del Ourense al Alavés B" [Coincidences overshadow Ourense's visit to Alavés B]. La Voz de Galicia. 20 December 2001. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  9. "El equipo volverá a entrenarse en las instalaciones de Betoño" [The team will return to train at Betoño's facilities] (in Spanish). 17 August 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2018 – via Goazen Deportivo.
  10. "Alavés B 2 - Leonesa 1: minicrónica de alcance" [Alavés B 2 - Leonesa 1: mini-report] (in Spanish). Glorioso.net. 5 September 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  11. "Microderbi en Betoño" [Microderby at Betoño] (in Spanish). Glorioso.net. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  12. "La venta de Betoño al Glorioso afecta a tres clubes alaveses" [The sale of Betoño al Glorioso affects three Álava clubs]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 23 November 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  13. "El Gasteizko Neskak debuta a lo grande en Segunda División Femenina (2-1)" [Gasteizko Neskak make their big debut in the Women's Second Division (2-1)]. Kirol Expres (in Spanish). 6 September 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  14. "Deportivo Alavés Gloriosas" (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 1 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  15. "El Alavés B se salva a costa de golear al Vitoria" [Alavés B saved by thrashing Vitoria]. El Correo (in Spanish). 4 May 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  16. "El CD Vitoria será el filial del Eibar" [CD Vitoria will be the subsidiary of Eibar] (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  17. "El Alavés cambia esta semana Ibaia por Betoño" [Alavés swaps Ibaia for Betoño this week]. Kirol Expres (in Spanish). 4 October 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  18. "El Alavés regresa hoy a Betoño para entrenarse" [Alaves returns to Betoño today to train]. Noticias de Álava (in Spanish). 5 October 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  19. "Querejeta compra las acciones del Alavés que tenía la familia Ortiz de Zárate" [Querejeta bought the shares in Alavés that the Ortiz de Zárate family held] (in Spanish). El Correo. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  20. "Daci 2018" (in Spanish). Fundación 5+11 Fundazioa. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  21. "Instalaciones" [Facilities] (in Spanish). Bakh. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  22. "El Alavés negocia con el Ayuntamiento la compra de Betoño para su ciudad deportiva" [Alaves negotiates with the City Council to buy Betoño for its sports city]. Kirol Expres (in Spanish). 14 September 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  23. "Betoño incendia el fútbol alavés" [Betoño inflames football in Álava]. Noticias de Álava (in Spanish). 23 July 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  24. "Más de 50 millones en infraestructuras" [More than 50 million in infrastructure]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 5 August 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  25. "Un proyecto aún trabado. Una reforma en profundidad para renovar por completo la instalación" [A project still locked. An in-depth renovation to completely renovate the facility]. Noticias de Álava (in Spanish). 13 November 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  26. "El Alavés ofrece Ibaia a los clubes convenidos que juegan en Betoño" [Alavés offers Ibaia to the partner clubs that play at Betoño]. Kirol Expres (in Spanish). 16 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  27. "El Alavés desembolsará más de siete millones de euros por Betoño" [The Alavés will disburse more than seven million euros for Betoño]. Noticias de Álava (in Spanish). 17 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  28. "El Alavés impulsa su ciudad deportiva" [The Alavés promotes its sports city]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 17 June 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  29. "El Ayuntamiento ultima la cesión de Betoño al Alavés" [The City Council finalizes the transfer of Betoño to Alavés]. Gasteiz Hoy (in Spanish). 18 July 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  30. "El Ayuntamiento tasa Betoño en 16 millones y el Alavés busca ya una alternativa en Zurbano" [The City Council rate Betoño at 16 million and Alavés already looking for an alternative in Zurbano]. El Correo (in Spanish). 2 February 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  31. "El Alavés estudia construir una ciudad deportiva fuera de Vitoria si no compra Betoño" [Alavés considers building a sports city outside Vitoria if it does not buy Betoño]. Gasteiz Hoy (in Spanish). 2 February 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
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