25/04 - 20:00
In 2015, Union Deportiva Ibiza, UD Ibiza or just Ibiza for short, were formed.
In 2016, they finished fourth in their regional group in the fifth tier. In 2017, they finished first in their regional group in the fifth tier and were promoted.
In 2018, they finished third in their regional group of the fourth tier and were promoted via the playoffs. In 2019, they finished sixth in their regional group of the third tier; the Segunda B.
In 2020, they finished second and reached the Round of 32 of the Copa del Rey, taking the lead at home to Barcelona but they let in a late equaliser and then a late Barca winner, conceding in the 94th minute.
In 2021, they eventually finished first in the Segunda B and were promoted into the Spanish second division for the first time ever. They also reached the Round of 32 of the Copa del Rey again. Once again taking the lead against a Spanish giant, Athletic Club this time, but once again conceding a second-half stoppage-time winner.
That’s the past – and the very recent past at that – but this is a club for which the present and future is the be all and end all.
THE PRESENT
After seven games this season, following their promotion just last year, the Balearic Islanders sat fourth in the Segunda table. However, they did fall away quite sharply and ended up in the bottom-half of the league.
That is when the decision to sack Juan Carlos Carcedo, just before the Christmas winter break, was taken and announced.
Carcedo was to be replaced by former Las Palmas and Rayo Vallecano boss Paco Jemez.
Jemez has gained a reputation for playing an intense and attacking style of football that can lack in its effectiveness but it still worth watching the majority of the time.
He earned Cartagena their first ever promotion into the second-tier in 2009, avoided almost certain relegation with Las Palmas, took Cordoba to the second division playoffs and then, in 2013, led Rayo to their highest ever finish in La Liga of eighth place.
His stock and reputation has been so high that he was appointed manager of nine-time Liga MX winners and six-time CONCACAF Champions League winners Cruz Azul; whereby he gave them their best season in almost four years.
His appointment was a sign that the investment into Ibiza on behalf of the Salvo family is not fleeting and it could be a genuinely long-lasting project.
Since he arrived, L’Eivissa have won both of their matches in 2022 against strugglers Fuenlabrada and Alcorcon. Their 6-2 win against Alcorcon was an example of the free-flowing and free-scoring style of football that Jemez prefers. They sit 10th in the table, six points off the top six and the playoff places.
THE FUTURE
The January transfer window has seen the club bide their time – if they are to do any business at all. Jemez is known as being a coach that can improve a set of players, both individually and collectively.
The immediate future and goals for Ibiza will be, undoubtedly, to try and sneak into that aforementioned top six in the Segunda and, hopefully, join their fellow Balearic club Real Mallorca in Spain’s top-flight.
Ibiza have risen from fifth-tier of Spanish football to the second division in a very short amount of time, thanks to a level of ambition and investment that has, pretty much, been unmatched in Spain’s lower leagues.
Given that trajectory, even if they don’t go up this season, they don’t tend to stick around too long in the same division – their short history would suggest.
The island of Ibiza is famed for being a tourist destination. Whether for quiet family holidays or for the party lifestyle that it can also provide. It has long been an untapped potential haven for football.
The ownership of the Salvo Family, led by club president Amadeo Salvo has been inspired by bringing Primera football to the island. It has never been done. The former Valencia president showed his legitimate and serious intentions to bring back the defunct UD Ibiza-Eivissa when he paid off the 50 thousand euro debt which saw it fold – an action that spoke a lot louder than most words.
The intention of to bring La Liga football to Ibiza – and that might happen quite a bit sooner than many think. Isla Blanca is in a rush to the top.
