Raffaele Padalone: ​​”The First RFEF is very beautiful, but financially a ruin”

On March 8 Linense, Linares, Dux Internacional, Majadahonda and San Sebastián de los Reyes constituted the Association of Clubs of the Third National Category. Later the Real Union joined. The Spanish Football Federation gave them 48 hours to dissolve it. Otherwise they would not receive aid nor would they be able to compete next season in the First RFEF.

Rafaele Pandalone, president of the Balompédica Linense, analyzes the situation. “This category at a sporting level is very nice, but economically it is a disaster. Expenses have risen a lot. A competition that is very close to professional football cannot be in deficit. In two years’ time the clubs will be full of debts. The First RFEF is going to be the new well of Spanish football because if you enter 300,000 and spend at least one million you lose 700,000 euros every year They said it was a category for big teams and small teams like Villarreal are an example because they have made a good management”.

TV revenues are meager. “It is that the First RFEF is not the classic Second B. It is more Second than Second B. When the sports level is high, everything goes up. We cannot have less money in the First RFEF than in Second B. It is a ruin”.

economic disadvantages. “They have taken subsidies from us, the aid to Social Security for which each club received almost 160,000 euros a year… what do they want to do a filming in this first year because we come from COVID? Well, let them leave the same Second B expenses and little by little we are changing. It has not been done and that is why we are all in economic problems. I have had to sell my shares because I just couldn’t take it anymore. Because with the structure of the social mass that I have and with what they have demanded of me , or I put my club in trouble or I have to look for help”.

And for this the Association is forged. “What we want is to get more profit from the clubs in this category.”

Did Rubiales threaten them with expulsion? “He said it publicly that if we didn’t dissolve the Association within 48 hours, he would expel us. We are still here. I think a month has passed. They see something that we don’t see. They think they are using us. They have called us mercenaries… “You’ve told us everything. If you want tomorrow I’ll send you the balance of my club and tell you why. We’ve already told you. I manage my club. And my assets are in my club. I’m the first one who doesn’t want to harm My club. I try to get as much as possible for my club. We want to get more income. From my point of view as an entrepreneur, it’s totally wrong for us in an economy class and it tells us why don’t we look for an alternative form of financing? Do it. Can you bring me Santander, Sabadell, Caixa… whoever you want? But bring it and I’ll sign it tomorrow. On the day of the meeting they explain an economics class when they give you 40-year money with a 10-year grace period, every entrepreneurs of the world sign it at 1% interest”.

Has money come from the Super Cup? “The First RFEF does not take anything. We in Second B had 103,000 euros. Now the Federation gives us a subsidy of 70,000 euros. We have lost money. Arbitration has risen and every quarter they give us a bill of 21,000 euros. Arbitrations have risen almost 1,000 euros per game. They want to professionalize this category and it seems very good to me. But income will have to come in. They are trying to professionalize this category with the money of others. And that cannot be”.

Pandalone develops the situation of this category. “I’m Italian and I’ve talked about it with foreign coaches who follow the First RFEF. They say it has a very high level. If you look at the affiliates, there are footballers who have already played in the First Division, for Real Madrid and Barcelona. That raises your sporting level But to a club like mine, to compete, or they help me with income or I die. The theater, in quotes, to promote soccer players is bigger.”

How much do footters clubs charge? “The average is 237,000 euros a year. We need to pay a fee in March and I think they will pay it without problems and that the last payment is guaranteed by the Federation. I charged more in Second B because I had a subsidy from the Federation that they have taken from me. I had 103,000 euros from Impulso 23, the Social Security aid, which they have taken from me. Last year we received almost 200,000 euros from Social Security. That is why the club loses money and I have to seek help selling my shares.”

La Balona is finalizing its process to become a Sports Limited Company. “Practically done. We are deeding and we have to go to the Mercantile Registry. In a month or so we can be SAD. It may be good to look for investors, but SAD has the same rights as a sports club. We are a small city and we don’t have the social mass to have a sports club”.

La Balona can get money for Stoichkov if Eibar is promoted to First Division for training rightsn. “Little money. It’s 15,000 euros. I’ll be happy if Eibar and Stoichkov go up. He had a very tough personal problem (the death of his father) and we’re happy for him. We give him a big hug. He’s a footballer I want to see first”.

Another issue is the lighting of the stadium that has forced La Balona to always ask to play in the afternoons with artificial light. “We will surely have light in the summer because the final works will begin in May. Next season we will have light.” Expenses and more expenses. The accounts do not always add up. “This season we are going to lose more or less 500,000 euros. It is tremendous. And we are among those with the smallest budget in the category. We have a budget of around 1.4 million euros gross. This is unsustainable.”

To all this, the Balona has to clench his teeth to maintain the category. “We have a team to save us and try to continue growing.”