UD Almería lift trophy in big party to crown incredible season
Waving flags, flares, fireworks and ecstatic joy fill the air at the Juegos Mediterraneos Stadium during the promotion celebration.
It was midnight when UD Almería’s big party finished at the Juegos Mediterráneos Stadium. The victorious Rojiblancos were back in town as thousands of buzzing supporters celebrated the promotion to the top flight. It was the end of a memorable day that began in the evening when the players and coaching team embarked on an open-top bus tour through the packed streets of Almeria city with fans who welcomed their heroes home.
Singer Pilar Bogado and guitarist Guillermo Fernández, songwriter of the Club's official anthem, performed while the fans were lighting up the stadium with their mobile flashlights before giving them a standing ovation.
Energy was electric. It was the team’s promotion party and the players took centre stage as they were hailed one by one in the midfield after walking down a red carpet laid out on the pitch. The footballers exchanged chants and jokes with the attendees. Co-captain César de la Hoz took off his promotion T-shirt and underneath he was wearing a red and white one with the No. 23 and the name of former-Rojiblanco Soriano printed on the back of it. Skipper Fernando was the last one to go on stage as the best goalkeeper in the Spanish second tier.
Sadiq was lifted up in the air, as well as head coach Rubi, who in his speech gave a big shout-out to the fans for their unrivalled support and grouped the players to give them one more pep talk. ‘As you may have seen, we've removed the goals so that we can’t take any penalties,’ joked the gaffer alluding to the numerous penalty kicks missed over the season.
Afterwards, the members of the backroom team also went up on stage. UD Almeria Managing director Mohamed El Assy expressed his deep gratitude to the loyal fans and highlighted, to the applause of the supporters in the stands, that they will work hard so that UD Almería don’t move back down to Segunda Division ever again. The CEO also appreciated UD Almeria owner and president Turki Alalshikh, whose name was chanted by the squad and fans in full voice.
The moment everyone has been waiting for… LaLiga SmartBank champions UD Almeria lifted the trophy while British rock band Queen’s tune ‘We Are the Champions’ was being played. The silverware was raised aloft to the delight of the crowd before posing with it. It seemed that nobody wanted to go home last night so the players did a lap of honour celebrating their achievement with their fans under the fireworks to close out a thrilling promotion race.