Karen Randell & Jodie Randell witness a historic match between UD Las Palmas (whom Norwich City FC have partnered with) and Atletico Madrid, in Gran Canaria.
Norwich City Football Club have recently formed a collaboration with Gran Canaria Tourist board, as well as a relationship with UD Las Palmas Football Club, following a period of knowledge shared between the two clubs. Discussing the beginnings of this twinning, UD Las Palmas stated: “We contacted [Norwich City FC] because we discovered a nice story that could serve as a means to connect and start a fruitful relationship for both. It’s interesting to note that the English club’s supporters and the citizens of Norwich in general are called The Canaries.” (La Liga.es).
In light of this partnership and since we were in the local area, on the 3rd of November 2023, Karen Randell and I (Jodie Randell) donned our Norwich City first team football tops with the new Gran Canaria tourist board logo on the sleeves to see UD Las Palmas vs Atletico Madrid in an official La Liga game (Spain’s premier football league).
UD Las Palmas has been promoted this year to La Liga, and so far has had an incredible season. However, the odds were only at 1:5 for Las Palmas to beat Atletico Madrid, who are one of the top 3 teams in La Liga.
The match was held at Estadio Gran Canaria, in Las Palmas, the capital city of Gran Canaria; the largest of the Canary Islands. As we walked towards the stadium we were greeted by a sea of yellow and blue (UD Las Palmas official colours). It seemed the entire island had turned out to see this eventful match! Fans of all ages were ecstatic with excitement, and the energy was electric. Children waving UD Las Palmas flags, teenagers with yellow and blue scarves, and plenty of fans in the official UD Las Palmas football tops had all turned out to see the game.
As we entered the stadium, and walked down to our seats, excitement hung thick in the air. The stadium was incredible! As the match was sold out it was packed to full capacity – around 32,000 people! With 95% of these being UD Las Palmas fans. We walked eagerly to our seats which were right down the middle of the pitch. Dressed in our Norwich City X UD Las Palmas tops, a fellow fan shouted ‘Norwich City’ to us with a big grin!
The first half of the match was a nail-biting 30 minutes, with UD Las Palmas dominating possession and making several attempts at scoring. At halftime, the scoreboard remained 0:0 – a commendable current score considering the odds stacked against UD Las Palmas.
It was the 50th minute of the match when history was being made as UD Las Palmas scored an incredible goal. Karen and I in our yellow and green Norwich city tops jumped up and down shouting with joy with the rest of the UD Las Palmas fans.
In the 75th minute, the stadium erupted with the most incredible roar as UD Las Palmas against all odds scored again! 2:0! We couldn’t believe it and joined in with the roaring of the local fans.
However, Atletico Madrid responded, narrowing the score to 2:1 with around 10 minutes remaining. The suspense in the air was palpable. Would Atletico Madrid stage a comeback, or could UD Las Palmas defend their lead and clinch this historic victory?
After what seemed like an eternity, the whistle blew signalling the end of the match. The crowd cheered, jeered and jumped in pure joy! It was such an honour to attend this remarkable win for UD Las Palmas.
UD Las Palmas – we extend our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for the rest of the season from two proud Norwich City supporters and the entire team at Randell’s Footcare!
