The Tavernes de la Valldigna club, located 78 kilometers south of Valencia, is preparing for a Cup match that promises to become a milestone for the town. On March 21, at 9:00 p.m., the home team will face Valencia CF at the Mestalla, having secured entry to the competition after winning the Copa Nostra last season and eliminating Maracena. Ticket sales have become a community logistics operation, with the traditional sale of tickets at the Municipal stadium box office and online sales that have distributed some 20,000 seats, while the club has shipped close to 5,000 tickets in physical format.
The ticket office, located in the stadium itself, has become a meeting point for fans. You can see tables where the details of logistics are discussed: “Entry and bus or just entry?”, “sign up there.” Attendees write down names with pens to control the twenty-odd buses that will depart on Wednesday from Tavernes to the capital of Turia. The process has become a community activity, with employees and volunteers working around the clock to serve fans and ensure everyone can attend. A neighbor comments that she does not know her grandson's ID, while another asks for six tickets for the whole family.
The match is perceived as a unique opportunity for the town, with a capacity of 1,800 people in a population of 18,000. Antonio Hernández, vice president of the club, highlights that "this match is a party, it is a historic event to play an official Cup match, against everything in Valencia, in the last year of Mestalla. This for the people is pure history." The club, which occupies relegation positions in the Lliga Comunitat, the sixth category of Spanish football, has won the right to play the match after its victory in the Copa Nostra.
The Municipal stadium of Tavernes, with artificial grass and four light towers that make television broadcasting difficult, has been prepared for the event. Spotlights have been installed to illuminate the playing field, and pennants and memorabilia from the history of the club, founded in 1940, have been placed in a room with a wall lined with trophies. An operator has acted as a doorman to avoid crowds in the room. Ticket sales have been decreasing, and it is no longer easy to find the cheapest ones (10 euros), although you can still get tickets for 15 euros. The vice president admits that “you have to coordinate buses, tickets… we are not up to speed with all this and, sometimes, between asking for the ID, name and surname, it becomes a bit expensive.”
For villagers who have no means of transportation or who have difficulty purchasing tickets online, the physical ticket office has been their only method of access. At the last table, you hear the phrase "On the Valencia website and at the same price. No one can miss this." The match promises to be a memorable experience for Tavernes fans and an opportunity for the local club to compete against one of the greatest powers in Spanish football.