Real Mallorca’s objective is 40 points

Speaking at a “ribbon cutting” event at the opening of the renovated club shop near Plaza Cort in Palma (sandwiched between the Real Madrid and Barcelona club shops!), Diaz said “We have had an average attendance of 20,000 during the season. It’s true some games have seen less spectators but we will be working to reach 21,000 for Saturday games.”

A large part of Mallorca’s conference league aspirations next season hinges on making Son Moix a fortress with five home games left to play. Espanyol, Celta, Leganes, Valladolid and Getafe (all below us in the La Liga classifications) have to visit the Cami dels Reis before the end of the season. These represent 15 points up for grabs that could take “Los Bermellones” up to 52, a figure that could be enough to get back into Europe for the first time since 2003 (This year it is quite likely that the eighth placed team in Spain will have a place). Back then we progressed through three rounds of the UEFA Cup before being eliminated by Newcastle United 7-1 on aggregate. Qualifying for the Conference League is going to be a huge hurdle for us as our home form will have to improve. We haven’t been victorious in Palma since we beat Las Palmas 3-1 last month. At present in La Liga there are eight teams separated by just four points from Mallorca in seventh with 37 points down to Osasuna, Girona and Getafe on 33.

An almost full house on Saturday, in the last game before the international break, would be a huge boost for the team but our opponents Espanyol will be a difficult nut to crack. “The Budgies” have been a thorn in our side since 1989 when we beat them in a promotion play-off double header to regain our Primera league position.

More animosity kicked off again in 2020 when our then coach Vicente Moreno (who had brought us up two divisions) decided an offer to “poach” him to Espanyol was too good to turn down despite him signing a new deal to stay here. Mallorca eventually received half a million euros compensation in compensation. The move didn’t sit well with the Mallorca fans and things got even worse when Moreno said that referees were favouring Mallorca more than Espanyol. Both sides were battling to win the second division title which Espanyol went on to achieve, finishing on the same number of points as us but with a better head to head count.

Espanyol are having a good season (they’re unbeaten at home this year) and after a bad start are out of the relegation zone. It will be a special game for our midfielder Sergi Darder who spent 10 years at the RCDE stadium in Barcelona.

The Bulletin’s sister publication Ultima Hora ran a story on Tuesday regarding Real Mallorca’s former home, the Luis Sitjar, in the Es Forti area of Palma. Mallorca moved out of there in 1999 when all spectators had to be seated. The old ground was a venue for glorious tussles against Real Madrid and Barcelona. Maradona played there, as did the Spanish National side as well as exciting Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners Cup matches.

The whole area where the ground was has been flattened with ambitious plans to develop a green area in that part of the city. However, after years of bickering between various shareholders, there’s still no movement regards redevelopment. It’s such a nostalgic shame that you can now walk through the well-kept Parc de Sa Riera to find the old ground area looking a bit like a bomb site.

Over the years I’ve witnessed some disasters, mostly on the pitch but some off it as well, which have included floodlight failure in the middle of a storm during a televised night game against Real Madrid. When the lights went out, fans lit up the ground with cigarette lighters as mobile phones weren’t invented then. Then a few years later one of the goals collapsed during a second division game. On March 18, 1984, one of the pitch-surrounding walls collapsed, injuring 50 fans. Mallorca were struggling down the bottom of La Liga and they were playing Valladolid, one point above them. In a game (or battle) in which one fan attacked a linesman, the game reached fever pitch. New signing, Northern Ireland legend Gerry Armstrong scored for Mallorca. In all the excitement the wall behind the north goal gave way and fans sitting on it tumbled into the dry moat 20 feet below. The stadium went silent as emergency services rushed to the scene. Nobody was seriously injured and after an enquiry Mallorca were absolved of criminal responsibility. For the record, Mallorca had to play their remaining home games on the peninsula and were relegated.

AND FINALLY, these are actual school report cards from students in New York (1) I would not allow this student to breed (2) Your child has delusions of adequacy (3) Your child is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot (4) The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn’t coming, and (5) If this student was any more stupid he’d have to be watered twice a week!