Villaverde: En Mi Vida — Terrace Edition

Words: Roy Piepers

Images: Roy Piepers

“You should come to a Villaverde game. You’ll love it,” a colleague said casually. I wasn’t so sure.

Why travel to a working-class suburb that rarely makes a visitor’s list? As an urbanite, I had never lived further than a 10-minute walk from Madrid’s Sol, the city’s vibrant heart, and visiting the suburbs wasn’t really something I did.

In my late teens and early twenties, I was a season ticket holder at PSV Eindhoven, where I marvelled at the skills of players like Romário, Ronaldo, Luc Nilis, and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

But then I moved abroad, and as other parts of life took over, football gradually faded into the background.

Twenty years later, would I really enjoy attending a match in La Tercera Division?

©Roy Piepers/ Terrace Edition. S.A.D. Villaverde San Andrés.

After a couple of invites and a gap in my Sunday schedule, I finally gave in and ventured out to Estadio Boetticher to watch a match of Villaverde San-Andrés, affectionately known as Botti among fútbol modesto fans.

The ground was surrounded by a brick wall with two little windows serving as a ticket box. I bought a ticket and stepped inside.

I couldn’t help but smile. The ground was weathered but charming, with a small covered stand on one side, and on the opposite side, a little kiosk and plenty of park benches, along with terraces behind the goals.

Quite nice, especially for a lower-league team. Behind one of the goals was also what appeared to be a large-ish house with a scoreboard. “That’s the office and the changing rooms”, one of my friends told me once I had received my warm welcome.

Estadio Boetticher has a unique history. It’s where Kaká filmed a Sony 3D commercial, and where the former smartphone giant HTC shot a short documentary while the team was installing its artificial turf.

While the stadium may be modest in size, it has certainly made its mark. Known, somewhat tongue-in-cheek as the ”Bernabeu del Sur” the pitch is said to mirror the dimensions of Real Madrid’s legendary ground.

Today, you can find international players with names like Been, Rasta, and Robus, alongside local talents like Miguel Angel and Rubén, all plying their trade for Botti.

The club has been around in one form or another since 1948. It was originally created by Boetticher y Navarro, an elevator factory. Wanting to give their employees a space to stay active, the location where the current ground now stands was donated to Sociedad Recreativa Boetticher y Navarro S.A., and it was used for football, cycling and basketball.

In 1972, a group of friends founded S.R. Villaverde Club de Fútbol, and Juan Antonio Cózar Padilla was elected president - a role he has held ever since. “He is the longest-serving president of a football team in Spain” was one of the first things I was told about the club.

He never fails to mention this in any interview he gives either. To be fair, being the president of Botti since 1972 is no mean feat. His office, which doubles as a meeting room, looks straight out of a 1980s movie. It’s easy to imagine people smoking and drinking while discussing the league’s issues of the day.

The walls are adorned with photos of bygone eras, and “Presi”, as he is known to everyone, is always proud to point out his picture with the illustrious Vicente Calderón and Santiago Bernabéu, friends from his past.

Visiting the inner sanctum is one of the privileges you get on your yearly visit to renew your season ticket.

The team itself has mostly played somewhere in the fourth, fifth or sixth tier of Spanish football, which are regionalised. However, it has had some success lately. On the final match day of last season, I was one of the 200 supporters who witnessed the team clinch promotion in the last minute of extra time at an away game.

Presi, who had been pacing while listening to the radio coverage, was treated to promotion on the day of his 82nd birthday, and two seasons after relegation, Botti returned to La Tercera.

Over the years, Botti has become my happy place, reigniting my love for football. I now look forward to every match, meeting up with a growing group of international fans.

As a season ticket holder, I enjoy the camaraderie—chatting, eating bocadillos, and watching the game together. It’s become more than just a Sunday activity; it’s a weekly celebration of sport and community.

And when I’m greeted by the friendly locals from the peña, Los Bottis Verdes, or by Antonio and Dani—two loyal supporters we met early on—it makes me feel like I’m truly part of the community.

I can’t help but be grateful to Villaverde and Botti for reminding me of the joy and excitement of football, and for bringing it back into my life.

And how are they doing this year? Surprisingly well, I have to say. The year after the unexpected promotion, a half-expected fight to avoid relegation never seemed to happen.

Secretly, there’s quiet hope they might even reach the promotion play-offs. Winning the Madrid regional play-offs and then playing against a team from the Canary Islands, Galicia or any other region in Spain, would be something truly special, but there are no expectations.

Botti will endure, and no matter the division, their supporters will stand by them. Whether it’s eclectic group of international fans, Los Bottis Verdes, or anyone else, the Villaverde roar will always be heard.

¡Mucho Botti!