OneFootball
Dan Burke·23 November 2018
OneFootball
Dan Burke·23 November 2018
Real Murcia are in serious financial difficulty and they need your help.
In 2015, the debt-ridden club suffered an administrative relegation and since then, a wrangle over ownership has seen players not being paid, electricity and hot water being cut off at the training ground and even a struggle to find a decent ball to practice with.
In October this year, the players – backed by the supporters – staged a protest against president Victor Galvez in which they stood completely still and refused to play during the first 30 seconds of a 1-0 win over Talavera.
Outside the stadium, fans held up a banner aimed at the board which read: “Thanks for making us feel ashamed.”
Galvez has now resigned and Los Pimentoneros (The Paprika men) are in the hands of a group of local figures who are trying to steer the club away from crisis.
And one way they hope to do that is by selling off shares in the club to whoever wants to buy them.
“It is in your power to be the protagonist of the new story that we are going to start writing together,” reads a statement on the club’s website.
“Make it yours. Make it ours.”
Ten shares cost €1.22, while the maximum number available to buy is 8200 for €1000.40.
But if you’re interested, you must hurry. The shares will only be available to purchase until midnight on Friday 23 November.
The club is currently in debt to the tune of €53m, including over €16m owed to the State, but players and staff received partial payments of their wages this week, and there are signs that things are getting better, thanks in large part to the support of Murcia’s 11,000 members.
“I told the players that, if what has happened to Murcia had happened to some other team in some other city, they’d die,” Manuel Herrero, the coach, told ESPN.
“Not here. Here there are loads of people behind the club. That gives us peace of mind: We can see that this year we’ll come through this.”