Watching CD Tenerife play in the middle of Santa Cruz
The Estadio Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez was built into the streets of the island capital and holds 24,000, though the stands are now rarely more than half full. Tickets remain affordable and the club reached a Uefa Cup semi-final in 1996/97.
Johannes Bornewasser is an author, journalist and editor-in-chief of Teneriffa News. He is regarded as a recognised expert on the Canary Islands. Bornewasser is also responsible for the editorial content of the website.
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Das Wappen von CD Teneriffa.
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From being a UEFA Cup semi-finalist and a key contributor to FC Barcelona’s success (see below), Club Deportivo Tenerife found itself relegated to the third tier. However, at the end of the 2012/13 season, Tenerife celebrated its return to the second tier, the Segunda División. CD Tenerife is a very special club, not least because of its location. As it lies some 1,300 kilometres from the Spanish mainland, away matches involve long journeys for both the club and their opponents – sometimes in very different climatic conditions.
CD Tenerife plays its home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López in Santa Cruz. The stadium, built right in the heart of the island’s capital, has a capacity of 24,000 spectators. The club enjoyed a golden era in the 1990s, when the vast stadium was frequently sold out. These days, however, the stands are usually barely half full.
Nevertheless, it’s well worth attending a match featuring CD Tenerife, as the club is known locally. The atmosphere is excellent, admission is affordable, and the temperatures on Tenerife make a visit possible at any time of year.
Tenerife’s historic victories in the UEFA Cup
CD Tenerife enjoyed its greatest success in the 1996/1997 season: under manager Jupp Heynckes, the island club was only stopped in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, the forerunner to today’s Europa League. They were knocked out by FC Schalke 04, who went on to win the title, after two matches (1-0 and 0-2 after extra time).
In the 1991/92 and 1992/93 seasons, CD Tenerife beat Real Madrid at the end of each season. In both years, the defeat cost the ‚Royals‘ the league title. The beneficiary on both occasions was FC Barcelona, who secured the league title in both years thanks to the help of the Canary Islands.
Jupp Heynckes and Robert Enke loved Tenerife
Robert Enke is regarded as CD Tenerife’s most famous German player. As recounted in the biography *Robert Enke – A Life All Too Short*, published after his death, his time in Tenerife was among the relatively happy months the former national team goalkeeper experienced following the onset of his depression, which ultimately drove him to take his own life.
Oliver Neuville also played for CD. Other famous German managers, alongside Heynckes, included Ewald Lienen and Bernd Krauss.
CD Tenerife now has the suffix ‚S.A.D.‘ attached to its name. In order to save the club from financial ruin, a sports public limited company was set up without further ado.
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