Confirmed Europa League clubs 2023-24 – Spain, Portugal, Israel
Hot weather, good food and the possibility of being hit by a Hezbollah rocket. The third part of our guide to clubs Brighton could face in the 2023-24 Europa League is a whistle stop tour through Spain, Portugal and Israel.
And to be fair, you probably don’t need to worry about any missiles. It was 2006 when the city of Haifa was hit by 93 Hezbollah rockets. With the passing of 17 years, bring on Maccabi Haifa…
The Israeli champions are one of the four Europa League 2023-24 participants we are looking at here. The others are Sporting Portugal from, er, Portugal, plus La Liga outfits Real Betis and Villarreal.
Maccabi Haifa
The football team
Maccabi Haifa are the second most successful football team in Israel, having won 15 league titles, six State Cups and five Toto Cups.
They were also the first Israeli team to compete in the Champions League when qualifying for the competition in the 2002-03 season.
The meaning of the name Maccabi – ‘there is no one like you among the gods’ – refers to the Star of David in the team’s logo.
Maccabi Haifa have the highest average attendance of any club in the Israeli Premier League. A 2010 survey suggested that 25.8 percent of Israeli football fans support the Greens, a number which jumps to 33 percent amongst females.
The club’s official anthem Green in the eyes was written by famous singer-songwriter Uzi Hitman and performed by Haim Moshe.
Maccabi Haifa were crowned Israeli Premier League champions last season. Their spot in the Europa League 2023-24 after they struggled with Young Boys, losing 3-0 on aggregate to the Swiss club in Champions League qualifying.
The stadium
Maccabi Haifa play at the Sammy Ofer Stadium, named after a billionaire who donated $20 million towards construction costs.
It opened in 2014 and has a capacity of 30,942. Based on away clubs receiving a five percent allocation in the Europa League, Brighton could expect around 1,500 tickets.
The Greens share the Sammy Ofer Stadium with their city rivals Hapoel Haifa and it also holds select games of the Israeli national side. Outside the ground is the World Peace Statue.
The place
Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, Haifa has a history spanning more than 3,000 years. As a major seaport, it provides a gateway to the Mediteranean and is heavily industrialised.
A famous Israeli saying goes: “Haifa works, Jerusalem prays, Tel Aviv plays.” This means Haifa is not a particularly tourist-centric city.
In 2005, there were as few as 13 hotels with a total of 1,462 rooms. You do not need to be a mathematician to foresee accommodation scarcity caused by 1,500 Brighton fans descending on Haifa driving prices for a room up.
Links with Brighton
Beram Kayal began his career with Maccabi Haifa. The popular former Brighton midfielder joined the academy at 14, going onto make his professional debut in 2006 at the age of 18.
Kayal played 107 times for the Greens, scoring seven goals before joining Celtic in 2010. He became the first signing Chris Hughton made as Albion boss, proving to be an absolute steal at only £250,000.
Sporting CP
The football team
First piece of advice here is not to refer to Sporting Clube de Portugal as Sporting Lisbon unless you want to cause serious distress/upset to fans of the Lions.
Sporting have won 19 League titles, 17 Taças de Portugal, a joint-record of four Campeonato de Portugal, four Taças da Liga and nine Supertaças Cândido de Oliveira.
In European terms, no club have played more seasons in the Europa League than Sporting, with their wins total the second highest in the competition’s history.
Equally impressive is their academy. Amongst the greats to have come through at Sporting are Cristiano Ronaldo, Luís Figo, João Moutinho, Rui Patrício, Nani and Eric Dier.
Sporting qualified for the Europa League in 2023-24 after finishing fourth in Primeira Liga last season.
The stadium
The current Estadio Jose Alvalade is Sporting’s seventh home ground. It was built ahead of Portugal hosting Euro 2004 and holds 50,095 people.
Based on away clubs receiving a five percent allocation in the Europa League, Brighton could expect around 2,500 tickets should they be headed to Lisbon.
The place
Lisbon is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 548,703. It is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second-oldest European capital city after Athens.
The monument to Christ the King stands on the southern bank of the Tagus River, in Almada. With open arms and overlooking the whole city, it resembles Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro.
It was built after World War II as a memorial of thanksgiving for Portugal being spared many of the horrors and destruction of war which swept Europe.
Lisbon is famous for its distinctive yellow trams running through the hilly streets, most of which are still small four-wheeled vehicles whose original design dates from the early 20th century.
But as lovely as Lisbon is, the main reason to be excited about Brighton potentially drawing Sporting in the 2023-24 Europa League is clearly the chance to go wild on the magnificent Portuguese lager Super Bock.
Links with Brighton
Whilst Viktor Gyokeres is the obvious link… why go with obvious when there is a great story of a pre-season friendly farce to tell?
Brighton announced that their glamour friendly ahead of the 2018-19 Premier League campaign would be against Sporting at the Amex.
There was only small snag… seven players had just cancelled their contracts with Sporting after being attacked at the training ground by supporters angered by a failure to qualify for the Champions League.
Unsurprisingly, Sporting had to pull out of their trip to Sussex with the classic Sussex Sunday League excuse (worth a £250 fine) of being unable to raise a team.
Brighton instead faced French side Nantes, winning 2-1 via goals from Tomer Hemed and Pascal Gross.
Real Betis
The football team
Real Betis Balompie were founded in 1907 and it is fair to say that being a fan is rarely dull. Along with winning the Spanish title in 1935 and the Copa del Rey in 1977, 2005 and 2022, Betis have suffered many relegations through the years.
This has led to their fans adopting the moto “Viva el Betis manque (aunque) pierda” which translates to “Long live Betis even if they lose”. A sentiment Brighton supporters are very familiar with.
Not that Betis fans have experienced much losing lately. They finished sixth in La Liga last time out, securing their place in the 2023-24 Europa League.
Betis have a fierce cross-city rivalry with Seville from the other side of town. Not only do the clubs compete at football, but they also face off in an annual rowing race on the Guadalquivir river. As you do.
The stadium
Betis play at the 60,720 capacity Estadio Benito Villamarin. Based on away clubs receiving a five percent allocation in the Europa League, Brighton could expect around 3,000 tickets.
The stadium opened in 1929 and has since undergone three major expansions in 1982, 2000 and 2017. It was blessed in 1961 by Cardinal Jose Bueno y Monreal, which makes you wonder if it might not be worth getting the vicar from Falmer village church in to take a look at the Amex.
Having been to Estadio Benito Villamarin to watch England in their 3-2 Nations League win over Spain in 2018, one piece of advice from your correspondent is do not get too pissed before heading for the away end.
The upper tier terraces are frighteningly steep. One too many Cruzcampo could spell disaster. Especially if Brighton saunter into a 3-0 half time lead, as the Three Lions did.
The place
Seville topped The Lonely Planet list of best cities to visit in 2018 and it is not hard to see why. Great climate, stunning architecture and fantastic cuisine make it a brilliant destination.
The old town covers an era of four square kilometres and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its three most famous buildings are the Alcazar palace complex, the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies.
Seville is considered the birthplace of flamenco, where residents of the Triana district danced as an expression of the poor and marginalised.
And then there is the tapas. Any Albion fans on a diet might want to cancel their plans if Brighton draw Betis. There is no way you are not putting on weight going from tapas bar to tapas bar trying all the local specialities.
Links with Brighton
Martin Montoya moved from Brighton to Betis ahead of the 2020-21 campaign after spending two seasons with the Albion. Trips to Hove Park have never quite been the same knowing there is no chance of bumping into Montoya walking his dog anymore.
The sides also met in a 2014 friendly in Spain. Craig Mackail-Smith gave Brighton an 11th minute lead but Betis ended up running out 3-1 winners, inflicting a first defeat as Brighton manager on Sami Hyypia.
Little did we know at the time that it would be the first of many, many defeats.
Villarreal
The football club
Founded in 1923, it would be another 65 years before Villarreal first appeared in the top flight of Spanish football. They have seriously punched above their weight since winning promotion to La Liga in 1998, most notably in Europe.
The Yellow Submarine (easily the best nickname in football) reached the Champions League semi finals in 2006 and 2022, whilst their only major trophy to date also happens to have come in continental football when defeating Manchester United to win the Europa League in 2001.
Villarreal’s famous yellow kits date back to 1947. With the new season fast approaching, the son of the club president travelled to nearby Valencia to purchase replacement white shirts and black shorts – Villarreal’s colours at the time.
Discovering that the shop he had been told to visit had only one colour left in stock, he bought it – yellow. It is the sort of kit cock up you wold expect from the Albion.
The similarities between Brighton and Villarreal do not end there. The Yellow Submarine are in many ways the La Liga version of Brighton; a smaller club who thrives against the established giants of their country by being expertly run.
If the Albion can go onto enjoy half the success Villarreal have in Europe, then Seagulls supporters will be in for a treat. The Yellow Submarine are in the 2023-24 Europa League on account of a fifth place finish in La Liga.
The stadium
Villarreal play at the 23,008 seater Estadio de la Ceramica. The capacity is roughly half the population of the city of Villarreal, providing another indicator of how impressive it is for The Yellow Submarine to be winning European trophies.
Based on away clubs receiving a five percent allocation in the Europa League, Brighton could expect around 1,150 tickets if they were paired with Villarreal.
The name Estadio de la Ceramica translates into English as Ceramics Stadium, recognising the local industry for which Villarreal was most well-known before the football club’s recent success.
The place
Villarreal was founded in 1274 by King James I of Aragon to strengthen his reconquest of Eastern Spain. Its main economy used to be the trade of oranges before the manufacturing of ceramic tiles took over in the last century.
The city is the birthplace of Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea, a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the Romantic period. He is the composer of Gran Vals, an excerpt of which was used in a popular Nokia ringtone.
Links with Brighton
In the Albion’s seemingly never ending quest to play every single La Liga team in a pre-season friendly, Villarreal visited the Amex in 2013.
A very strange evening saw the Yellow Submarine team bus turn up late, necessitating a delay in kick off. Then at half time, Brighton changed from their blue and white striped home shirt into their yellow away kit white whilst Villarreal came back out in blue having started the game in yellow.
The final score was 3-1 to Villarreal with the Brighton goal coming after only two minutes from number nine Ashley Barnes.
Oh, we should probably mention that the Albion signed Pervis Estupinan from Villarreal to replace Marc Cucurella too. One of the best £15 million ever spent by Brighton.
