Antela Football Club (1919): the oldest club in Ourense
Antela Football Club, founded in Xinzo de Limia in June 1919, is the oldest club in the province of Ourense: the statutes, the Toural field, the first matches against Rayo de Verín and the Moreira ground.
Antela Football Club is the football team of Xinzo de Limia. Founded in 1919, it is the oldest club in the province of Ourense and the sixth in Galicia. It takes its name from the Lagoa de Antela. In the 2025–26 season it was promoted to the Tercera Federación [1].
The founding (1919)
According to the blog Historia de Xinzo, the official history of football in Xinzo was born from a tavern conversation among friends in the first days of June 1919. On the 1st the statutes of the foot-ball regulations of the Sociedad Deportiva Antela F.C. were drawn up. The first board was: president, Manolo Rivero; vice-president, Emilio Romero; treasurer, Antonio Ledo; secretary, Antonio Nieto; members Luís Álvarez and Aurelio Lodeiro; and team captain, Juan Tejada. Almost the whole local bourgeoisie were patron members, with a monthly fee: the first list had 57 patron members, most also players [2].
On 3 August 1919, the council plenary answered a courtesy request from the board and agreed a grant of 50 pesetas [2].
The first matches
The first match was in Verín against El Rayo, in August 1919, and the Verín side won 4–1; the next, on the Toural field in Xinzo, ended 3–1 to the Verín side. Antela received the visitors at the town entrance with the Celanova band and a crowd of locals, and the day ended with a lunch at the Casino Antelano and a dance. The reports were written by Antonio Nieto in La Región and another provincial daily [2].
The grounds
The first ground was at the Toural, with an earth surface; in 1936 another was adapted at A Seara; and then it moved to the present Estadio da Moreira, with natural grass, a capacity of 1,000 and 105 × 68 m. The club has a reserve side, Antela FC B, in the first regional division, and since 2020 Pablo Losada has been its president. It has had 17 seasons in Preferente, 30 in Primera Galicia and 8 in Segunda Galicia; its best historical position is fifth in Preferente (2025–26) [1].
A 1944 scoreline already appears in the historic photos: Antela 5, Celanova 2, on 18 July [2]. See Praza Maior, Ladeira and Toural for the site of the first ground.
Links
Sources
- «Antela Fútbol Clube», Galipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antela_Fútbol_Clube
- «Cen anos de historia do Antela F.C. (1919-2019)», Historia de Xinzo, 5 de novembro de 2018. https://historiadexinzo.wordpress.com/2018/11/05/cen-anos-de-historia-do-antela-f-c-1919-2019/
- «Antela FC — Introdución». https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antela_FC
You may also like
Archpriestship of A Limia: parishes and dedicationsThe Archpriestship of A Limia in the diocese of Ourense: 82 villages, 33 chapels and a list of parishes with their dedication, from Santa…
History of A LimiaCinemas, café, radio, school and library: Xinzo’s cultural life from 1948 to the 1970sThe cinemas Los Molinos (1948) and Antelano (1954), the Café Ideal and the Ideal 6 disco, the 1950 radio, the Colegio Santa Marina, the…
Emigration of the Limia people: from the 1950s diaspora to personal itinerariesHow the Limia people emigrated: destinations and phases (America from 1920, Venezuela, Brazil, the Basque Country and Catalonia in the…
Ethnography of A Limia: canastros, houses, limewash, finger guards, stonemasons, blind singers’ verses and the GerinaldoEthnographic studies by Pepe Calleja on A Limia: the canastros of Fontemoura and Faramiñás, the houses of Xinzo, the limewash of Solbeira…
From the Republic to the coup: Xinzo and A Limia between 1931 and 1936How the proclamation of the Republic (1931), 1 May 1936 and the preparation and success of the military coup of 17 to 20 July 1936 were…
History of A LimiaHistorical memory of A Limia, 1931–1953: Republic, repression and guerrillaGuide to the historical memory of A Limia between the Republic and the guerrilla: the 1936 coup, repression, women victims, the Causa…
