Match Preview: CD Jávea v Novelda CF

CD JÁVEA v NOVELDA CF
Sunday 30th March, 5.30pm
Camp d’Esports Municipal de Xàbia

OUR OPPONENTS

Novelda CF was formed in 1925 and became a powerhouse in regional championship football before achieving promotion to the national system in 1950, playing in Group 5 of the Tercera División (the third tier) for twelve seasons before suffering relegation back to regional competition at the end of the 1961/62 season.

As champions of the Murcian Primera Division at the end of the 1964/65 season, Novelda returned to the Tercera División for another five seasons before falling back into the Primera Regional in 1970.

In 1976, the club transferred across to the Federación Territorial Valenciana de Fútbol, joining the Southern Group of the Regional Preferente which it won in 1977-78 but failed to win promotion. The following season, they finished third and then, in 1979-80, a runner-up spot secured promotion back to the Tercera División, although by now it was the fourth tier in the national system.

For eight seasons, Novelda held their own but never really set the world alight with their football and at the end of the 1978-88 season, they were relegated back to the Regional Preferente. At the end of the 1993-94 season, finishing runners-up secured a play-off spot and promotion back to the Tercera División. It was the start of the club’s ‘golden era’ as they secured a second successive promotion at the end of the 1994-95 season to win promotion to the Segunda División ‘B’ for the first time.

The club bounced between the two divisions for four years before finally consolidating itself in the Segunda División ‘B’ in the 1999-2000 season and secured its highest ever finished in the national pyramid in 2000-2001 when it finished 5th, just behind RCD Espanyol de Barcelona ‘B’. It also had some success in the Copa del Rey, notably when it reached the Third Round in 1997-98, holding Real Zaragoza to a 2-2 draw at home before suffering a bruising 1-5 defeat in the away leg. In the 2001-02 season, Novelda reached the Round of 16, eliminating Valencia CF on the way, but were halted by fellow Segunda División ‘B’ side UE Figueres 2-1 on aggregate. And then, the following season, the club achieved the accolade of ‘giant killer’ after defeating the mighty FC Barcelona 3-2 at home in the Round of 32 but crashed 0-3 at home to Segunda División side Terrassa FC in the next round.

At the end of the 2004-2005 season, Novelda suffered relegation back to the Tercera División. The club reached the semi-finals of the Copa RFEF in the 2013-14 season, losing 2-1 aggregate to CD Guadalajara but dark days were on the horizon. At the end of the 2017-18 season, the club was in financial turmoil and announced that it was to merge with Intercity de San Juan, the Alicante club assuming Novelda’s position in the league. However, the RFEF rejected the merger due to the two clubs not being located in neighbouring towns and Novelda CF would remain in the Tercera División.

However, the club suffered relegation back to the Regional Preferente in 2021 and then finished bottom of the Group 4 table the following season to be placed in the new Primera FFCV after the reorganisation of the football pyramid in the Comunidad Valenciana, the first time Novelda CF has placed in the second tier of the regional structure since the mid-1970s.

The club currently sit in 9th spot with 31 points. With three wins and two draws in the last six games, they currently have the fourth best six-game record in the group, a run which has lifted them away from the bottom three and the danger of relegation.

HEAD 2 HEAD

CD Jávea and Novelda CF have played each other seven times. The first meeting was on October 2nd 1988 in the Regional Preferente at La Magdalena in Novelda, a game which CD Jávea triumphed by a single goal. The return match, on February 12th 1989, saw the rojiblancos complete the double with a 3-1 victory. At the end of the season, CD Jávea finished 8th whilst Novelda just avoided relegation in 20th spot.

The following season, 1989-90, CD Jávea once again secured victory at La Magdalena with a single goal, a victory that kicked off a run of seven consecutive wins which lifted the club into top spot, a position they held on to until the end of the season. The club lost just once – at PD Ayorense – until the two clubs met again in Jávea on the last day of the season and the rojiblancos celebrated the championship with a 5-2 thrashing of Novelda.

The next meetings between the two clubs came when they were enjoying very different experiences in the Tercera Divisón. Novelda won its first game in Jávea on November 6th 1994, condemning the rojiblancos to their third game without victory as they struggled at the wrong end of the table. At the end of March 1994, Novelda smashed six past a woeful Jávea side to maintain their chase for promotion. At the end of the season, Novelda won promotion to the Segunda División ‘B’ for the first time whilst CD Jávea finished 18th with just seven winds in 38 games and dropped out of the Tercera División, never to darken its door again.

Earlier this season, a single goal allowed Novelda CF to defeat CD Jávea as the rojiblancos struggled to find their feet at this new level, a win that lifted the home side into sixth spot.

With seven wins from 12 games, CD Jávea has an average points haul at home of 1.8 whilst Novelda CF’s away form has produced an average of just 0.9 points on the road. On recent form, CD Jávea have won their last five games at home, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one. Novelda CF have picked up six points from their last two away games (Villajoyosa CF and CD Betis Florida), their only wins on the road this season.

PRIMERA FFCV – Group 4