29 May 2017
Leonesa, 28 May 2017. Aspire-owned Spanish football club Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa were promoted to Spain's Second Division, the Liga 1|2|3 on Sunday after a drawn-out 2-1 win over a Barcelona B, who were unable to overturn the 0-2 result from the first leg. Goals from Julen Colinas and Gallar put Cultural back in the second tier 43 years since their last stint in the category in the 1974-75 season.
Cultural Leonesa finished the regular season on top of division Segunda B Group 1, fourteen points ahead of runners up Racing Santander. In the promotion play-off the team coached by Rubén de la Barrera won six games out of six, which resulted in this historical achievement.
Half a year ago, Cultural came to Doha for a winter training camp at Aspire Academy. Back then they were already on track of winning the league and coach de la Barrera already had put together a strategy for the remaining part of the season. “The most important thing is that we continue to do things as good as we can and keep growing as a team. If we achieve that and keep delivering positive results, then reaching the play-offs for the second division is a realistic target.” A strategy that paid off in the end.