The Runrún on the headquarters of the Queen’s Cup final began when it relieved that the Alcoraz, the SD Huesca stadium, pointed to host the game. At that time, There were a few reasons that turned the election of the Royal Spanish football Federation in, at least, questionable.
The first team was, and continues, playing its options to play the promotion playoff to the First Division and if qualified as fifth or sixth, it would play the first game of the semifinals at home, local, That is, on the same stage and the same weekend, that of June 7. For more inri, it was very likely, and continues to be, that is not known if the Huesca is classified among the first six of the Second Division until June 1, which is when the regular phase of the competition ends.
The thing did not start with good foot. A few days later, the RFEF formalized the news. But he deleted the publication of X and its official website within a few hours. In that first statement, only the choice of the headquarters, the Alcoraz, said that “the distance to favor the two clubs has been a determining factor when choosing Huesca” as the headquarters of the party. The Oscense capital is four hours from Madrid (391 kilometers) and three from Barcelona (270 kilometers).
But no more details about the meeting were given: neither the time nor the day. Which made them understand that they were not going to be known until June 1, when the outcome of Second Division was known. In addition, the discomfort of fans unleashed because for the people who travel is not the same as a Saturday or a Sunday night: the hotel night, Monday is working, etc. Nor was it known, in the event that the Huesca ended up qualifying, which game would be played first, if the Queen’s Cup final or the Playoff game, taking into account that the stadium is owned by the SD Huesca, not from the City Council of Oscense, and that the promotion to the First Division would be played. Because no matter how well the grass of El Alcoraz is, playing two games, of such a caliber, in less than 48 hours, did not seem the best plan.
What was accompanied was the institutional climate. The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, is one of the vice presidents of the new Board of Directors of the Federation and was the mandamás between 1993 and 1998 of the Oscense team, for which he has never hidden his predilection. Despite being born in Costa Rica, Aragonese is considered. On the other hand, Manuel Torralbathe new president of the Royal Aragonese Football Federation instead of Óscar Fle, He is one of the most related to Rafael Louzán, the top leader of the RFEF.
The precedent of Cádiz and the Nations League and that of the Alcorcón in 2022
Two days later to eliminate the statement, the RFEF solved all doubts in a new brief. Whatever happens, and except last minute flying, the final will be played on Saturday, June 7, at 7:00 p.m. So if the SD Huesca is classified for the ascent phase to the elite of Spanish male football, it will play after them.
The last minute flying keeps that because it would not be the first time that the RFEF announces the dispute of a game in one stadium and ends up playing in another. It passed in February 2024. On December 26, 2023, the federative entity made public the headquarters and dates of the semifinals of the female nations: the match between the world champions and the Netherlands would be played in the new Mirandilla de Cádiz, while the final and the meeting for the third and fourth place would be played, on the 28th of the same month, in the Cartuja. Even tickets were put on sale, on January 31 at 12:00 p.m.
But 15 days after the semifinal, the headquarters were changed. Sources from the Junta de Andalucía assured relief that the Cadiz club, chaired by Manuel Vizcaíno, was delighted to house the game. However, in Cádiz they assured that they put a requirement: that their match corresponding to day 26 of the League was played on Monday.
The Gaditano club did not see what will happen in Huesca, that the two games were played the same weekend. In addition, at that time, Cádiz was wrapped in full struggle for permanence and faced Celta, a direct rival. As this media could confirm, nobody asked LaLiga (those responsible for putting the schedules) to take this circumstance before making anything public and when it was done, it was already late. Finally, the selection ended up playing in the Cartuja.
Who did see him viable in his day was the Alcorcón. Of course, the potter had already descended to the first federation. That time, the game between Alcorcón and Eibar was played in the afternoon and the final of the Queen’s Cup between Barça and Sporting Huelva, in the morning.
The third stage with less capacity of the last 10 years
In the last 10 years, the Queen’s Cup final has been played at: Melilla (2015), Las Rozas (2016 and 2017), Mérida (2018), Granada (2019), Malaga (2021), Leganés (2021 and 2023), Alcorcón (2022) and Zaragoza (2024).
The Álvarez Claro de Melilla stadium has an capacity of 8,000 spectators and the main field of Las Rozas, with a single tier, with about 1,300 spectators. The José Fouto Roman stadium, in Mérida, can host a maximum of 14,600 spectators. The new Los Cármenes, of Granada: 19,189. La Rosaleda, from Malaga, at 30,044. Butarque, the Leganés stadium, at 12,454. And Santo Domingo, the Alcorcón stadium, to 5,100 and La Romareda, to 33,608.
After last year’s success in La Romareda —25,617 spectators witnessed the party between Real Sociedad and Barcelona – and the environment that was lived in Balaidos a few weeks ago with the National Team (15,526 fans), the sensation, a priori, is that there is a step back. In El Alcoraz, the stadium in which this year’s final will be played, there are 9,100 peoplebeing the third stage (not counting the city of the football of Las Rozas) with less capacity in which the final of the Queen’s Cup in the last 10 years has been played.
