Africa's first top flight European club

The title of this post might sound odd but it did happen many moons ago, 1951-52 to be precise about it. A club based on the African continent competing in a top level European league. The name of the club was Atlético Tetuán. I say was because they aren't in existence anymore, at least not fully. The reason for this is because the club actually split in two with one side becoming what is now today Moghreb Tétouan and the other became the now renamed Agrupación de Ceuta FC (as the name suggests they moved to the port city of Ceuta).
However when they were under the one name of Atlético Tetuán they made history in becoming the first and to date only club to be based in Africa and compete in a top level European league. This feat was achieved as at the time the city of Tétouan in Northern Morocco was under the Spanish protectorate of Morocco. The northern strip of the country bordering the Mediterranean sea which included the cities of Tangier, Ceuta, Tétouan and Melilla were under Spanish control and thus Atlético Tetuán were playing in the Spanish football league system.

The club itself adopted the famous red and white stripes from Atlético Madrid and was founded by Basque Atlético fans living in the city. Up until the split in 1956 they spent no fewer than 33 seasons playing in the Spanish league system with the peak being this sole season in the Primera división.

Tetuán's big season:
Promotion to La Liga was secured when the club won the southern section of the Segunda división in 1950-51. They edged out the also now defunct UD Salamanca. That promotion bought with it the honorary title but also gave the club its biggest challenge yet, staying in the top flight.
Back in these times, La Liga was a 16-team league with just the two relegation places which in theory wasn't as tough as it is now to stay up.
Atlético Tetuán in their sole season in the top flight were a classic case of strong at home, awful away. An historic opening day fixture at home saw them face Real Zaragoza and despite losing 1-0 to a Rosendo Hernández goal the appetite was strong to impress at home and so they would.
Their very next game was the big one on the calendar, away to Real Madrid. It ended in a 4-2 defeat but the occasion of playing "Los Merengues" was to be savored.
In their 3rd game of the season and 2nd at home they would register their first win. A 2-1 victory over Celta de Vigo with the goals coming from José Patricio Villarrubia (their first goalscorer at home) and Manolín, who would go on to score five more over the course of the season.
Tetuán's next victory would be their only away success. They defeated Deportivo La Coruna 3-2 in round 7 and followed that with a 3-3 draw at home to Espanyol. A 4-1 victory over their inspiration of Atlético Madrid followed in round 10.
Over the course of the season Tetuán would lose 15 of their 16 away games with that victory over Deportivo being the exception. It was at home the club built their attempt to stay up. To show how big an influence their home form was they beat Celta de Vigo 2-1 at home and lost to them 7-0 in Galicia, that 4-1 victory over Atlético Madrid was followed by an 8-0 trashing in Madrid and their 5-1 victory at home to Racing Santander was preceded by a 4-0 loss away.
Their round 22 victory over Deportivo lifted them to within a point of safety (bare in mind these days a win was 2 points, draw being 1). However they would only go on to pick up three more points (1-1 draw at home to Valencia and a 3-1 win at home to Real Sociedad) in their remaining eight games.
The season ended in relegation with their round 27 defeat to Real Valladolid plus Sporting Gijón's 4-0 win over Sevilla confirming their fate.

Chicha
Photo :www.bdfutbol.com

Both Chicha and Julián García Neto finished as joint top-scorers for the club with 11 goals each. Goal scoring wasn't what relegated Tetuán as their final tally of 51 will back up, it was indeed the leaky defense which conceded 85 goals. In these days it was common for many teams to play 3-4-3 and it was the set-up of choice for Tetuán. That defense of Antonio Varela, Antonio Humanes and Rafael Castillo were on the receiving end of most the goals conceded.

The coach was Sevilla-born Santiago Núñez Sánchez who would spend one more season at the club before going on to manage the likes of Cádiz and  Córdoba. 




What happened next?
Well they came close to an immediate return to the top flight. Back in the southern section of the Segunda in 1952-53 they finished 3rd but with three games of the season remaining they trailed Real Jaén by two points. Defeats to Linense and Orihuela plus a draw with RCD Córdoba saw them confined to the play-offs. In those play-offs they failed to emerge with promotion.
A 7th place finish followed in 1953-54 before another painful near miss on promotion in 1954-55. Again with three games remaining they actually lead the table by a point from Real Murcia. However a draw away to Sabadell saw Murcia leapfrog them on head-to-head. A draw with Espana Tanger in the penultimate round saw Murcia go a point clear and then both sides won their final game which saw Murcia clinch promotion by the solitary point. The play-off beckoned and again they didn't emerge with promotion.
The following season in 1955-56 they finished 4th and missed out on the play-offs. That was to be their final season as Atlético Tetuán in the Spanish system. The club split in two with Moghreb Tétouan entering the Moroccan system and the other half merged with SD Ceuta to become Atlético de Ceuta FC and moved base to the port city. AD Ceuta FC would compete in the segunda for the best part of a decade before relegation in 1968 would see them reside in the lower leagues right up until their rename in 2013 to Agrupación Deportiva Ceuta FC. They currently play in the Tercera División group 10.
The Moroccan half currently play in the Moroccan Botola Pro (top division) and were national champions in 2012 and 2014.

Potential repeats?
As it stands AD Ceuta are one of only two clubs based in Africa under the Spanish system. The other side is UD Melilla who are currently in the 3rd tier of Spanish football. However a repeat of Atlético Tetuán's feat remains very much in doubt as Melilla are currently battling against relegation in the Segunda B group 4. AD Ceuta FC are in the 4th tier.