Intercity

Intercity go into this campaign in Primera División RFEF, the tier they reached after winning Group 5 of the Segunda División RFEF in 2022 — the latest step in a rise that has taken five years rather than generations. The club was formed in 2017, when a group of investors bought the structure of GCD Sant Joan d'Alacant, a team that had existed since 1929, and rebuilt it under a new name and a new ambition. From there the climb was steady: a Primera Regional title in 2018, a Regional Preferente crown a year later, then the leap into national football.

What sets Intercity apart from other clubs on the same climb is the boardroom. President Salvador Martí and Javier Mira built their reputation running FacePhi Biometría, a biometrics company, before turning that background toward football. In 2021 they took Intercity onto BME Growth, making it the only Spanish football club with shares traded on a stock exchange. The same year, Juanfan Torres — a European champion with Spain in 2012 and a Europa League winner during his years at Atlético Madrid — joined the list of shareholders, lending the project a name few clubs at this level could claim.

The squad has carried some of that pedigree onto the pitch. Emilio Nsue, capped by Equatorial Guinea and formerly of Real Sociedad and Getafe, has led the line, while Pablo Montero arrived on loan from Real Madrid's third team to add to the midfield. Argentine coach Gustavo Siviero was in charge through the years when the club pushed out of regional football and into the RFEF's national divisions.

Home games are played at the Estadio Antonio Solana, a 2,500-seat ground split between the Tribuna and Preferente stands — modest surroundings for a club whose finances are watched on a stock ticker. Intercity's task now is to hold its place in the third tier and keep the rise from stalling.