Estadio Miguel Alemán Valdés

The first thing you notice is the blue. It is not a flat wash of colour but a pattern. The seats are a single, deep shade. It looks like a clean slate, waiting for a match that might never come.

The stand at one end is different. It is a covered terrace, a row of concrete and glass that sits lower than the rest. The name of the club, Celaya, is spelled out in white lettering against the blue seats, a permanent fixture that suggests a long history. It is a modest addition to the grandeur of the open stands, a reminder that this place is for the people who live here.

The pitch is cut with precision, the white lines sharp against the green grass. It is a natural surface, worn and worked, not the uniform carpet of a modern arena. In the distance, beyond the floodlights and the trees that line the perimeter, the mountains of Guanajuato rise up. They are a silent witness to the games played here, a backdrop that has not changed since the stadium was built.

Today, the stands are quiet. The only sound is the wind moving through the empty seats. The club plays in the lower divisions now, a long way from the days when the stadium was full and the noise was deafening. But the structure remains, a testament to a time when the town looked to this place for its identity. The blue seats are still there, ready for the next team, the next season, the next chance to fill them.