We can confirm that the entrance of soccer in Spain, in Andalusia and in Algeciras, have the same godfathers, the British, and it took place towards the end of the XIX century, for different aspects, especially commercial and industrial. It was the immigrant workers settled in the Riotinto Mines (Huelva) and in Vigo, who played the first matches around 1870.
In the province of Cadiz, on the one hand, it reached Jerez due to the interest of the British in the commercialization of their wineries and on the other hand, through the Campo de Gibraltar, where two points of entry are located: through Gibraltar driven by the British Armed Forces established there and through Algeciras due to the construction of the railway line between Algeciras and Bobadilla by an English company.
Due to the strategic geographical location of Algeciras, the British company “Greenwood Company Ltd.”, with headquarters in London, had been awarded the concession of the Bobadilla-Algeciras railway line in 1888 with an extension to the enclave of Gibraltar, creating a new company called “The Algeciras-Gibraltar Railway Company Ltd.” which would be in charge of the construction and operation of this section.
This meant the arrival of a large number of British, inaugurating the railroad in 1890 and some of them staying in the area for the subsequent construction of hotels in both Algeciras and Ronda.
Gibraltar already had a good number of clubs, their championship had a wide repercussion in the area and whose influence was vital for the practice of this sport by natives of Algeciras itself.
