Santa Úrsula Rises From Ashes: New Club Leads Lowest Division After Collapse

To survive, you have to fight back. Not many teams manage to avoid disappearing completely. Santa Úrsula is one of them. Today, reborn as Listán Santa Úrsula, the club refused to give up when everything around it fell apart. It used to be a top team in the Third Division for a decade, a shining light for Northern Tenerife and a symbol of the town. Suddenly, it lost its badge, colours, stadium, and most importantly, its league. Dropped from the Third Division to the Second Regional, the lowest level of national football – a real nosedive.

After CD Santa Úrsula was absorbed by Real Unión de Tenerife, the northern town was left with a bad taste in its mouth this summer. Almost the entire senior squad from the old club moved to La Salud, leaving the north of the island without a team in the Tercera RFEF. But a small group of dedicated individuals refused to let the story, built over fifty years, come to an end. "The plan was to start a new club, help out where we could, and make sure Santa Úrsula still had a team, even if it meant starting from scratch," says Josué Pérez, the coach of the former Third Division team and now manager of the revived red-and-white club.

Now, three months after that major shake-up, Listán Santa Úrsula is leading the Segunda Regional, level on points with San Miguel B. They've gone from playing teams like Las Palmas Atlético, Marino, or Mensajero to facing opponents like Once Piratas, San Diego, or Sanse.

Josué Pérez knows the club inside out. He's been involved for three years, first with the reserve team, then the Third Division, and now this comeback. He's seen too much to quit. "At first," he remembers, "since I'd already signed a new contract directly with Santa Úrsula for the Third Division, I didn't consider any other offers. When the news broke about the absorption, it's true I had a few last-minute approaches, but Santa Úrsula was the team that believed in me and gave me my chance." The local coach decided to back the project, even if it meant starting at the very bottom of Spanish football. "I had to do my part to get the club back where it belongs," he states.

He also recalls that the project got off the ground with very little time to spare. "We started late, and the only goal was to build the most competitive team we could. We weren't sure how it would go, but it's started better than we expected," he reveals. His team is currently co-leading Group 3 – which only has 12 teams – after an almost perfect start, having lost just once.

Despite everything – and this "everything" includes both the strong start and the fact that a club like Santa Úrsula is naturally seen as a favourite in this league – the coach is staying level-headed. Partly because only the group winner gets automatic promotion. So, the northern strategist prefers to focus on "improving each week and reaching the December break in the best possible position."

Listán Santa Úrsula is built on the foundations of the old reserve team. "The core is last year's B team," explains Pérez, "along with some lads who were in the División de Honor Juvenil and others who came back because they wanted to help out." To this group, they've added two players from the former Third Division squad who chose to stay.

In short, it's a dedicated squad that wants to return the red-and-white club to its rightful place. You can see it in every training session. "I have 25 lads training every day. There are six or seven who don't even make the matchday squad, and they still come to train," Pérez emphasizes. "Very few teams will be training like us. I don't mean in terms of drills, but in terms of attitude," he adds.

The atmosphere in the stands at the Argelio Tabares stadium has suffered, the coach admits. "This year the support is very limited, mostly just girlfriends, family, board members, and a few season ticket holders," he says. And he understands: "It's normal. You go from being in the Third Division, playing against decent teams, to playing in the Second Regional. People need time to believe again."

Although the club's board has officially remained silent – only stating, "We will not make statements at this time" – there's still a tense atmosphere, with unresolved issues lingering. The wounds haven't fully healed, and the disagreements with those who moved the team to Santa Cruz still weigh heavily. However, time – and more importantly, good results – is starting to help.

Even though they are playing in the lowest league in Spanish football, the new Santa Úrsula structure hasn't forgotten the small details. Josué Pérez, the coach of the first red-and-white team, reveals they are enjoying "the same perks" as last season in the Third Division. "The laundry is done, there's a fridge in the changing room, a coffee maker, energy drinks, fruit… These are small things that show the board's commitment," he highlights. However, the coaching staff, which still includes Pérez and assistant coach Dani Jiménez, has had to do without key figures like the fitness coach and the goalkeeping coach, sacrifices made due to the new league's budget limitations.