Oldest football club in Spain sold for €1 – and it was founded by a Scot!

THE oldest football club in Spain is set for a €1 takeover after the local city council agreed to clear their huge debts.

The Recreativo de Huelva club was originally founded on 23 December 1889 by a Scottish doctor, Alexander Mackay, who worked at the nearby Rio Tinto mines. The doctor founded a recreation club in order to provide the mine workers under their care with physical exercise.

But 128 years on the Recreativo de Huelva club was facing eviction from the 21,670-capacity Estadio Nuevo Colombino after racking up more than €7.6million of debts including tax and electricity.

The city council’s move to settle the debt has now cleared the way for Eurosamop to buy all of the club’s shares for just €1.

The club enjoyed three consecutive seasons in La Liga between 2006 and 2009, but then slipped into the second division and have been in the third tier of Spanish football since 2015.