David Villa, a former player of the Spanish football team and founder of DV7 Group, a company that has bought CF Benidorm, a club that plays in Regional, confirmed that his group came to the Benidorm establishment with the goal of enabling it to grow “with patience” on an educational, competitive and social level.
Accompanied by his partner and CEO of the company, Víctor Oñate, and former general manager of Castellón, Jordi Bruixola, who will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation, Villa, in the presentation of the project, was told by local authorities, the media and Guillermo Amor or Claudio ‘Piojo’ amid great anticipation of the sports project. Presented by former players like López.
“Today is a great day, I did everything I dreamed of doing for football when I retire,” said Villa, who wanted to transfer to Benidorm.
“We want to develop grassroots football and leave a legacy, not only for children but also for coaches. We want to work from the grassroots and what we can contribute is work, enthusiasm, will and effort,” explained the Spanish football player.
The former player of Valencia, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Real Zaragoza and Sporting de Gijón, among other teams clarifying the group’s goals, said, “Basic football is my passion. You have to deal with Messi or Cristiano.” They are not “for now”.
“Results take time. You have to be patient and do things right because it will come out eventually. There’s no rush, but we don’t want to stand still,” said Villa, adding that he was “happy”. progress of the team “without demanding a rise”.
“We’re not bringing in a magic wand. The most important thing is to connect with the community. We can’t go to a city or country without the people being addressed enjoying the process.” As a child, he became emotionally attached to Benidorm, having spent several years in town during the summer.
Bruixola described the project they are facing as an “enormous responsibility” and wished that an “iconic” city of Benidorm could “be proud of the team”.
“We want to train in base football, train and then provide total football for the first team to climb positions because Benidorm cannot be in such a low category because of the prestige of football and the city,” Bruixola said. “Open the club to everyone,” he wished.
The business will have a new shield that will be used from next year. The logo consists of the island’s letter B and its silhouette and sea waves.
Oñate described it as “exciting” for the course of a band that started out “like a David’s dream while we were in New York.”
“We are a group of people who want to help David leave a legacy with an international vision and pass on his accumulated experience in football, as the company has strong roots in the US, South America and Japan.”
“We want all the children playing in our schools to get to know Benidorm and build a project that the people of the city can be proud of,” said Oñate.
The presentation included video messages from three of the city’s most important professional football players, including Guillermo Amor, Antonio López and Vicente Blanco ‘Tito’.
The trio thanked DV7 Group for their dedication to their hometown and wished they could push the team into the semi-pro categories.
Salvador Gomar, president of the Valencian Community Football Federation, welcomed the new project and reassured the new leaders, convinced that Benidorm would become a touchstone for football “because there is already music” with this project.
José Santiago López, the current president of Benidorm, recalled that the club was founded from scratch in 2017 and emphasized that the best news since its inception was the arrival of the Villa group to consolidate and grow the project.
Benidorm mayor Toni López closed the event by thanking his city for its dedication to football, and thanked the “common sense and knowledge” of the new governing group. “We’re used to growing upwards in small spaces in this city, so foundations and a good foundation are very important,” he said of the quarry.