Sometimes it is good to look back to see how far we have come.
We are doing exactly that as our golden generation of academy players which passed through our sytem in 2003 and 2004 now play at the highest levels.
Some of remained on the island and reached our first team, while others have gone onto enjoy careers away from the club which formed them.
In a team which included Luka Romero, Rafa Obrador and Gonzalo García, currently at Real Madrid, Juanan García, coach of that generation, recalls the moment Gonzalo arrived at the club and that historic season: ‘In the first training sessions, I personally realised that something special was coming.’ In addition, despite being in their first year, that team managed to win the Mallorca Championship against Cadete A, the 2003 generation.
The level of that generation was raised even higher when both years joined the Balearic Islands team. The aforementioned players were joined by players such as David López, current defender for RCD Mallorca's first team, Josep Cerdà, footballer for Andorra, and Toni Quetglas, a player who played for Son Bibiloni and La Masía. ‘The fact that so many of us have made it to elite football speaks volumes about the team we had. We were a very healthy group in which we were all friends,’ recalls David López.
The fact that players like these have come through the Bermellona youth academy demonstrates the progress it has made in recent years. For Miquel Toni Gelabert, Director of Youth Football at RCD Mallorca, the fact that ‘there are up to nine players in the first team who have at some point played for Son Bibiloni shows that there is a path to follow and motivates the younger players coming up through the ranks.’
