Chilean Update

It has been a frustrating year in Chile for CD Everton but as the end of the season approaches, there are still hopes that it could\ end up all smiles.

Their marathon season began on 27 October 2011 and, apart from an eight-week break spanning Christmas and January, they have since been playing virtually every week.

Having been relegated from the top flight at the end of 2010, just two years after being Champions of Chile, it was hoped that the Ruleteros would bounce straight back. After winning the Clausura (Closing Championship) in 2011, however, they narrowly missed out on promotion in the play-off final.

This season, topping the Apertura – the opening section of 19 games – would in itself have given Everton a place in the promotion play-offs, which start next month, but they finished 5th out of 14 after winning just nine games. The Clausura has been a similar story with Everton lying 5th.

But, because there has been a significant improvement in performances in recent matches, there is still hope of getting one of the play-off places. There are just three matches left in the Clausura and Everton must overtake Deportes Concepción, who are two points ahead in the battle for the last promotion play-off place.

On a positive note, the club has worked hard to obtain the funding to renovate its Sausalito stadium, still damaged by the 2010 earthquake. Work will begin next month, and within a year Everton will have one of the most impressive stadiums in the country.

The youth scene appears to be flourishing too, with CD Everton Under-15s being Champions of Chile last year when they became the first club from outside the capital city, Santiago, to achieve this feat. They were also semi-finalists in the Apertura Championship this year. Everton have also had players selected at almost all levels of the national team. The women’s team has also thrived, finishing as runners up in their Apertura Championship.

Finally, if you’re an anorak, and if you’re asking, here’s how the complicated play-offs system works... I think:

There are 14 clubs in Primera B, who each play 38 games. There is the 13-game Apertura (Opening Championship) and a 13-game Clausura (Closing Championship) and two six-game zonal sections in which clubs play rivals in their geographical region in order to cut down on travelling in a country that is 2,000 miles long.

Two teams are definitely promoted from Primera B to Primera A at the end of the season. One is the team with the most points after 38 games.

Another is the winner of the play-off between the winners of the Clausura and Apertura. Note that if one of these two teams is also the overall 38-game champion, then whoever finished runner-up to them in the Clausura or Apertura takes their place in that play-off.

There is one more Primera A place up for grabs, which involves a four-team play-off involving the team with the second highest points total after 38 games, the loser of the Apertura v Clausura play-off and the two teams who finished in the 15th and 16th positions in Primera A. (The teams finishing 17th and 18th in Primera A are automatically relegated.)

Only a few weeks ago, the Everton team – followed by a small but noisy band of supporters – made a 2,500-mile round trip to Arica on the Peruvian border to play San Marcos. Everton went one up in the first half and held on to the lead until five minutes from time when they conceded a penalty. The home team converted to make the final score 1 - 1 and the visitors’ journey home seem even longer.

So, with just three league games left, Everton travel on Sunday to Nublense. This is followed by a home game against Curico Unido then a trip to Naval on 2 November 2. Will they make the play-offs? Here’s hoping...

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