Rising Leganés, sign of renewal

Leganés step up to la Primera, as UCAM stepped up to Segunda. Aspiring to the same are Nástic and Girona, while Osasuna and Córdoba go the other way. Alcorcón were left at the gates of promotion purgatory. I haven't mentioned Alavés, as you can see, a club with a rich history - the club of Ciriaco, Quincoces and Olivares - who are not on the same trajectory, I'm talking about these other clubs who don't have the stadium or the history behind them, but who have been doing things the right way these past few years. Like this new Leganés we're seeing, who celebrated their promotion with an enthused city. Congratulations to them.

Clubs like Leganés take up the space left open by others, like Zaragoza, Valladolid, Mallorca, Hércules, Racing, Oviedo, Castellón, Cádiz, Salamanca... I think you get the idea. Clubs with stadiums, fans, cities, history, academies. Well-rooted clubs. The crisis sank them and they lie rungs below where they should be. Some have even disappeared. A heavy price was paid for years of profligacy and the lesson that excess is not the same as success. It'll take some time to see who's missed the train of football history, but for now their seats have been occupied by others.

Occupied on merit. They've done the right things at the right time, with the new deal on television rights guaranteeing an 80% budget bump, and because now the system doesn't allow clubs to act like Crash Bandicoot during the boom. One condition, however, is essential, and Tebas is already making sure it's met: the stadia must be telegenic, something that Getafe, a forerunner for this generation of small clubs on the rise, didn't manage. Tebas wants to prioritise full stadiums, pristine pitches and all the rest. LaLiga is in direct competition with the Premier League, who have achieved a formidable aesthetic, a standard to which we need to aspire.