Getafe isn't considered the most sympathetic club of Spain, but for anyone who likes to go a little bit off the beaten track: the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez can be intimidating sometimes. It's quite a cool stadium, and easy to combine with Rayo, Real, Atlético or neighbour Leganés.
The arc-shaped stands, the typical floodlights, the tower blocks behind the goal: the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez of Getafe is a very recognizable and characteristic stadium. Rarely sold-out but the atmosphere can be a little intimidating, especially in combination with the fighting football the club has been playing for years now. The stadium is newer than you might think, opened just in 1998. Getafe was (and is) a local club from the suburbs of southern Madrid, who just started to make name for themselves this century. Fun fact: the stadium is named after the relatively young footballer Alfonso Pérez (born in 1972), but he never played a single match for Getafe. In fact, the former striker of Real Madrid, Real Betis and FC Barcelona didn't even play against them. But, the 38-time international is born in Getafe.
On the north side of the stadium there's a busy ring road, on the south side there's a typical Spanish suburb with some bars. Most are quite standard, although you can eat great tapas and paella at El Rincón del Tio Eulogio. Our favorite bar in Getafe is Bar Museo de la Cerveza, a brewery slash beer café where's almost always football on screens as well. They have countless numbers of beers and matching tapas. A nice bar as well: Bar El Rincón De La Morenita (Avenida Don Juan de Borbón).
That last bar, El Rincón De La Morenita, is close to the athletics stadium where Getafe played from 1996 till 1998: Estadio Juan de la Cierva. It's not much, but Getafe created a couple of temporary stands, so they still could host 6.000 people around the tracks. The old Estadio de las Margaritas of Getafe was demolished and the current Coliseum was under construction, so the club needed a temporary home.
Getafe is a small, but really tight club. The players and fans live up to the old principal of 'one for all, all for one'. You see it in the a bit raw neighbourhood, but also in the location of the stadium and the training ground. All teams of Getafe play close to each other: next to the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez are the youth and training grounds of the club: the Ciudad Deportiva Getafe.
A little west of the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez you'll find a small bar for Getafe fans: the Federación de Peñas Getafe. During the week it's usually closed, on match days you can have a beer there.
On the south side of Madrid, there's lots of football grounds. The closest football club is nearby Leganés, approximately six kilometers westbound. The Estadio Municipal de Butarque is not really impressive, but fun to see. Just like Getafe, Leganés is also a real local club from Madrid, but than with a softer image than Getafe. Obviously, there's much more in Madrid. Rayo Vallecano (Campo de Vallecas) is wonderful, the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu needs no introduction, just like Atlético Madrid. The least known is a small professional club a little south of Madrid: AD Alcorcón. The Estadio Municipal de Santo Domingo is surprisingly charming.
Tickets for Getafe is usually not a problem, at least outside COVID times: on average, the seats of the stadium are filled for roughly 70%. Go to the official website of the club and buy them online. During the week you can buy them at the stadium as well.
The Coliseum Alfonso Pérez is right next to an exit of the M-45 and is therefore good to reach by car. Even though the stadium is a little outside Madrid you can get there easily by public transport as well, with the Cercanías, the regional trains in and around Madrid. Take from station Puerta del Sol (the midpoint of Madrid and actually the whole of Spain) the C4 in direction of Getafe, and get off the train at Las Margaritas-Universidad. From there, it's a 10 minute-walk to the stadium.
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