Club Numancia, owned by Independiente, has gone bankrupt in Spain

Ruben Andres, sporting director, and Santiago Morales, president of Club Numancia, attended the press conference. Photo: CD Numancia.

The Numancia de Soria soccer club has lost its status in Spanish soccer.

The team is owned by the Group of Independents. Manager Santiago Morales, CEO of independent club Independiente del Valle in Ecuador and president of Club Numancia, spoke to the media of the city of Soria on Monday, May 29, 2023, to apologize to fans following Numancia's relegation to Segunda Federacion, the equivalent of the Fourth Division.

"Saturday was a very sad day for all the people of Soria. We find no words to express the pain and grief we are experiencing. As decent people, we want to apologize. We have a commitment to keep working to get Numancia back to the places it deserves," Santiago Morales told reporters.

Santiago Morales has assured that he will "correct the mistakes" that led the team to relegation and reinforce "what is being done right". Numancia will be reviewing their strategy.

"We never thought we would be in this situation, we always believed we would maintain our status. Now we need to reassess the situation and build a team that allows us to dream of a comeback," Santiago Morales added as he looks to Numancia's immediate future.

"We want to go up next year.

When asked if he was "going to leave" because of such a difficult moment in Numancia's life, Santiago Morales emphasized that it is not in his plans and that he intends to continue leading the project.

"I don't give up easily. It's difficult, but we will work to talk about Numancia's return next year," the Ecuadorian executive confirmed.

Who makes up the Grupo Independiente now?

The Grupo Independiente family currently comprises five teams: three local and two foreign. The main team is Independiente del Valle. Then come Independiente Juniors and Dragonas IDV (women's team). Spain's Numancia Football Club became the fourth team to join the Independiente Group and the first foreign team to do so. The last team to join this group was Atletico Huila of Colombia.