History of Villareal CF Football Club Spain
The club is nicknamed El Submarí Groguet or El Submarino Amarillo (Yellow Submarine) due to its yellow home kit, and due to being a low-profile team compared to Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia, who they have challenged for trophies over the last decade. Villarreal has often been touted as an example of a small but successful club.
Villarreal CF was founded as Villarreal CD on 10 March 1923 "to promote all sports especially Soccer." The stadium was rented for 60 pesetas a month and ticket prices were set at half a peseta for men and a quarter of a peseta for children. Women were granted free admission.
On 17 June 1923, Castellón, a modern rival of the club, played the first match against a club named after Cervantes. On 21 October of that year, Villarreal played their first game ever, playing against Castellón. Villarreal started off with a kit of white shirts and black shorts, reflected in their first badge.
Villarreal entered regional competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929–30 onwards. The 1934–35 season saw the team lose to Cartagena when a win would have seen them promoted to the nationwide Second Division. The following season saw Villarreal win the First Division of the region before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
When the war finished in 1939, the club played again in the Second Division of the region, before promotion in 1950–51 to the first. In 1942, the club changed their name to CAF Villarreal, with a new badge in the yellow colour of their new shirts. The "F" stood for Foghetcaz, an athletics club and supporter of the team.
The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in 1954, with a badge similar to the present one. They finished seventh and then fourth twice in the First regional league before being promoted to the Tercera Liga (Third Nationwide) as champions in 1956. They were relegated in 1960–61 after finishing 14th.
The club adopted their present badge in the middle of 1966. In 1966–67, Villarreal returned to the Tercera as champions. In 1970, they reached the national Segunda for the first time. After narrowly avoiding relegation in their first season, they were relegated the following season. In 1975–76, they were relegated from the Tercera to the Regionals, but were promoted back again the next season.
In 1986–87, Villarreal were promoted to the Segunda Liga B.In 1990, they finished 18th and were relegated back to the Tercera.
There were back-to-back promotions as the club returned to Segunda B and finished second, earning promotion to Segunda A for the first time. From 1992–93, Villarreal were often in low or mid-table positions, but reached the play-offs in 1997–98 by finishing fourth.
The two-legged play-off was against Compostela. Villarreal hosted the first leg which was a 0–0 draw, but the second leg at the home of the Galician team was a 1–1 draw, thus Villarreal were promoted on the away goals rule.
PRIMERA LIGA DEBUT
Villarreal's Primera Liga debut started with a match against reigning European championsReal Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 31 August 1998. The first home game was against Celta de Vigo the week after. Because of a difficult season, Villarreal were relegated to the Segunda División for the 1999–2000 season, but by finishing third, they were then promoted back to the Primera Liga.
EUROPEAN QUALIFICATIONS
After finishing seventh on their return to the Primera, Villarreal finished in 15th place for two-straight seasons.
Villarreal competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cupin the middle of 2002, defeating FH of Iceland, Torino of Italy, and Troyes of France. They lost in the final to compatriots Málaga, 2–1 on aggregate.
In the middle of 2003, they defeated the Dutch team Heerenveen in the final of the Intertoto Cup, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In their major European debut, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions Valencia. In the league, Villarreal finished in eighth place.
In the middle of 2004, Villarreal retained the Intertoto Cup, beating compatriots Atlético Madrid on penalties after the final finished 2–2 on aggregate. This qualified them to the UEFA Cup. They lost in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup to Dutch side AZ, losing 3–2 on aggregate. During the same season, Villarreal finished in third place in La Liga, earning the club their first direct qualification to a European tournament, the Champions League. The club's centre-forward Diego Forlán won the Pichichi Trophy for top scorer in the league, with 25 goals.
Villarreal defeated the English Premier League's Everton in a play-off for the Champions League group stages. The group saw Villarreal go undefeated, drawing both games against Manchester United and achieving a draw and a win each against Lilleof France and Benfica of Portugal. The win over Benfica was away and both teams advanced to the last 16.
The club then drew 3–3 against Rangers of Scotland in the Last 16, advancing on away goals due to a 2–2 draw at Ibrox. In the quarter-finals, Villarreal beat Internazionale on away goals after finishing 2–2 on aggregate. The club bowed out in the semi-finals against Arsenal, losing 1–0 away at Highbury. Juan Román Riquelme had a penalty saved by Jens Lehmann in the home game, which finished 0–0. Arsenal went on to lose in the final in Paris to another Spanish club, Barcelona.
Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga, which only earned an Intertoto Cup position.
Villarreal contested the Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2006 and was knocked out in its first game, to Maribor of Slovenia. The first leg was lost 2–1 at home and the away game was a 1–1 draw. The team finished 5th in La Liga and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Villarreal gained their best-ever league position in 2008, finishing second to Real Madrid by eight points, and also reached the last 32 in that season's UEFA Cup. After defeating BATE Borisov of Belarus in a play-off, the team won Group C unbeaten.[9] Their group opponents were Fiorentina of Italy, Mladá Boleslav of Czech Republic, IF Elfsborgof Sweden, and AEK Athens of Greece.
In the last 32, Villarreal were defeated by eventual champions Zenit Saint Petersburg, losing the first leg 1–0 in Russia to a Pavel Pogrebnyak goal. The second leg was won 2–1 by Villarreal at El Madrigal, but Zenit advanced on away goals.
The club automatically qualified for the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League, due to them finishing second in La Liga the previous season. They drew Manchester United, for the second consecutive campaign, Celtic, and Aalborg BK. They made a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goal-less draw at Old Trafford, a third 0–0 draw in a row against the English giants.
A first win was sealed on 30 September by beating Gordon Strachan's Celtic 1–0 at El Madrigal, courtesy of a Marcos Senna free-kick. On 21 October, during a Champions League match against Aalborg, they scored six goals to three. The Spaniards went through to the knock-out stage after drawing 2–2 with Aalborg in Denmark and drawing goalless once again against Manchester United. In the last group-stage match, they lost to an already-eliminated Celtic.
In the knock-out stage, they faced Panathinaikos, who left Villarreal with a 1–1 away advantage, despite this the Greeks were to lose 1–2 in Athens. Villarreal reached the quarter-finals for the second time in two tries, and were once again paired with Arsenal. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw by a free-kick by Marcos Senna
qualifying spot in the domestic league, Villarreal was given a place in the qualifying round of the 2010–11 Europa League after UEFA determined that Mallorca's financial irregularities precluded them from taking part in the tournament.
A 5–0 home win and a 2–1 away win against Dnepr Mogilev qualified them for the group stage. Villarreal suffered an early setback following a shock 2–0 loss in their away fixture against
After beating Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and Twente in the knockout phases, Villarreal qualified for the semi-finals to face tournament favourites Porto. After taking a 0–1 lead at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto made a remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 defeat for Villareal.
Although Villareal won the second leg with a 3–2 win, Porto's first leg goal total saw them advance to the final on aggregate, where they beat Braga to be crowned champions. Giuseppe Rossi finished as the tournament's second top goalscorer with 11 goals, behind Porto's Radamel Falcao.
RELEGATION AND PROMOTION
On 13 May 2012, Villarreal were relegated from the Primera Liga after defeat to Atlético Madrid. Following a horrendous season, the club suffered a shattering tragedy when Manolo Preciado, appointed as Villarreal's new manager on 6 June 2012, died of a heart attack later that day. Following their relegation, there was a mass exodus of players at the club, with star players such as Borja Valero, Diego López, Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar leaving the side.
The team began its new tenure in the top-flight by winning its first three games; the winning streak ended with a tie against Real Madrid at El Madrigal, though the team was undefeated until falling to Real Betis 1–0 in the seventh matchday of the season. The Yellow Submarine finished the
In the 2015–16 season, Villarreal led La Liga for the first time during the sixth and seventh weeks, before falling to fifth place the following week. The club ended the season in 4th place and thus advanced to the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League.
MAIN STADIUM
Estadio de la Cerámica is a football stadium in Villarreal, Spain, used since 1923. It is currently the home venue of Villarreal CF of La Liga, the highest football league in Spain.
The stadium has 24,890 seats, a figure which is half the population of the city of Villarreal. There is a statue of a yellow submarine outside the stadium to represent the club's nickname.
The stadium was inaugurated on 17 June 1923 with a match between Castellón and Cervantes under the name Campo del Villarreal (Villarreal Field), becoming renamed two years later in honour to the rural lands on which it was erected. Nicknamed the Feudo Amarillo ("Yellow Feud"), it is located at Plaza Labrador, five kilometres away from the Mediterranean Sea, and at an altitude of 50 metres.
The first remodeling works took place on the stadium in the close season before the 1952–53 season. The size of the pitch was taken from 95 x 65 m to 105 x 65 m, matching that of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium of the 1952 Summer Olympics, a reference to copy during those years.
During the 1960s the club erected a small covered stand, and during the 1971–72 season the southern stands were finished. In 1988 it was demolished to make room for a new stand which opened on 8 March 1989 with a friendly match against Atlético Madrid.
For the club's 75th anniversary new renovation works were started. The south stand was again demolished to erect a new one with a roof, an amphitheatre, the VIP sector, and the northern stand were built, finishing the works at the 1999–2000 season.
The stadium was first floodlit for night matches on 16 September 1973 for the third division match between Villarreal and Ibiza. The city hall provided help for the construction of the floodlight towers located at each of the four corners of the field, with nine halogen lamps on top of each one.
The changing rooms were moved several times. Until the 1935–36 season they were at the south eastern corner of the stadium, then at the north east until 1989, when they were moved to the south western part. After the last modifications to the stadium, they are now under the main stand.
On 8 January 2017, just before a La Ligamatch against Barcelona, Villarreal changed the name of its stadium from El Madrigal to Estadio de la Cerámica (English: Ceramics Stadium) recognising the local industry.
Villarreal CF was founded as Villarreal CD on 10 March 1923 "to promote all sports especially Soccer." The stadium was rented for 60 pesetas a month and ticket prices were set at half a peseta for men and a quarter of a peseta for children. Women were granted free admission.
On 17 June 1923, Castellón, a modern rival of the club, played the first match against a club named after Cervantes. On 21 October of that year, Villarreal played their first game ever, playing against Castellón. Villarreal started off with a kit of white shirts and black shorts, reflected in their first badge.
Villarreal entered regional competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929–30 onwards. The 1934–35 season saw the team lose to Cartagena when a win would have seen them promoted to the nationwide Second Division. The following season saw Villarreal win the First Division of the region before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.
When the war finished in 1939, the club played again in the Second Division of the region, before promotion in 1950–51 to the first. In 1942, the club changed their name to CAF Villarreal, with a new badge in the yellow colour of their new shirts. The "F" stood for Foghetcaz, an athletics club and supporter of the team.
The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in 1954, with a badge similar to the present one. They finished seventh and then fourth twice in the First regional league before being promoted to the Tercera Liga (Third Nationwide) as champions in 1956. They were relegated in 1960–61 after finishing 14th.
The club adopted their present badge in the middle of 1966. In 1966–67, Villarreal returned to the Tercera as champions. In 1970, they reached the national Segunda for the first time. After narrowly avoiding relegation in their first season, they were relegated the following season. In 1975–76, they were relegated from the Tercera to the Regionals, but were promoted back again the next season.
In 1986–87, Villarreal were promoted to the Segunda Liga B.In 1990, they finished 18th and were relegated back to the Tercera.
There were back-to-back promotions as the club returned to Segunda B and finished second, earning promotion to Segunda A for the first time. From 1992–93, Villarreal were often in low or mid-table positions, but reached the play-offs in 1997–98 by finishing fourth.
The two-legged play-off was against Compostela. Villarreal hosted the first leg which was a 0–0 draw, but the second leg at the home of the Galician team was a 1–1 draw, thus Villarreal were promoted on the away goals rule.
PRIMERA LIGA DEBUT
Villarreal's Primera Liga debut started with a match against reigning European championsReal Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 31 August 1998. The first home game was against Celta de Vigo the week after. Because of a difficult season, Villarreal were relegated to the Segunda División for the 1999–2000 season, but by finishing third, they were then promoted back to the Primera Liga.
EUROPEAN QUALIFICATIONS
After finishing seventh on their return to the Primera, Villarreal finished in 15th place for two-straight seasons.
Villarreal competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cupin the middle of 2002, defeating FH of Iceland, Torino of Italy, and Troyes of France. They lost in the final to compatriots Málaga, 2–1 on aggregate.
In the middle of 2003, they defeated the Dutch team Heerenveen in the final of the Intertoto Cup, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In their major European debut, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions Valencia. In the league, Villarreal finished in eighth place.
In the middle of 2004, Villarreal retained the Intertoto Cup, beating compatriots Atlético Madrid on penalties after the final finished 2–2 on aggregate. This qualified them to the UEFA Cup. They lost in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup to Dutch side AZ, losing 3–2 on aggregate. During the same season, Villarreal finished in third place in La Liga, earning the club their first direct qualification to a European tournament, the Champions League. The club's centre-forward Diego Forlán won the Pichichi Trophy for top scorer in the league, with 25 goals.
Villarreal defeated the English Premier League's Everton in a play-off for the Champions League group stages. The group saw Villarreal go undefeated, drawing both games against Manchester United and achieving a draw and a win each against Lilleof France and Benfica of Portugal. The win over Benfica was away and both teams advanced to the last 16.
The club then drew 3–3 against Rangers of Scotland in the Last 16, advancing on away goals due to a 2–2 draw at Ibrox. In the quarter-finals, Villarreal beat Internazionale on away goals after finishing 2–2 on aggregate. The club bowed out in the semi-finals against Arsenal, losing 1–0 away at Highbury. Juan Román Riquelme had a penalty saved by Jens Lehmann in the home game, which finished 0–0. Arsenal went on to lose in the final in Paris to another Spanish club, Barcelona.
Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga, which only earned an Intertoto Cup position.
Villarreal contested the Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2006 and was knocked out in its first game, to Maribor of Slovenia. The first leg was lost 2–1 at home and the away game was a 1–1 draw. The team finished 5th in La Liga and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Villarreal gained their best-ever league position in 2008, finishing second to Real Madrid by eight points, and also reached the last 32 in that season's UEFA Cup. After defeating BATE Borisov of Belarus in a play-off, the team won Group C unbeaten.[9] Their group opponents were Fiorentina of Italy, Mladá Boleslav of Czech Republic, IF Elfsborgof Sweden, and AEK Athens of Greece.
In the last 32, Villarreal were defeated by eventual champions Zenit Saint Petersburg, losing the first leg 1–0 in Russia to a Pavel Pogrebnyak goal. The second leg was won 2–1 by Villarreal at El Madrigal, but Zenit advanced on away goals.
The club automatically qualified for the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League, due to them finishing second in La Liga the previous season. They drew Manchester United, for the second consecutive campaign, Celtic, and Aalborg BK. They made a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goal-less draw at Old Trafford, a third 0–0 draw in a row against the English giants.
A first win was sealed on 30 September by beating Gordon Strachan's Celtic 1–0 at El Madrigal, courtesy of a Marcos Senna free-kick. On 21 October, during a Champions League match against Aalborg, they scored six goals to three. The Spaniards went through to the knock-out stage after drawing 2–2 with Aalborg in Denmark and drawing goalless once again against Manchester United. In the last group-stage match, they lost to an already-eliminated Celtic.
In the knock-out stage, they faced Panathinaikos, who left Villarreal with a 1–1 away advantage, despite this the Greeks were to lose 1–2 in Athens. Villarreal reached the quarter-finals for the second time in two tries, and were once again paired with Arsenal. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw by a free-kick by Marcos Senna
qualifying spot in the domestic league, Villarreal was given a place in the qualifying round of the 2010–11 Europa League after UEFA determined that Mallorca's financial irregularities precluded them from taking part in the tournament.
A 5–0 home win and a 2–1 away win against Dnepr Mogilev qualified them for the group stage. Villarreal suffered an early setback following a shock 2–0 loss in their away fixture against
After beating Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and Twente in the knockout phases, Villarreal qualified for the semi-finals to face tournament favourites Porto. After taking a 0–1 lead at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto made a remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 defeat for Villareal.
Although Villareal won the second leg with a 3–2 win, Porto's first leg goal total saw them advance to the final on aggregate, where they beat Braga to be crowned champions. Giuseppe Rossi finished as the tournament's second top goalscorer with 11 goals, behind Porto's Radamel Falcao.
RELEGATION AND PROMOTION
On 13 May 2012, Villarreal were relegated from the Primera Liga after defeat to Atlético Madrid. Following a horrendous season, the club suffered a shattering tragedy when Manolo Preciado, appointed as Villarreal's new manager on 6 June 2012, died of a heart attack later that day. Following their relegation, there was a mass exodus of players at the club, with star players such as Borja Valero, Diego López, Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar leaving the side.
The team began its new tenure in the top-flight by winning its first three games; the winning streak ended with a tie against Real Madrid at El Madrigal, though the team was undefeated until falling to Real Betis 1–0 in the seventh matchday of the season. The Yellow Submarine finished the
In the 2015–16 season, Villarreal led La Liga for the first time during the sixth and seventh weeks, before falling to fifth place the following week. The club ended the season in 4th place and thus advanced to the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League.
MAIN STADIUM
Estadio de la Cerámica is a football stadium in Villarreal, Spain, used since 1923. It is currently the home venue of Villarreal CF of La Liga, the highest football league in Spain.
The stadium has 24,890 seats, a figure which is half the population of the city of Villarreal. There is a statue of a yellow submarine outside the stadium to represent the club's nickname.
The stadium was inaugurated on 17 June 1923 with a match between Castellón and Cervantes under the name Campo del Villarreal (Villarreal Field), becoming renamed two years later in honour to the rural lands on which it was erected. Nicknamed the Feudo Amarillo ("Yellow Feud"), it is located at Plaza Labrador, five kilometres away from the Mediterranean Sea, and at an altitude of 50 metres.
The first remodeling works took place on the stadium in the close season before the 1952–53 season. The size of the pitch was taken from 95 x 65 m to 105 x 65 m, matching that of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium of the 1952 Summer Olympics, a reference to copy during those years.
During the 1960s the club erected a small covered stand, and during the 1971–72 season the southern stands were finished. In 1988 it was demolished to make room for a new stand which opened on 8 March 1989 with a friendly match against Atlético Madrid.
For the club's 75th anniversary new renovation works were started. The south stand was again demolished to erect a new one with a roof, an amphitheatre, the VIP sector, and the northern stand were built, finishing the works at the 1999–2000 season.
The stadium was first floodlit for night matches on 16 September 1973 for the third division match between Villarreal and Ibiza. The city hall provided help for the construction of the floodlight towers located at each of the four corners of the field, with nine halogen lamps on top of each one.
The changing rooms were moved several times. Until the 1935–36 season they were at the south eastern corner of the stadium, then at the north east until 1989, when they were moved to the south western part. After the last modifications to the stadium, they are now under the main stand.
On 8 January 2017, just before a La Ligamatch against Barcelona, Villarreal changed the name of its stadium from El Madrigal to Estadio de la Cerámica (English: Ceramics Stadium) recognising the local industry.
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