One of Spanish football’s greatest success stories in recent times has been the promotion of Sevilla FC into European royalty. Their 3-2 victory over Inter Milan in the final of the Europa League in August 2020 was the 6th time they have won the competition since 2006. In that period they have also won two …
Football
Real Betis Football Club
In 1907 Sevilla Balompié was formed by students from the Escuela Politéchnica. A breakaway group from the older Sevilla FC formed a new club which they called Betis Football Club. This club merged with Sevilla Balompié in 1914 and was given royal patronage by King Don Alfonso XIII – becoming Real Betis Balompié. At that …
Athletic Bilbao Football Club
Athletic Bilbao, historically, are the fourth most successful football club in Spain. As well as being one of only three clubs never relegated from the top division of La Liga – there are no prizes for knowing the other two – they are also third in the number of titles won over the years. Sadly …
Spanish Football Debt
Racing Santander We Salute You For those of you following La Liga from outside Spain you can be forgiven for believing that everything’s rosy on the pitches and terraces at the Bernabeu, Nou Camp, Mestalla and Vicente Calderon to name but a few. As the Spanish national team finally realised their destiny by winning the …
Barcelona Football Club History
FC Barcelona has long been a favourite football club for fans all over the world. This popularity is thanks to its long standing reputation for uniting some of the world’s greatest footballers who are drilled in playing open and attractive football in the club’s famous blue and claret shirts. Fans of “the beautiful game” are …
Atletico Madrid Football Club
Founded in 1903 by three Basque students at university in Madrid, Atlético Madrid were initially closely linked with Athletic Bilbao – even copying their blue and white striped shirts. It was in 1920 that the club became fully independent. By then, the playing strip had changed to its now famous red and white – and …
Valencia Football Club
When the G14 group of football clubs was expanded in 2002 to include four teams, the obvious choice from Spain was FC Valencia. Already in two European Champions’ League finals in the new century, with some of Europe’s most coveted players on the books, and with 45,000 season ticket holders and a waiting list of …
Real Madrid Football Club
Initially, in 1897, a group of students and lecturers of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, including several graduates from both Cambridge and Oxford, organised themselves into a team for football matches on Sunday mornings. During the following years this developed into several different clubs until in 1902 Madrid Football Club was officially formed. From the …
Top 10 Famous Spanish People
A few years ago I was at a pub quiz where a question asked teams to list famous Finns. With little knowledge of Finland beyond some its most famous sports stars I was only able to come up with two footballers (Sami Hyypia and Jari Litmanen) and two racing drivers (Kimi Raikkonen and Hannu Mikkola). …