Real Valladolid

Real Valladolid
logo
Full name Real Valladolid
Club de Fútbol, S.A.D.
Nickname(s) Pucela
Founded 1928
Ground José Zorrilla,
Valladolid,
Castile and León,
Spain
(Capacity: 26,512)
Chairman Spain Carlos Suárez
Manager Spain Antonio Gómez Pérez
League Segunda División
2009–10 La Liga, 18th (relegated)
Home colours
Away colours
Current season

Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, from where the nickname Pucela is derived.

Founded on June 20, 1928, the club plays in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Estadio José Zorrilla, which seats 26,512 spectators. It currently ranks 13th on the All-Time La Liga table.

Contents

History

Early history

Founded from the amalgamation of Real Unión Deportiva de Valladolid and Club Deportivo Español (eventually Real Unión), Valladolid first reached the top level in the 1947–48 season, as champions of Segunda División. In the following year, the team pushed on from this success and reached the finals of the domestic cup in the Chamartín Stadium against Athletic Bilbao, eventually losing 4–1.

The next ten years were spent in the first division, but relegation was short-lived and Valladolid gained promotion in 1958–59 with a 5–0 win over Terrassa FC under manager José Luis Saso, a legendary figure in the history of the team. He had originally been a goalkeeper for the club, and subsequently went on to perform many roles, ending up as president of the team.

Valladolid vacillated between the first and second divisions in the subsequent years, descending as low as third in 1970–71. Promoted in 1992–93, the team was again sent down after the 2003–04 season. In 1984, Valladolid also won the Spanish League Cup (a competition only played in the early 80s), over Atlético Madrid.

The side's highest position during this 11-year stint was seventh in 1996–97, being coached in the previous seasons by former Real Madrid Castilla's coach Rafael Benítez, as various players from there also would later appear for Valladolid.

The 2006–07 record-breaking season

In the 2006–07, after signing Basque José Luis Mendilibar as coach, Valladolid performed one of their best years in history while playing in the second level. The side took the lead in the 15th game and went on to finish with a competition all-time high 88 points, winning the championship by a total margin of eight points, and holding an advantage of 26 points over the non-promotion zone (fourth and worse), both being all-time records in the league. They also achieved the honour of staying unbeaten 29 games in a row, from 10 October 2006 to 6 May 2007, being mathematically promoted after outscoring CD Tenerife 0–2 on 22 April 2007 (just the 34th day of the season), the earliest any club has achieved promotion in Spanish history.

Also remarkable was the side's role in the King's Cup, reaching as far as the quarter-finals after beating two top division teams: Gimnàstic de Tarragona (4–1 aggregate) and the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League contender Villarreal CF (3-1), while playing the whole competition with the reserve players.

Two relatively successful seasons in the top division followed, finishing in 15th place while avoiding relegation after a 1–1 draw on the last day of both seasons (against Recreativo de Huelva in 2007–08 and Real Betis in the following campaign).

End of the Mendilibar era

After a slow start to 2009–10 (three wins in the first 20 games), Mendilibar was sacked on 1 February 2010, following a draw at home against UD Almería. The week following his sacking, Valladolid dropped for the first time to the relegation zone (something that never happened during his 138-game stint), with former player Onésimo Sánchez now in charge.

After only one win in 10 games, Sánchez too was fired, with former Spain national football team manager Javier Clemente replacing him, in a desperate move to avoid relegation with only eight games remaining. After a brief breather (16th position), Valladolid again returned to the last three, then faced a must-win last game at the Camp Nou, against a FC Barcelona squad that needed a win to secure the title. Tied in the standings with Racing de Santander, Málaga CF and CD Tenerife for the two final safe positions, Valladolid lost 0–4, and consequently dropped down a level, after a three-year stay in the topflight.

Honours

Achievements

Records

Season to season

Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1929 6th
1929/30 2nd
1930/31 2nd
1931/32 4th
1932/33 1st
1933/34 1st
1934/35 2nd
1935/36 4th
1939/40 6th
1940/41 10th
1941/42 5th
1942/43 2nd
1943/44 14th
1944/45 3rd
1945/46 1st
1946/47 1st
1947/48 1st
1948/49 12th
1949/50 9th
1950/51 6th
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1951/52 8th
1952/53 12th
1953/54 12th
1954/55 9th
1955/56 9th
1956/57 8th
1957/58 15th
1958/59 1st
1959/60 13th
1960/61 15th
1961/62 2nd
1962/63 4th
1963/64 16th
1964/65 3rd
1965/66 4th
1966/67 9th
1967/68 2nd
1968/69 10th
1969/70 17th
1970/71 2nd
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1971/72 7th
1972/73 5th
1973/74 7th
1974/75 11th
1975/76 4th
1976/77 12th
1977/78 7th
1978/79 4th
1979/80 2nd
1980/81 12th
1981/82 9th
1982/83 12th
1983/84 14th
1984/85 13th
1985/86 10th
1986/87 12th
1987/88 8th
1988/89 6th
1989/90 16th
1990/91 9th
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1991/92 19th
1992/93 2nd
1993/94 18th
1994/95 19th
1995/96 16th
1996/97 7th
1997/98 11th
1998/99 12th
1999/00 8th
2000/01 16th
2001/02 12th
2002/03 14th
2003/04 18th
2004/05 6th
2005/06 10th
2006/07 1st
2007/08 15th
2008/09 15th
2009/10 18th
2010/11

Current squad

As of 31 August 2010

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Paraguay GK Justo Villar
2 Spain MF Jofre Mateu
3 Spain DF Jordi Figueras (On loan from FK Rubin Kazan)
4 Spain DF Marc Valiente
5 Spain DF César Arzo
6 Spain MF Jesús Rueda
7 Spain FW Nauzet Alemán
8 Spain DF Javier Baraja
9 Spain FW Javi Guerra
10 Spain MF Álvaro Antón
13 Spain GK Jacobo Sanz
No. Position Player
15 Brazil DF Guilherme (On loan from UD Almería)
16 Spain DF Pedro López
17 Spain DF Carlos Peña
18 Spain MF Álvaro Rubio
19 Spain DF Antonio Barragán
20 Spain MF Carlos Lázaro
21 Spain MF Sisi González
22 Spain FW Antonio Calle
24 Spain MF Jorge Alonso
27 Spain FW Quique
-- Guinea FW Alhassane Keita (On loan from RCD Mallorca)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Angola FW Manucho (at Bucaspor)
Spain GK Fabricio (at Recreativo Huelva)
Spain MF Marquitos (at Villarreal B)
Spain MF Héctor Font (at Xerez)
Spain FW Alberto Bueno (at Derby County)

Notable players

See also Category:Real Valladolid footballers.

Famous coaches

External links