Deportivo Alavés
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| Full name | Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. | |||
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| Nickname(s) |
Babazorros El Glorioso (The glorious one) | |||
| Founded | 1921 | |||
| Ground | Mendizorrotza | |||
| Capacity | 19,840 | |||
| Chairman | Alfonso Fernández de Trocóniz | |||
| Manager | Luis Zubeldía | |||
| League | La Liga | |||
| 2016–17 | La Liga, 9th | |||
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Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. [deporˈtiβo alaˈβes]; (Sporting Alavés), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 23rd June 1921 as Sport Fiend's Club, it plays in the highest football category of The Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, La Liga, since 2016-2017 season.
It is recognized as the third best team in the Basque Country following Athletic Club of Bilbao and Real Sociedad de Futbol of San Sebastian. Its biggest success was in 2001 when, in the year of its debut in European competition, it was one of the finalists in the 2001 UEFA Cup Final against Liverpool, being defeated 5–4 by golden goal. In 2017, the club reached the final of the Copa del Rey, losing out 3-1 to Barcelona.[1]
The team's home kit is blue and white-striped shirt, blue shorts and white socks.It holds home matches at the 19,800-seater Estadio Mendizorrotza and besides counts on other facilities located in Ibaia dedicated to training.
History
Founded in 1921, Alavés first reached La Liga eight years later, a stint which would last three years. In the 1950s the club would reach Primera División again for a two-year spell.
After years of seriously facing disappearance which lasted well into the 1990s, the club finally achieved a Segunda División promotion in 1994–95 after two consecutive years winning their group in Segunda División B – created as the new third level in 1977 – but failing in the promotion play-offs.
After winning the Segunda División in 1997–98, Alavés returned to the top level after a 42-year hiatus. Following their return season in which they escaped relegation by a single point, they achieved two wins against Barcelona in the following campaign and would qualify for the UEFA Cup for the first time upon finishing sixth (to date, their highest-ever placing, coming just 12 years after their lowest-ever: eighth in their group in the fourth level).
As well as concluding the domestic campaign in 10th position, in 2000–01 the Basque club reached the final of the UEFA Cup after beating Italians Internazionale, fellow Spaniards Rayo Vallecano and Germans Kaiserslautern (in a crushing 9-2 aggregate victory). The final ended in a 4–5 loss against England's Liverpool, Alavés losing to an 'own-golden goal' after taking the game to extra time. The match also featured two red cards and two disallowed goals in extra time in addition to the 9 goals which did count, and has been described by some observers as one of the greatest showpiece games in the competition's history.[2]
Alavés ended 2001–02 in seventh and qualified for the UEFA Cup for a second time, although the European campaign of 2002–03 was far less successful than two years earlier, with an opening win over Ankaragücü followed by a defeat to another Turkish Süper Lig side, Beşiktaş. On the 26 January 2003, the club celebrated their 100th win in La Liga after defeating Valladolid 3–1.
Although Alavés were relegated after 2002–03, they regained top flight status two years later. In this time, Alavés was bought by Ukrainian-American businessman Dmitry Pietrman, and several clashes followed with the club's coaches, players[3] and fans alike.[4] The top-division return only lasted one season as the club went through three head coaches and finished in 18th position, one point from safety. Piterman departed in 2007, leaving the club deep in debt after his tenure; after two years of battling against relegation to the third level, Alavés eventually succumbed in 2008–09.
A subsequent black period in Segunda División B lasted four years until Alavés was bought by José Antonio Querejeta[5] and were promoted again to the second division in 2013 as overall champions of the third tier, providing an opportunity to sort out its economic difficulties. Three years later, on 29 May 2016, Alavés was promoted to La Liga as second tier champions after beating Numancia 2–0 to overtake Leganés on the final day.
On 10 September 2016, Alavés got their first win of their return season in La Liga by defeating 2–1 defending La Liga champions Barcelona. On 7 February 2017, Alavés qualified for the 2017 Copa del Rey Final after eliminating Celta Vigo in the semifinals of the competition; this was the first time in their history that the club had qualified for the final of the national cup, their previous best being the semifinals in 1998 and 2004. Their opponents in the final would be Barcelona, and coincidentally the two clubs met in the league directly after their cup semifinals; the Catalan club inflicted a 6-0 defeat on Alavés in their own Mendizorrotza stadium, exacting revenge for the result earlier in the season.[6]
Seasons
Season to season
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Recent seasons
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Notes 1998–99 1D 16 38 11 7 20 36 63 40 1999–00 1D 6 38 17 10 11 41 37 61 2000–01 1D 10 38 14 7 17 58 59 49 UC Final 2001–02 1D 7 38 17 3 18 41 44 54 2002–03 1D 19 38 8 11 19 38 68 35 UC 2nd round Relegated 2003–04 2D 4 42 20 14 8 48 32 74 2004–05 2D 3 42 23 7 12 62 47 76 Promoted 2005–06 1D 18 38 9 12 17 35 54 39 3rd round Relegated 2006–07 2D 17 42 13 13 16 51 60 52 2007–08 2D 17 42 12 15 15 41 47 51 2008–09 2D 19 42 11 10 21 42 64 43 2nd round Relegated
- 13 seasons in La Liga
- 37 seasons in Segunda División
- 12 seasons in Segunda División B
- 22 seasons in Tercera División
- 1 season in Divisiones Regionales
Current squad
- As of 2 August 2017[7]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Honours
Domestic competitions
- Runners-up (1): 2016-17
European competitions
- Runners-up (1): 2000–01
Stadium information
- Name – Mendizorrotza
- City – Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Capacity – 19,840[8]
- Inauguration – 1924
- Pitch size – 105 x 67 mts.
- Other facilities – El Glorioso and José Luis Compañon
Managers
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Alavés B
California Victory
In 2007, Alavés operated a team in the USL First Division in the United States called the California Victory. The team played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, California, and wore the Alavés colors. However, Alavés, under new ownership, pulled its support for the club later that year, after which the Victory folded.
NK Rudeš
In May 2017, Alavés signed a 10-year partnership deal with NK Rudeš, freshly promoted Croatian First Football League club, with Rudeš acting as a feeder club to Alavés.[9]
References
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/may/27/barcelona-alaves-copa-del-rey-final
- ↑ The greatest matches of all time; The Daily Telegraph, 4 July 2007
- ↑ Carreras denuncia el "trato vejatorio" de Piterman (Carreras denounces "vexatious treatment" by Piterman); 20 Minutos, 16 February 2006 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Dimitri Piterman llama "subnormales" a los aficionados del Alavés (Dimitri Piterman calls Alavés' fans "morons"); 20 Minutos, 22 February 2006 (in Spanish)
- ↑ "Querejeta compra las acciones del Alavés que tenía la familia Ortiz de Zárate" [Querejeta bought Alavés' shares that the Ortiz de Zárate family held] (in Spanish). El Correo. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ↑ "Alavés 0-6 Barcelona, February 2017". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
- ↑ http://www.deportivoalaves.com/equipo/alaves
- ↑ Mendizorrotza Stadium
- ↑ "Deportivo Alaves i NK Rudeš predstavili desetogodišnju suradnju" [Deportivo Alaves and NK Rudeš presented future ten-year cooperation] (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
External links
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Media related to Deportivo Alavés at Wikimedia Commons - Official website (in Spanish)
- Club history at El Correo(in Spanish)
- Futbolme team profile (in Spanish)
- Glorioso, unofficial website (in Spanish)
- Terra club info (in Spanish)