Sporting de Gijón

Sporting de Gijón

Full name	Real Sporting de Gijón, SAD
Nickname(s)	Rojiblancos (Red-and-Whites)
Founded	1 July 1905 (1905-07-01) (as Sporting Gijonés)
Ground	El Molinón
Ground Capacity	29,029
President	Javier Fernández
Manager	Paco Herrera
League	Segunda División
2016–17	La Liga, 18th (relegated)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Real Sporting de Gijón S.A.D., commonly known as Sporting Gijón or simply Sporting, is a Spanish football club from Gijón, Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in Segunda División. Known as Los Rojiblancos because of their red and white striped jerseys, their home ground is El Molinón stadium, the oldest professional football ground in Spain, in use since at least 1908. Its name is often abbreviated to Real Sporting or just Sporting, although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal. Its Asturian name is Real Sporting de Xixón.

History

1905–1940: First years

The club was established in 1905 with the name Sporting Gijonés, Anselmo López being the first club president. The first game of the club is dated on 18 August 1907, against Sport Ovetense.^[1] The decline of other local clubs like Gijón Sport Club (founded in 1903) and Sportiva Gijonesa allowed Sporting Gijonés to become the main team in the city.^[2] In 1912, King Alfonso XIII accepted the Royal patronage of the club for the Spanish Crown, introducing the term "Real" (Spanish for Royal) to its name, becoming Real Sporting Club Gijonés.^[2]

In 1914, Sporting Gijón won its first Regional Championship of Asturias, success repeated two years later when the club started the first steps to buy El Molinón, where Sporting started to play its games in 1915. On 2 April 1916, a new change took place to adopt today's denomination, Real Sporting de Gijón. Thank to the win at the Regional Championship, in 1917 the club made its debut in the Copa del Rey, but was eliminated in the first round by Arenas Club de Getxo. Sporting lost both games by 0–1 in Gijón and 0–7 at the Basque Country.

On 9 October 1921, Manolo Meana became the first Sporting Gijón player to be called up with the Spanish national team, for a friendly game against Belgium. In 1929, Sporting Gijón joined Segunda División. In its first season, the club finished in the fourth position.^[3]

1941–1970: Real Gijón era

From 1941 until 1970, due to a temporary law forbidding the use of foreign words in football club names, the team's official denomination was Real Gijón.

In 1944, the club was promoted to La Liga for the first time as champion of the 1943–44 Segunda División. The first game in the top tier was played on 24 September 1944, against RCD Español at Sarriá. The game finished without goals. The first goal was scored in the next game against Deportivo de La Coruña, by Gundemaro, but the first win did not arrive until the week 6, when the team beat Atlético Aviación by 2–0. Sporting remained four seasons in La Liga before its relegation, but it would come back in 1951, after winning the 1950–51 Segunda División and scoring 100 goals.

Until the 1970s, Sporting alternated both divisions, spending all the decade of the 1960s in Segunda División. At the end of the 1960–61 Segunda División the club was relegated to Tercera División after losing the relegation playoffs against Burgos CF, but the resign of CD Condal to continue playing in the second tier allows Sporting to play a repechage playoff against Sevilla Atlético and CD Castellón.^[4] In the first match, Sporting tied 3–3 against Castellón. The winner of the match would be decided by a coin toss. After winning the two previous coin tosses during the match, choosing tails in both, captain Pepe Ortiz decided to choose again tails, and Sporting became the winner of the game.^[5] In the final for remaining in the category, Sporting defeated Sevilla Atlético by 2–1.

1970–1992: The golden years and the EuroSporting

In 1970, with the name of "Sporting" recovered,^[6] the club would start its consolidation in La Liga despite a relegation to Segunda División in 1975. This year would mean the start of the golden era of the club.

Just after promoting in 1976, Sporting Gijón started the 1977–78 season by accumulating eight matches without losses. Finally, the Rojiblancos finished in the fifth position qualifying for the first time to the UEFA Cup.

Players like Quini, Cundi, Enzo Ferrero or Antonio Maceda and others would make history in the 1978–79 club's season, considered the best one in the history of the club. The season started with the first round of the UEFA Cup, where on 13 September 1978 Sporting beat Torino by 3–0 at El Molinón. In the second round, Sporting was eliminated by Red Star Belgrade. The club finished the first half of La Liga as leader, tied in points with Real Madrid, but a loss against the Merengues by 0–1 kept off the possibilities of the club to win the league title.^[7]

In 1981, the club played for the first time the Cup Final. In the game played at Estadio Vicente Calderón on 18 June 1981, Sporting was defeated 1–3 by FC Barcelona. Former Sporting Gijón player Quini, considered as the most important player in the club's history, scored two goals for the blaugranas. Sporting repeated success in 1982, but this time Real Madrid beat the rojiblancos 1–2. During the 1980s Sporting accumulated four more participations at UEFA Cup, but always was eliminated in the first round. On 16 September 1987, Sporting won the first leg game against Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan, but a 0–3 defeat in Italy cut off Sporting's possibilities. In that 1986–87 season, Sporting beat FC Barcelona at Camp Nou by 0–4, the biggest win away in the club's history. One year before, Manuel Vega-Arango, president since 1977, left office.

The last UEFA Cup participation was during the 1991–92 season. Sporting Gijón eliminated Partizan after a penalty shootout, but failed to defeat Steaua București in the second round.

1992–2008: Decline of the club

In 1992, following the laws, Real Sporting de Gijón becomes a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, being its name since that moment Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. The internal financial crisis and the leave of important players triggers the decline of the club pushing it to the lower positions in La Liga. In the 1994–95 season, Sporting remains in La Liga thanks to winning the relegation playoffs against UE Lleida, but three years later, following a disastrous 1997–98 campaign were Sporting only earned 13 points (two wins and seven draws in 38 games), the club was relegated to Second Division finishing its 21-year continuous stretch in La Liga.

Due to the financial crisis, during the 2000s, the club was menaced by its dissolution and was forced to sell the Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo to the Municipal Town Hall by €12m in August 2001.

The 2003–04 season started with several doubts after the transfer of David Villa to Real Zaragoza and the election of Marcelino García Toral as head coach, who previously relegated the reserve team to Tercera División. However, the club was close to promote to La Liga, but failed to accomplish the goal, finishing in the fifth position.

Due to the financial troubles, accumulating €51m of debts in its worst years, Sporting was close to be administratively relegated at the end of the 2004–05 season.^[8]

2008–2012: Return to La Liga with Manuel Preciado

With Manuel Preciado at the helm of the team since 2006, the 2007–08 season started with the club unbeaten during the first nine games. Finally, on 15 June 2008, the club secured promotion back to La Liga after beating 2–0 SD Eibar in the last round.

In its first season after the return, the 2008–09, Sporting conceded 20 goals in its first five games, but achieved important wins like the one at Mestalla against Valencia by 3–2 or the 1–0 win against Sevilla. In a season where the team broke La Liga record of 29 consecutive games without any draw (a 1–1 finish with Athletic Bilbao on 3 May 2009), Sporting avoided relegation in the last round after a win by 2–1 against last qualified Recreativo de Huelva.

On 2 April 2011, they beat Real Madrid 1–0 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to end Real manager José Mourinho's nine-year home league unbeaten run.^[9][10] This was the best season of the club since the last promotion, as it finished in the 10th position.

The 2011–12 season started without wins in the first eight games and the team remained in the relegation positions almost all the season. On 31 January 2012, after a 5–1 loss against Real Sociedad, Manolo Preciado was sacked.^[11] The Cantabrian coach ended his era after nearly six years in the club and being very appreciated by all the club supporters. Javier Clemente was hired for avoiding the relegation, but despite keeping the possibilities until the last round, failed and the club was condemned to a new relegation, that carried a new financial crisis in the club.

2014–present: Abelardo and Los guajes

On 4 May 2014, Abelardo Fernández was appointed as head coach after José Ramón Sandoval was sacked. In his first season at the first squad, Abelardo could not achieve the promotion to La Liga after being eliminated in the semifinals of the play-offs by UD Las Palmas.

However, the manager extended his contract for two years. Sporting was not allowed to sign any player out from the reserve team during 2014–15 season due to the non-payments, but despite this disadvantage, Sporting once again returned to La Liga with a squad where 17 players played before in the reserve team or any of the youth teams of the club. After only two losses in all the season, Sporting promoted in the last round by beating 3–0 Real Betis at Benito Villamarín stadium and a late equaliser conceded by rival Girona in their separate match against CD Lugo, when Sporting's game just finished.

During its comeback season, Sporting had the same sanction due to a delay in payments to the players during the previous season. The club was only allowed to sign, by loan, three new under-23 players without experience in La Liga (Antonio Sanabria from Roma, Alen Halilović from Barcelona and Omar Mascarell from Real Madrid). In this 2015–16 season, the club announced it sold 22,906 season tickets, surpassing the record of the 1982–83 La Liga.^[12]

The season started with a 0–0 draw against Real Madrid, managed by Rafa Benítez, at El Molinón. Despite an irregular path, Sporting obtained very important wins like a 1–0 at Mestalla, a 2–1 against Atlético Madrid or a 5–1 against Real Sociedad. After earning a 1–1 draw at Getafe CF, the club finally avoided relegation in the last round after beating Villarreal by 2–0 and taking advantage of the win of Real Betis against Getafe.^[13]

Sporting finished that season with 23,400 season tickets; this record would be beaten in August 2016, when the club reached the 24,078 tickets sold.^[14] The era of Abelardo ended in January 2017, when he left the club after earning only five points in 15 matches.

Club colours and crest

Real Sporting de Gijón have worn red and white striped jerseys since their inception, being the first Spanish team to wear red and white, as both Athletic Bilbao and Atlético Madrid wore blue and white until 1909. The colors are those of the official flag of Gijón, which itself is based on the flag of the maritime province of Gijón, established in 1845.^[15] Currently, Sporting wears both blue shorts and socks but in other time socks were black or red. In the 1990s, Sporting wore white shorts and socks, until the supporters voted to come back to the traditional blue.

Like most old football clubs, Real Sporting de Gijón did not initially have any badge displayed on their shirts. Their first official badge was introduced in the 1920s. It consisted of a traditionally shaped shield split into three sections, representing the club and the city.

From 1931 to 1936, during the Spanish Second Republic, the badge consisted of a circular shield and had the royal crown in the top replaced by a mural crown.

The club's badge is a triangle with red and white vertical stripes with 'S' (for Sporting) and 'G' (for Gijón) intertwined, in gold, across them. A crown in the top symbolizes the royal patronage.^[16]

Flag

The official flag of Real Sporting de Gijón consist of, in a rectangular field with ratio 2:3, nine equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white. The logo of the club is displayed in the centre.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsors
1979–1986	Adidas	none
1986–1989		Cajastur
1989–1991	Rasán
1991–1994	Lotto
1994–1997	Joma
1997–2002	Astore	Gijón
2002–2011		Gijón Asturias
2011–2013	Kappa[17]
2013–2016		Gijón
2016–2017	Nike
2017–		Teslacard[18]

Stadium

El Molinón, with a capacity for 29,029 spectators,^[19] holds the games of Sporting de Gijón.

Despite being opened in 1908, Sporting did not start to use it until 1915. Before this year, the club played its games in different zones of the city. Firstly at San Lorenzo beach and later in the pitches of Prau Redondu (near El Humedal), La Matona in Somió, that was rented by the club for three months by paying 100 pesetas, and La Flor de Valencia in La Guía.

Academy

The Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo is the training ground and academy base of Sporting de Gijón. It was opened on 28 March 1978 and it also has the club headquarters in it.

Located just 7 km away from the city center and covering 112,000 m², it is used for training and youth teams matches. At present, facilities include inter alia, eight pitches, one service building (including team catering areas), a gymnasium, and a medical centre. The main pitch, where Sporting de Gijón B plays its games, is called Campo Pepe Ortiz and has a capacity for 3,000 people.

Mareo is a very prolific cantera, where several international football players grown being widely famous like Eloy, Ablanedo, Luis Enrique, Abelardo, Manjarín, Juanele or David Villa, World Champion in 2010 with the Spain national team.

In addition to Mareo, Sporting Gijón has a second academy located in Logroño, also called Mareo.^[20]

Supporters

Sporting de Gijón supporters commonly call themselves Sportinguistas in order to show their dedication to the club.^[21] Sportinguistas are widely regarded as one of the most loyal, traveler, and cheerful supporter groups in La Liga,^[22][23][24] providing one of the best atmospheres in the competition.^[25] When following their team in large groups through the country, they are referred to as La Mareona, Spanish for The Big Tide, composed mainly by 240 groups of supporters or peñas.^[26]

About 300,000 fans showed up when Sporting's promotion was celebrated in June 2008.^[27]

Rivalries

The team's historic rival is Real Oviedo.^[28] When both teams play in the same division, they compete in the Asturian derby.

Honours

National titles

• La Liga: runners-up, 1978–79^[29]
• Copa del Rey: runners-up, 1981,^[30] 1982^[31]
• Segunda División: winners, 1943–44, 1950–51, 1956–57, 1969–70, 1976–77; runners-up 1929–30, 2014–15

Individual honours

Pichichi Trophy

• La Liga: Quini (3) (1973–74, 1975–76, 1979–80)
• Segunda División: Ricardo (1956–57), Solabarrieta (1966–67), Quini (2) (1969–70, 1976–77)

Zamora Trophy

• La Liga: Ablanedo II (3) (1984–85, 1985–86, 1989–90)
• Segunda División: Roberto (2005–06), Cuéllar (2014–15)

Seasons

Recent seasons

Season		Pos.	PI	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Manager	Notes
2007–08	2D	3	42	20	12	10	61	40	72	Manuel Preciado	Promoted
2008–09	1D	14	38	14	1	23	47	79	43	Manuel Preciado
2009–10	1D	15	38	9	13	16	36	51	40	Manuel Preciado
2010–11	1D	10	38	11	14	13	35	47	47	Manuel Preciado
2011–12	1D	19	38	10	7	21	42	69	37	Manuel Preciado / Iñaki Tejada / Javier Clemente	Relegated
2012–13	2D	10	42	15	11	16	60	53	56	Manolo / José Ramón Sandoval
2013–14	2D	5	42	16	16	10	63	51	64	José Ramón Sandoval / Abelardo Fernández
2014–15	2D	2	42	21	19	2	57	27	82	Abelardo Fernández	Promoted
2015–16	1D	17	38	10	9	19	40	62	39	Abelardo Fernández
2016–17	1D	18	38	7	10	21	42	72	31	Abelardo Fernández / Rubi	Relegated

Season to season

Season Division Pos. Significant events Copa del Rey 1929 Segunda División 4 – Round of 32 1929–30 Segunda División 2 – Round of 32 1930–31 Segunda División 4 – Round of 16 1931–32 Segunda División 3 – Quarter-finalist 1932–33 Segunda División 6 – Round of 16 1933–34 Segunda División 6 – Round of 16 1934–35 Segunda División 3 – Round of 16 1935–36 Segunda División 3 – Third round Spanish Civil War 1939–40 Segunda División 3 – Round of 16 1940–41 Segunda División 3 – Third round 1941–42 Segunda División 1 Promotion play-offs Round of 32 1942–43 Segunda División 1 Promotion play-offs Round of 32 1943–44 Segunda División 1 Promoted Round of 32 1944–45 La Liga 7 – Round of 16 1945–46 La Liga 9 – Round of 16 1946–47 La Liga 10 – First round 1947–48 La Liga 14 Relegated Sixth round 1948–49 Segunda División 6 – Fifth round 1949–50 Segunda División 3 – Second round 1950–51 Segunda División 1 Promoted Quarter-finalist 1951–52 La Liga 13 – – 1952–53 La Liga 7 – Round of 16

Season Division Pos. Significant events Copa del Rey 1953–54 La Liga 16 Relegated – 1954–55 Segunda División 4 – – 1955–56 Segunda División 7 – – 1956–57 Segunda División 1 Promoted – 1957–58 La Liga 12 – Round of 16 1958–59 La Liga 15 Relegated Round of 16 1959–60 Segunda División 5 – Quarter-finalist 1960–61 Segunda División 13 – Round of 32 1961–62 Segunda División 13 – First round 1962–63 Segunda División 5 – Round of 32 1963–64 Segunda División 2 Promotion play-offs First round 1964–65 Segunda División 3 – Quarter-finalist 1965–66 Segunda División 3 – Round of 32 1966–67 Segunda División 2 Promotion play-offs First round 1967–68 Segunda División 5 – Round of 32 1968–69 Segunda División 5 – – 1969–70 Segunda División 1 Promoted Fourth round 1970–71 La Liga 12 – Round of 32 1971–72 La Liga 11 – Round of 16 1972–73 La Liga 14 – Semi-finalist 1973–74 La Liga 13 – Fifth round 1974–75 La Liga 14 – Fourth round 1975–76 La Liga 18 Relegated Round of 16

Season Division Pos. Significant events Copa del Rey 1976–77 Segunda División 1 Promoted Third round 1977–78 La Liga 5 – Semi-finalist 1978–79 La Liga 2 Played UEFA Cup Third round 1979–80 La Liga 3 Played UEFA Cup Semi-finalist 1980–81 La Liga 7 Played UEFA Cup Runner-up 1981–82 La Liga 14 – Runner-up 1982–83 La Liga 8 – Semi-finalist 1983–84 La Liga 13 – Quarter-finalist 1984–85 La Liga 4 – Quarter-finalist 1985–86 La Liga 6 Played UEFA Cup Third round 1986–87 La Liga 4 – Second round 1987–88 La Liga 9 Played UEFA Cup Round of 16 1988–89 La Liga 13 – Round of 16 1989–90 La Liga 13 – Quarter-finalist 1990–91 La Liga 5 – Semi-finalist 1991–92 La Liga 8 Played UEFA Cup Semi-finalist 1992–93 La Liga 12 – Round of 16 1993–94 La Liga 14 – Round of 16 1994–95 La Liga 18 Relegation play-offs Semi-finalist 1995–96 La Liga 18 – Round of 16 1996–97 La Liga 15 – Third round

Season Division Pos. Significant events Copa del Rey 1997–98 La Liga 20 Relegated Second round 1998–99 Segunda División 9 – Fourth round 1999–00 Segunda División 9 – First round 2000–01 Segunda División 7 – Round of 64 2001–02 Segunda División 6 – Round of 16 2002–03 Segunda División 10 – Round of 64 2003–04 Segunda División 5 – Round of 64 2004–05 Segunda División 11 – Round of 64 2005–06 Segunda División 9 – First round 2006–07 Segunda División 13 – Second round 2007–08 Segunda División 3 Promoted Second round 2008–09 La Liga 14 – Quarter-finalist 2009–10 La Liga 15 – Round of 32 2010–11 La Liga 10 – Round of 32 2011–12 La Liga 19 Relegated Round of 32 2012–13 Segunda División 10 – Round of 32 2013–14 Segunda División 5 Promotion play-offs Second round 2014–15 Segunda División 2 Promoted Second round 2015–16 La Liga 17 – Round of 32 2016–17 La Liga 18 Relegated Round of 32

---

• 42 seasons in Primera División (level 1)
• 42 seasons in Segunda División (level 2)
• Participations in UEFA Cup: 6

Sporting de Gijón in European football

Sporting de Gijón played six editions of the UEFA Cup, but only in two times it passed the first round.

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Agg.
1978–79	UEFA Cup	R64	Torino	3–0	0–1	3–1
		R32	Crvena Zvezda	0–1	1–1	1–2
1979–80		R64	PSV Eindhoven	0–0	0–1	0–1
1980–81		R64	Bohemians	2–1	1–3	3–4
1985–86		R64	Köln	1–2	0–0	1–2
1987–88		R64	Milan	1–0	0–3	1–3
1991–92		R64	Partizan	2–0	0–2	2–2
		R32	Steaua București	2–2	0–1	2–3

Players

Current squad

As of 10 August 2017.^[32][33]

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

No. Position Player 3 DF Jean-Sylvain Babin 5 DF Federico Barba 6 MF Sergio Álvarez 9 FW Carlos Castro 11 DF Alberto Lora (captain) 13 GK Diego Mariño 15 DF Roberto Canella 16 DF Lillo 18 DF Isma López 19 MF Carlos Carmona 20 MF Dani Ndi

No. Position Player 23 MF Moi Gómez 25 FW Borja Viguera 30 GK Óscar Whalley MF Álex Bergantiños (on loan from Deportivo La Coruña) MF Rubén García (on loan from Levante) MF Pablo Pérez DF Juan Sebastián Quintero (on loan from Deportivo Cali) MF Rachid Aït-Atmane FW Stefan Šćepović (on loan from Getafe) DF Xandão

From the reserve team

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

No. Position Player 26 FW Pablo Fernández 29 DF Juan Rodríguez 33 MF Cristian

Personnel

Current technical staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Paco Herrera
Assistant Manager	Ángel Rodríguez
Goalkeeping Coach	Diego Tuero
Delegate	Mario Cotelo
Director of Football	Miguel Torrecilla
Academy Director	Manolo Sánchez Murias

Current Board of Directors

Office	Name
President	Javier Fernández Rodríguez
Vicepresident	Javier Martínez Fernández
Counselor	Fernando Losada
Secretary of the council	Ramón de Santiago
Chief executive	Carlos Barcia Alonso
Ambassador	Quini
Press secretary	José Luis Rubiera

Presidents

Until 1992

• Anselmo López Sánchez (1905–15)
• Fernando Fernández Quirós Suárez (1905–17)
• Manuel Ignacio González Riera (1917–19)
• Enrique Guisasola Martínez (1919–21)
• Ismael Figaredo Herrero (1921–28)
• Roberto González de Agustina (1928–30)
• Pedro Garnung Portilla (1930–34)
• Emilio Tuya García (1934–35)
• Félix Guisasola García-Castañón (1935–38)
• Pedro González del Río (1938–40)
• Secundino Felgueroso Fernández-Nespral (1940–45)
• Juan Velasco Nespral (1945–46)
• Jesús Fernández Hernández (1946–47)
• José María Fernández Álvarez (1946–47)
• Secundino Felgueroso Fernández-Nespral (2) (1948–49)
• Paulino Antón Trespalacios (1949–54)
• Joaquín Alonso Díez (1954–55)
• Eustaquio Campomanes González (1955–57)
• Alejandro Pidal Guilhou (1957–59)
• Ramón Gómez Lozana (1959–60)
• Aurelio Menéndez González (1960–61)
• Francisco Quirós Rodríguez (1961)
• Víctor Manuel Felgueroso Suardíaz (1967–68)
• Antonio Roibás de Inza (1967–68)
• Carlos Méndez Cuervo (1968–73)
• Ángel Viejo Feliú (1973–77)
• Manuel Vega-Arango Alvaré (1977–86)
• Ramón Muñoz Fernández (1986–89)
• Plácido Rodríguez Guerrero (1989–92)

Since the conversion into SAD in 1992

• Eloy Calvo Capellín (1992–94)
• Manuel Calvo Pumpido (1994)
• José Fernández Álvarez (1994–97)
• Ángel García Flórez (1997–98)
• Germán Ojeda Gutiérrez (1998–99)
• Juan Manuel Pérez Arango (1999–2002)
• Manuel Vega-Arango Alvaré (2) (2002–13)
• Antonio Veiga Suárez (2013–16)
• Javier Fernández Rodríguez (2016–)

Women's team

Partnerships

• Storm FC^[34][35]

See also

• Sporting de Gijón B – Sporting de Gijón's farm team.
• Trofeo Villa de Gijón

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sporting de Gijón.

Official websites

• Official club website
• Sporting de Gijón at La Liga website
• Real Sporting de Gijón at the UEFA official website

News sites

• Sporting de Gijón news BDFutbol
• Sporting de Gijón news Futbolme (in Spanish)
• Sporting de Gijón news from Marca (in Spanish)
• Sporting de Gijón news from AS (in Spanish)
• Sporting de Gijón news Canal Rojiblanco (in Spanish)
• Sporting de Gijón news Polish Site (in Polish)