Spanish football club
Football club
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., usually
abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a Spanish professional 🏧 football
club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, that plays in La
Liga, the top flight 🏧 of Spanish football.
Founded in 1923, the club spent much time of
its history in the lower divisions of Spanish football 🏧 and began in La Liga in 1998. In
the 21st century, Villarreal gained some league stability, although they sustained
relegation 🏧 in 2012, rebounding the next year and then remaining in the top division to
date. The club made its first 🏧 appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2005, with its
best result being the semi-finals in 2006 and 2024. Villarreal 🏧 also appeared in the
UEFA Europa League during this time, and won the competition in 2024 by defeating
Manchester United 🏧 in the final, clinching their first major trophy.
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, Atlético Madrid, 🏧 and regional rivals Valencia. They play their home games at
the Estadio de la Cerámica,[1] and have been touted as 🏧 an example of a small but
successful club.[2]
History [ edit ]
1923–29: early years [ edit ]
Villarreal CF was
founded as 🏧 Club Deportivo Villarreal on 10 March 1923 "to promote all sports especially
Football." 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.[3] On 17 June 1923, Castellón, a modern rival of the club, played the first
🏧 match against a club named after Miguel de Cervantes. On 21 October of that year,
Villarreal played their first game 🏧 ever, playing against Castellón.[3] Villarreal
started off with a kit of white shirts and black shorts, reflected in their first
🏧 badge.[4]
1929–98: time in lower divisions [ edit ]
Villarreal entered regional
competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929 to 1930 🏧 onwards. The 1934–35
season saw the team lose to Cartagena when a win would have seen them promoted to the
🏧 nationwide Second Division.[3] The following season saw Villarreal win the First
Division of the region before the outbreak of the 🏧 Spanish Civil War.[3]
When the war
finished in 1939, the club played again in the Second Division of the region.[3]
However, 🏧 CD Villarreal was dissolved in the early 1940s, and in 1942, CA Foghetecaz, an
acronym for the club's founders (Font, 🏧 Gil, Herrero, Teuler, Catalá and Zaragoza), was
one of several clubs established in its place. On 25 August 1947, the 🏧 new club joined
the Valencian Football Federation and in 1950 renamed itself as CAF Villarreal, where
the F stood for 🏧 Foghetecaz.[4]
The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in
June 1954, with a badge similar to the present one.[4] 🏧 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.[3]
The club adopted their present badge in the 🏧 middle of 1966.[4] In 1966–67,
Villarreal returned to the Tercera as champions. In 1970, they reached the national
Segunda for 🏧 the first time.[3] 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.[3] 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 to 1993, Villarreal were often in low or mid-table positions, but reached the
play-offs in 1997–98 by finishing 🏧 fourth.[5] 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.
1998–2012: La Liga and European debuts [ edit ]
Villarreal's La Liga debut
started with a match against reigning European champions 🏧 Real Madrid at the Santiago
Bernabéu Stadium on 31 August 1998 where they lost 4-1 despite taking the lead after 🏧 3
minutes.[6] The first home game was against Celta de Vigo[5] 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
División.
After finishing seventh on their return to the Primera, Villarreal finished
in 15th place for two-straight seasons.[5] Villarreal 🏧 competed in the UEFA Intertoto
Cup in 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.[7]
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 Lille of France and Benfica of Portugal. The 🏧 win over
Benfica was away and both teams advanced to the last 16.[8]
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.
Chart of Villarreal CF league performance
1929–2024
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.[9] 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.[10] Their group opponents were Fiorentina of Italy, Mladá Boleslav of Czech
Republic, IF 🏧 Elfsborg of 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 by 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, but lost 🏧 1–2 in Athens. Villarreal reached
the quarter-finals for the second time in two attempts, and were once again paired with
🏧 Arsenal. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw by a Marcos Senna free kick, equalised by an
Emmanuel Adebayor volley. 🏧 Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Robin van Persie secured
a 3–0 win for Arsenal on the return, knocking Villarreal out 🏧 of the tournament.
Real
Madrid vs. Villarreal in 2011
Despite finishing outside of a European qualifying spot
in the domestic league, Villarreal 🏧 was given a place in the qualifying round of the
2010–11 UEFA 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
Dinamo Zagreb. Despite this, however, later wins against Dinamo, Club Brugge and PAOK
saw them top their group.
After beating 🏧 Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and Twente in the
knockout phases, Villarreal qualified for the semi-finals to face tournament favourites
Porto. After 🏧 Villarreal took a 0–1 lead at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto made a
remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 🏧 defeat for Villarreal. Although Villarreal
won the second leg 3–2, 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.
2012–present: relegation and European glory [ edit ]
Last match of the 2012–13
season game 🏧 against UD Almería. Finally, Villarreal won and were promoted to La
Liga.
On 13 May 2012, Villarreal were relegated from La 🏧 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.[11] 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.[12]
After one year in the Segunda División,
Villarreal were promoted back to La Liga on the 🏧 final day of the season after finishing
the year second after champions Elche. 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
on the seventh matchday of the season. 🏧 The Yellow Submarine finished the 2013–14
campaign in sixth, thus qualifying them for next season's Europa League.
In 2014–15,
Villarreal again 🏧 finished the year in sixth, enough to secure direct qualification to
the Europa League group stage. In the 2024–16 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 2024–17
UEFA Champions League playoff 🏧 round. The club progressed to the semi-finals of the
2024–16 Europa League, but were knocked out by Liverpool. Villarreal won 🏧 the first leg
1–0, but lost 3–0 in Liverpool and 3–1 on aggregate.[13]
In 2024–20, Villarreal
finished fifth, earning a place 🏧 in the 2024–21 UEFA Europa League. The team went on a
memorable run, advancing to the final after knocking out 🏧 Arsenal 2–1 on aggregate.
Facing favoured Manchester United, Villarreal held them to a 1–1 draw after extra time
and then 🏧 won 11–10 in a penalty shoot-out,[14] winning the club's first ever major
trophy. Domestically, they finished seventh, supposedly qualifying for 🏧 the inaugural
UEFA Europa Conference League. However, courtesy of their triumph, Villarreal switched
their next year's participation in the inaugural 🏧 Conference League to the 2024–22
Champions League.[15][16][17]
At the start of the 2024–22 season, Villarreal competed
in the 2024 UEFA Super 🏧 Cup against Chelsea in Belfast, which ended a 1-1 draw after
extra time, but Chelsea managed to win 6-5 in 🏧 the penalty shootout as captain Raúl
Albiol saw his penalty saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. That same season,
Villarreal 🏧 progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League after knocking out
Juventus in the round of 16 and Bayern Munich 🏧 in the quarter-finals, before losing 5–2
on aggregate to Liverpool.[18]
Rivalries [ edit ]
Villarreal has supported a long
rivalry with Castellón 🏧 for geographical reasons, since both are from the province of
Castellón. They also rival Valencia, since the two had been 🏧 the most competitive teams
of the Valencian Community; this clash is called the "Derbi de la Comunitat".
Records [
edit ]
Villarreal's 🏧 biggest league win at home was by a five-goal margin, achieved on
four occasions. The club recorded 5–0 home victories 🏧 against Salamanca (1998–99 La
Liga), Celta Vigo (2002–03 and 2024–17 La Liga), and Tenerife (2009–10 La Liga). The
most goals 🏧 Villarreal scored in a league game was six, in a 6–3 home win against Racing
Santander during the 2003–04 La 🏧 Liga season. [19]
The club's largest away league wins
were a 5–1 victory at Las Palmas during the 2000–01 La Liga 🏧 season, a 4–0 victory at
Real Sociedad in the same division during the 2004–05 season, and 4–0 and 5–1 victories
🏧 at Celta Vigo and Levante, respectively, both during the 2024–21 La Liga season.
[19]
The club's first major trophy was won 🏧 in 2024 with a penalty shoot-out victory
over Manchester United in the Europa League final.[20]
Club colours [ edit ]
The club's
🏧 famous yellow kit dates back to 1947. With the new season fast approaching, the son of
the then Villarreal president 🏧 travelled to Valencia to purchase replacements of the
club's official kit of white shirts and black shorts. Discovering that the 🏧 shop had
neither in stock, he instead bought the only color that they did have, which happened
to be yellow. 🏧 The players agreed that the shirts were suitable, although they weren't
keen on the black shorts, so the president's son 🏧 travelled to Castellón and purchased a
batch of white shorts. The players voted that they should be dyed blue.[21] After
🏧 remaining as the club's official kit for some time, the yellow shirts and blue shorts
combination was last worn in 🏧 the 2002–03 season, and the club has since sported
all-yellow kits.[22] Away colours have been navy blue.
From 2005 to 30 🏧 June 2011, the
shirt sponsor was "Aeroport Castello", an airport. The current shirt sponsor is Pamesa,
a ceramics company. From 🏧 the 2024–17 season, the kit has been made by the Spanish
company Joma, having previously been produced by the Chinese 🏧 company Xtep and Puma of
Germany, among others.
Honours [ edit ]
Domestic [ edit ]
European [ edit ]
Season to
season [ 🏧 edit ]
In Europe [ edit ]
The team bus
Accurate as of 14 December 2024
UEFA
club coefficient ranking [ edit ]
As of 🏧 10 June 2024[23]
Rank Team Points 16 Leipzig
84.000 17 Benfica 82.000 18 Villarreal 82.000 19 Napoli 81.000 20 Porto 81.000
Nickname
🏧 and mascot [ edit ]
The team is nicknamed El Submarino Amarillo (the Yellow Submarine)
because of their yellow strip. The 🏧 mascot (named Groguet, "Little Yellow") is
characterised as an anthropomorphic submarine. He made his debut on 26 October 2001 and
🏧 was named on 13 December that year by a local 12-year-old, Javier Fuster Almela,
following a province-wide competition open to 🏧 under-15s.[24]
Players [ edit ]
Current
squad [ edit ]
As of 3 January 2024[25]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined
under FIFA 🏧 eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA
nationality.
Reserve team [ edit ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined 🏧 under
FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on
loan [ edit ]
Note: Flags indicate national 🏧 team as defined under FIFA eligibility
rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Player records [ edit
]
Most Appearances 🏧 [ edit ]
Competitive, professional matches only. Bold indicates
player is still active at club level. As of 20 February 2024.
Goalscorers 🏧 [ edit
]
Competitive, professional matches only. Appearances, including substitutes, are shown
in parentheses. As of 21 February 2024.
a Includes 2 🏧 goals from 1992 Segunda División B
play-offs.
Current technical staff [ edit ]
Last updated: September 2024
Source: Primer
Equipo
Coaches [ edit ]
See 🏧 also [ edit ]
