Real Sociedad
Miguel Fuentes Azpiroz | manager =
José Mari Bakero | league =
La Liga |
season = 2005-06 |
position =
La Liga,
16th |
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Real Sociedad is a
Spanish football club from the Basque city of
San Sebastián/Donostia in
Guipúzcoa/Gipuzkoa. Founded on
September 17 1909, it currently plays in the
Primera División.
Known in Basque as
Erreala or the
txuri-urdin ("white-blue" in Basque), from their colors: blue with white vertical stripes and white shorts. A blue quarter on white also appears in the flag of their home town. The home stadium is the
Estadio Anoeta, which seats 32,000 spectators.
Football was introduced to
Donostia in the early
1900s by students and workers returning from
Britain. In
1904 they formed the
San Sebastian Recreation Club and in
1905 they competed in the
Copa del Rey. In May 1905 the
San Sebastian Football Club was formed as a separate branch of the club. In
1909 they applied to enter the
Copa del Rey but complications over registration permits saw them compete as
Club Ciclista de San Sebastian. This team beat Club Español de Madrid 3-1 in the final. Out of the confusion the
Sociedad de Futbol was formed on September 7th, 1909. In
1910 Spanish clubs played in two rival cup competitions and Sociedad de Futbol entered the
Copa UECF as
Vasconia de San Sebastian. In the same year
Alfonso XIII, who used
San Sebastian as his
summer capital, gave the club his patronage. They subsequently became known as
Real Sociedad de Fútbol. Real Sociedad were founder members of
La Liga in
1928. The team came fourth with Francisco "Cuqui" Bienzobas finishing as top scorer. The teams name was changed to
Donostia Club de Futbol in 1931, with the advent of the
Second Spanish Republic, but changed back to Real Sociedad after the
Spanish Civil War in 1939.
The team has generally fluctuated between the
Primera and
Segunda divisions, in one period (during the
1940s) managing to be relegated and promoted seven times. The best period of the team's history must be the early
1980s where they won the
Primera two seasons running.
For many years, Real Sociedad followed the practice of their Basque rival
Athletic Bilbao of signing only Basque players. They abandoned the policy in
1989 when they signed
Irish international John Aldridge from
Liverpool. The team that finished a surprising second in
La Liga in 2002-03 dramatically illustrated this change. Key contributors to that side included a Serb (
Darko Kovacevic), a Turk (
Nihat Kahveci), a Russian (
Valeri Karpin), and a Dutch goalkeeper (
Sander Westerveld).
Copa del Rey:
2*
1909 and 1987Copa del Rey:Runners-Up:
2*
1928 and 1988Primera División:
2*
1981 and 1982
*Primera División:Runners-Up:3
**1980,
1988 and
2003.
Spanish Super Cup::
1*
1983The numbers are established according to the official website:
www.realsociedad.com and
www.lfp.es. The
EU flags indicate players who, although foreign, are still members of the European Economic Community, thus the club is not restricted in player such foreigners.
As of July 26 2006Squad changes during 2006/07 season
In:*
Fábio Felício - Signed
From UD Leiria*
Rossato - Return
From SC Braga*
Juanito - Signed
From Deportivo Alavés*
Claudio Bravo - Signed
From Colo-Colo*
Gerardo - Signed
From Málaga CF*
Diego Rivas - Signed
From Getafe CFOut*
Nihat - Transferred
To Villarreal CF*
Mark Gonzalez - Return
To Liverpool F.C.*
Viafara - Return
To Portsmouth F.C.*
Alberto - Transferred
To Real Valladolid*
De Paula - Transferred
To Cádiz CF*
Gabilondo - Transferred
To Athletic de Bilbao*
Barkero - Transferred
To Albacete Balompié*
Gorka Larrea - On Loan
To UD Almería*
Markel Bergara - On Loan
To UD Vecindario*
Brechet - Transferred
To FC Sochaux-Montbéliard*
Boris - Transferred
To Numancia| La Liga | Position | Pts | P | W | D | L | F | A |
| Real Sociedad | 16 | 40 | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 48 | 65 |
*
Top Scores:
**Xabi Prieto - 9
goals**Nihat - 7
goals**Mark Gonzalez - 5
goals*
Top Goalkeepers**Riesgo -
56 goals In
33 Matchs**Alberto -
9 goals In
6 Matchssee also *
John Toshack,
1985-
1989,
1991-
1994,
2001-
2002*
Javier Irureta, 1995-1997
*
Javier Clemente, 1999-2000
see also *
Real Sociedad Official Website
