This is a review the history of the Girona FC since its foundation on July 23, 1930 until today. It includes special sections for the Costa Brava Trophy, the Presidents and coaches that our club has had.
The precedents
Football was first played in Girona at the beginning of the 20th century. The first major club in the city was the historic Strong Esport (1902 with the original name of FC GironÃ). Other clubs of these early years were the Youth Grouping (1903), the Girona Sport (of the seminarians), the Athletic (of the working class), the Club Patronage (social-Catholic), and others less prominent as the Gerunda, Olympic, Catalonia, Student and Industrial. The first Football matches in the city were disputed in the field of Mart de la Devesa. In the 1920s, Football became stronger with clubs such as CE GironÃ, founded in 1921 and later FC Ateneo Social Democrático, but especially for the Unió Esportiva Girona, founded on February 13 of the same year, when the elements of the Gironan Center, heirs of the dissolved Strong, joined other athletes’ enthusiasts. The club soon became the strongest in the city. Its colours were yellow and blue marine and the Vista Alegre stadium was built in 1922. However, the club disappeared at the end of the decade for economic problems, following a debt of some 200,000 pesetas (a real fortune for those times).
1930. The birth of GIRONA FC
On 23 July 1930, the Girona FC was founded, covering the vacuum left by the Unió Deportiva Gerona, an entity that had been founded in the early 20's and disappeared due to economic problems, with a debt of some 200,000 pesetas (a real fortune for those times). In the cafe Norat de la Rambla, Girona FC was created, thanks to enthusiasts such as Albert de Quintana and León, Andreu de Benito, Manuel de Chopitea, LluÃs Ribas, Josep Maria Pla Dalmau, Francesc Figueras, Joaquim Medrano, Antoni Güell, Rafael Portas, Amadeu Oliva, doctor Roca Pinet and the gentlemen Coll and Poch. In a few weeks a real fever for Football began in Girona. On August 1, the City Council authorized the club to make use of its emblem. The board agrees with the Catalan federation to include the new team in the planned expansion of the 2nd category, but the management was not successful and the team had to start playing in the 2nd ordinary category.The first official team match was in the field of Artigas Colony (1-1, with goal by Clara). The historic first line-up was formed by: Florenza, Teixidor, Farró, Flavià , Comas, Corradi, Ferrer, Escuder, Clara, Tarradellas and Torrellas. The team, which was promoted in its first year of life, was trained by Josep Viñas, who, at the same time, was the president of the college of amateur referees of Girona. In February, the City Council decided to grant an annual subvention of 2,000-peseta to the club, on condition that Girona renounced another grant for Fairs, and ceded the facilities of Vista Alegre for any celebration of municipal interest and the Free entry to 100 students from the city's national schools.
1935-36. Promotion to the 1st division
Regarding sports, the first years of Girona were prolific, but if it were necessary to highlight a season above all, this was 1935-36. Before the start, the club transferred the players Iborra and Balmanya to the FC Barcelona. Girona received 15,000 pesetas in exchange, the transfer of two players and the commitment of the Barça club for a friendly match on All Saints’ Day. Despite theoretical weaknesses, the Girona players made an exceptional season in the 2nd division (champions, ahead of the Arenas and Baracaldo), and thus it was worth playing the promotion phase in the division together with Celta, Zaragoza, the same Arenas, Murcia and Jerez. Girona, the penultimate one, was not promoted. The team of this historic season was formed by: Francà s, Farró, Torredeflot, Campa, Castillo, Madern, Lluch, Trujillo, Burillo, Ramon and Ferrer. That same year, Girona played the cup of Spain and was eliminated by Real Betis for a global 5-3 (1-2 in Vista Alegre and 3- 2 in Sevilla).
The great Mingu Balmanya
Domènec Balmanya left Girona to play with FC Barcelona's first team. His undoubted quality allowed this meteoric ascent, just crushed by war, which doubtlessly cut off the progress towards internationality. Balmanya was the head coach of FC Barcelona, a member of the Barça expedition, who in 1937 made a tour to Mexico and the United States, being player of the Catalan team and Sète, of the 1st French division, which led to the champion of the title of France. Balmanya was part of even a sort of European team - where there was also Ricardo Zamora- who faced France in a friendly game. After the war (and preceded by the double set) he returned to Barça, played first with Nà stic and retired to Sant Andeu as coach and player.
As a technician, Balmanya’s first team was Girona. He then trained Zaragoza, Oviedo, Barcelona (he was also the technical director), Sète, Valencia, Espanyol, Betis, Málaga, Atlético de Madrid and Cádiz. In 1966, the Spanish Federation appointed him a national coach.
The Girona FC, after the war
Between 1936 and 1939, there was little football, and nobody seemed to push in order to place Girona in the first division. The civil war reduced the activity to a couple of Catalan leagues, a Mediterranean league (Valencian and Catalan teams) and a lot of friendly matches were played with certain purposes: to the benefit of the victims of fascism, to the benefit of the militias anti-fascists, matches for Hospitals of Blood ... The ravages of the war also affected Vista Alegre, where two bombs had fallen. Football was back to normal in the season 1939-40, with the team playing the league of the Catalan category and the 2nd national division. The team was consolidated on the 2nd national level, but in the post-war phase, the objectives had changed: the ascent was seen as a distant dream and the priority objective was to fight for permanence. The team went descended to the 3rd division in the 1942-43 season, regained the 2nd division in 1947-48 and alternated the two categories in the following way: 1948-51 (second division), 1951-56 (third division), 1956-59 (second), 1959-77 (third), 1977-80 (second B) and 1980-82 (third)..
Three proper names: Farró, "Curta" and Sala
Among the players who clearly marked a time at the Girona FC, apart from Mingu Balmanya, the following names should also be highlighted.
Fèlix Farró i MartÃ
He defended the colours of Girona FC from the year of its founding, in 1930, until 1946, almost always as the undisputed title holder (he exceeded 600 games with the white-and-white shirt). He arrived at the age of 17, coming from the Sub-19 of the Union Deportiva Gerona. He was a full-time sportsman and mirror for Girona fans. This defender, who had the chance to sign for Espanyol in the 1935-36 season, was paid at the gates of retirement one of the most impressive tributes remembered in the history of the Girona FC, with the presence, in Vista Alegre, of the very best players of Catalan Football. After disassociating himself from Girona, Farró still played some seasons in Palafrugell, Olot and Bisbalenc.
Isidre Sala
Isidre Sala, the only international Olympic Footballer coming from the Girona region. The former player of Figueres and Banyoles, Isidre Sala (Vilamalla, September 29, 1940) arrived in Girona in the 1963-64 season and remained until the 1975-76 campaign. An elegant and widespread central defender, whose qualities were clearly shown when 1968 he was given the opportunity to be part of the Spanish Olympic team in the Olympics held in Mexico. Sala was the object of a massive tribute on August 26, 1976, during which the Catalan Football Federation awarded him the Medal of Argent to the Sports Merit.
The 50th anniversary
Girona FC, founded on July 25, 1930, did not celebrate the silver wedding, but the board did everything they could to plan a 50th anniversary worthy of being remembered for a long time. On August 9, 1980, the Real Sociedad of Arkonada, Zamora, López Ufarte, Satrústegui... contested - and won (1-2) - the 11th edition of the Costa Brava Trophy (1.5 million pesetas collection, when Real was collecting 2). The visit of Real Madrid for the second consecutive year, on August 13, in the 4th edition of the Immortal Trophy served to compensate for the deficit left by the visit of the Basque team (5 million in revenue and Madrid receives 4 ,5). The rubric to the golden wedding of Girona FC was put by the visit of FC Barcelona (victory of Barça by 1-2 and gains of 1.5 million for the club from Girona). On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary, Montilivi saw the state's best teams parade. The Girona supporter poured in with the team almost filling the pitch in these three stellar matches, and the club managed to cover a parallel budget of 11 million pesetas (it also organized concerts, one of them with Miguel Bosé).
Surely, and coinciding with the club's 50th anniversary, this is the last time when great tickets are remembered in Montilivi. The team, which played in the third division, treasured enough quality to arouse the interest of the fans. The eleven types from Girona consisted of MartÃnez Puig, Bou, Julià II, Sala II, Fà bregas, Garcia Castany, Morata, Arredondo, Julià I, Masferrer and Chaves.
From the hell of preferred to the doors of second A
We are in the 1981-82 season. The economic problems are serious - the global debt exceeds 15 million pesetas - and, sportingly, the team faces a season full of setbacks that ends with relegation to the preferred regional. Since the 1933-34 season, Girona did not play in the regional. The transfers of Julià II and Requena to Zaragoza (3,850,000 pesetas) prevent the red numbers from skyrocketing, but the debt is already approaching 19 million pesetas. Fortunately, the team remains champion (with Alfons Muñoz as coach) and the bad trance of playing in the preferred regional only lasts one year. Girona now have five consecutive seasons in the third division before celebrating another promotion, in the 1988-89 season, to second division B (the year of Delfà Geli and with Xavi Agustà as coach). If the team is growing in terms of sport, financially the club has to strike a balance and seems to be in a permanent crisis. The municipalization of Montilivi, in 1984, was a patchwork. It only temporarily fixed the problem. Two years later, the club again accumulated considerable debts, but the team, in the hands of Xavi AgustÃ, seemed alien to it and worked, especially in the 1991/92 season when third place in the second B league went to open again, for the first time in a long time, the doors of the second A.
The team started the promotion phase badly - defeats against Vila-real (1-2) and Linense (2-0) - but recovered with three consecutive victories - Linense (4-1), Vila- real (2-4) and Salamanca (1-0) - and came to the last match at Helmántico depending on himself to go up. But it wasn't to be: Salamanca won 1-0 and Villarreal went up. The typical team was made up of Soldevila, Planagumà , Sagué, Roteta, Boada, Mercader, Darnés, Raúl, Juli, Corominas and Oliveras. When the players finished the promotion, they were owed five months more premiums, and the club's overall debt already exceeded 30 million pesetas.
Regeneration and stability
The seasons after 1991/92 were difficult. In 1992-93 and 1993-94, the team narrowly avoided relegation, both sportingly (ranked 15th both seasons) and bureaucratically (debts to players became a real threat), but in In 1994-95, Girona faltered and with four games to go they were already mathematically relegated. Two seasons later, the team hit rock bottom with the second relegation from the third division in its history: this time it was not a favorite, because the 1st Catalan had been created a few years ago. With three different coaches (Masferrer, Garcia Castany and Joan Riera) the team only won 6 out of 40 games.
The arrival of Pere Saguer in the presidency (1996-97) stopped Girona's negative tendency, but there was a long way to go to get the club out of the negative spiral and recover, little by little, the image and the credibility Saguer, who had already been president in the 1967-68 season, prevented the deficit from growing. The subsequent directives played a complicated role and they were always waiting to find an economic and sporting balance that Girona had not achieved for many years. Economic regeneration became a priority, but so was leaving the well of the 1st Catalan. In the 1999/2000 season, the third division was recovered, and, with the arrival of the new millennium, the club reached a practically total recovery and began to look at new, much more ambitious goals.
The first big prize came soon, in the 2002/03 season, in which the club regained a place in the second division B after an excellent promotion run (five wins and only one loss). It was the second promotion in five seasons and the return to a category that had been lost in the 1994/95 campaign. In the 2003-2004 season the club kept the category but in 2004-2005 it returned to the third division, after finishing the season in 17th. position
From Tercera to the silver division
The following campaign, with Josep Gusó as president, marked the beginning of the successful trajectory that has taken the club to the silver division of Spanish football. Third division champions in the 2005-2006 season, gaining promotion to Second B the following campaign. A year later, in the 2007-2008 season, promotion to the Second Division A came. To achieve this, two qualifiers were won against Barakaldo, first, and Ceuta, then, with a Montilivi stadium full of to spill
The prodigious decade Season 2008/09: After a meritorious first round in which it seemed that salvation would be achieved with ease, Girona FC had a dangerous inertia in the second round, and with 5 games to go before the conclusion of the League, with the team 5 points away from relegation, coach Raúl Agné was dismissed. Javi Salamero took over. The club managed to stay up with three games to go. Season 2009/10: NarcÃs Julià replaced Cristóbal Parralo as the new coach after an erratic start. Girona suffered a lot and was about to lose the category. A penalty converted by Kiko Ratón in the 94th minute of the last match against Murcia made the Girona team save the category. Season 2010/11: Girona FC finished in 11th position in the standings, with 57 points, reaching going 10 days without defeat. Season 2011/12: The club paid 700,000 euros for the sale of Ranko Despotovic to the Japanese Urawa Red Diamonds. After a complicated start to the league, the threat of relegation returned to Montilivi. Javier Salamero took over for Josu Uribe and the team once again secured promotion with two games to go. 2012/13 season: With the objective
to achieve permanence, Rubi, until then second coach, took charge of the team. Girona got off to a great start and were already in the playoff places on the second day. He finished the first round in second place, with 38 points. In the second round it maintained the dispute with AD Alcorcón, Vila-real CF, UD Las Palmas and UD Almeria for second place. In the promotion playoff it eliminated Alcorcón but in the final elimination it fell to Almeria who would end up going up to Primera. Season 2013/14: Girona, which had just filed for bankruptcy, entrusts the sports area to Ricardo RodrÃguez, who would be on the bench until December 18, 2013. His place was taken by Javi López. With him, the team's situation did not improve so the board, already with Francesc Rebled as president, replacing Joaquim Boadas, opted for another change of coach with the arrival of Pablo MachÃn. The coach from Soria was the expected shocker and managed to bring Girona to stay on the last day, after 23 consecutive weeks in relegation places. Season 2014-2015.
The best season in Girona FC's recent history. The team led by Pablo MachÃn had an extraordinary year, a record: it finished with a stratospheric number of points, 82, and was the visitor with the best numbers in the Liga Adelante. Despite this, direct promotion to the First Division had to be played in the last match, played in Montilivi, against Lugo. But the 1-1 draw against the Galicians closed the doors to this direct promotion. Finally, in the playoff, and against Zaragoza in La Romareda, an excellent 0 to 3 was achieved. On the return trip to Montilivi, the Aragonese got back on the scoreboard against a Girona side still badly affected by the result of the last day. In the 2015-2016 season, Girona again played for promotion to the First Division. In the first qualifying round and with the home field factor in their favor, they faced a double match against the fifth place, Córdoba CF. Things did not start well for Pablo MachÃn's team, who conceded two goals in 12 minutes in the first leg at Arcà ngel. A goal before the break left the tie open (2-1)
Nervous afternoon in the return to Montilivi, as the Andalusians started scoring. Two goals from Girona meant that the match ended in a tie and extra time had to be played, in which the Girona team came away with the advantage to score the third goal that gave them the step to the final (3-1). The final was played on June 12, 2016. In the first leg at Sadar, the victory was for the local team by 2 to 1. The second leg, three days later in Montilivi, was also favorable to Osasuna ( 0-1) which stopped the dream of promotion again. Historical promotion
June 4, 2017 will go down in Girona's history as the day that, on the verge of turning 87, the club achieved promotion to the First Division. After three failed attempts in recent years, Girona had a team in the elite of Spanish football. A historical fact. Pablo MachÃn's men, who enjoyed a five-point advantage over third-placed Getafe, had enough with a draw in the decisive match against Real Zaragoza to secure second place in the championship, which gave them direct access to the Santander league And so it was. A draw (0-0) that was worth a historic promotion.
City Football Group and Girona Football Group
On August 23, 2017, the club was acquired equally by City Football Group and Pere Guardiola's Girona Football Group. City Football Group owns Manchester City FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City, Montevideo City Torque, Yokohama Marinos, Sichuan Jiuniu FC, Mumbai City FC, Lommel SK and Estac Troyes AC.
One of the first measures to face the premiere in the top category was the provisional expansion of the stadium with two additional stands, one in Gol Nord and another in Preferent, in addition to renewing the lighting of the stadium The first team went on to train at the Caldes de Malavella PGA after the construction of two training fields with the exact measurements of Montilivi; one of natural grass and the other of hybrid grass.
First season in La Liga Santander
Girona FC finished their first season in LaLiga Santander in tenth place, with 51 points, surpassing in the classification teams such as RCD Espanyol, Athletic Club or Real Sociedad. In the last game of the first round he achieved the first defeat in Primera, 6-0 against UD Las Palmas and the first Hat-Trick in the top category, signed by Michael Olunga on January 13, 2018. In the season 2018-19 Girona reached the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey for the first time after draws against Atlético de Madrid 1-1 at home and 3-3 away. In the quarter-finals, he was eliminated by Real Madrid 7-3 on aggregate. In March, they won their first Supercopa de Catalunya by beating FC Barcelona 0-1 with a goal from Cristhian Stuani. The team would lose the category finishing 18th, with 37 points at the end of the regular season, returning to the Second Division.
The next campaign, with Josep Gusó as president, was the beginning of the success story that led the club to the silver division of Spanish Football. Champions of the Third Division during the 2005-2006 season, they achieved promotion to Second B in the following campaign. And a year later, in the 2007-2008 season, followed the promotion to Second Division A. This was achieved with two eliminatories against Barakaldo, first, and later Ceuta, with a full Montilivi stadium!.
From the promotion to the present2008/09 season: After a commendable first round in which it seemed that salvation would be achieved with calmness, the Girona FC had a dangerous inertia in the second round, and only 5 days before the conclusion of The League, with the team 5 points behind, coach Raúl Agné was dismissed. Javi Salamero took over. The club achieved the permanence three games before the final.2009/10 season: NarcÃs Julià replaced Cristóbal Parralo as a new technician after an erratic start. Girona suffered a lot and was about to lose the category. A transformed penalty kick by Kiko Raton in minute 94 of the last day against Murcia helped the Girona to save the category.2010/11 Season: The Girona FC finished in 11th position of the classification, with 57 points, and did not know the defeat during 10 games.Season 2011/12: The club collected 700,000 euros for the sale of Ranko Despotovic to Urawa Red Diamonds Japanese. After a complicated league start, the threat of descent came back on Montilivi. Javier Salamero relieved Josu Uribe and the team regained their permanence two days before the final.2012/13 season: In order to achieve permanence, Rubi, until then second coach, took charge of the team. Girona started a magnificent start up and it was already on the second day in playoff positions. He finished the first round in second place, with 38 points. In the second round he maintained the dispute with AD Alcorcón, Villarreal CF, UD Las Palmas and UD AlmerÃa for the second place. In the ascent playoff they eliminated the Alcorcón but in the definitive eliminatory they lost against AlmerÃa that was promoted to the First.2013/14 season: Girona, which had just presented creditors' contests, entrusted the sports area to Ricardo RodrÃguez, who would be on the bench until December 18, 2013. His position was occupied by Javi López. With him the situation of the team did not improve because the board, with Francesc Rebled as president, replacing Joaquim Boadas, opted for another change of coach with the arrival of Pablo MachÃn. The technician from Soria was the expected revulsion and managed to bring Girona to permanence on the final day, after 23 consecutive weeks of descent.2014-2015 season. The best season in the recent history of Girona FC. The team led by Pablo MachÃn made an extraordinary year of records: they finished with stratospheric 82 points, and were the visitors of the Adelante League with the best numbers. In spite of this, the direct promotion to the First Division had to be played in the last game, played in Montilivi, against Lugo. But the tie against the Galicians closed the doors of this direct promotion. Finally, in the playoff against Zaragoza in La Romareda, an excellent 0 to 3 was achieved. On the return to Montilivi, the Aragoneses overtook the scoring in a Girona that was still very emotionally affected by the result of the last day.In the 2015-2016 season, Girona once again played in the promotion to the First Division. In the first round and with the field factor in favor, they faced a double match against the fifth-placed team, Córdoba CF. Things did not start well for Pablo MachÃn, who scored two goals in 12 minutes in the first leg of the Archangel. A goal before the break left the tie open (2-1). Nervous afternoon on the way back to Montilivi, as the Andalusians started scoring. Two goals from Girona ended the match in a draw and an extra time had to be played, in which Girona benefited from scoring the third goal that gave them the lead in the final (3-1). The final was played on June 12, 2016. In the first leg at Sadar the victory was for the local team by 2 to 1. The return, three days later in Montilivi, was also favorable to Osasuna ( 0-1) which restrained the dream of ascension again.Historic Rise
June 4, 2017 will go down in Girona's history as the day when, at the age of 87, the club was promoted to the First Division. After three frustrated attempts in recent years, Girona had a team in the elite of Spanish football. A historical fact. Pablo MachÃn's men, who had a five-point lead over third-placed Getafe, had a draw in the decisive match against Real Zaragoza to secure second place in the league, which gave them direct access to the league. Santander League. And so it was. A draw (0-0) that was worth a historic promotion
City Football Group and Girona Football GroupOn August 23, 2017, the club was acquired in equal parts by the City Football Group and the Girona Football Group, by Pere Guardiola. City Football Group owns Manchester City FC, New York City FC, Melbourne City, Montevideo City Torque, Yokohama Marinos, Sichuan Jiuniu FC, Mumbai City FC, Lommel SK and Estac Troyes AC.
One of the first measures to face the premiere in the highest category was the temporary expansion of the stadium with two additional stands, one in Gol Nord and another in Preferente, in addition to renewing the lighting of the stage. The first team went on to train at the PGA in Caldes de Malavella after the construction of two training camps with the exact measurements of Montilivi; one of natural grass and the other of hybrid grass.
First stage in La Liga Santander
Girona FC finished its first season in LaLiga Santander in tenth position, with 51 points, beating teams like RCD Espanyol, Athletic Club and Real Sociedad in the standings. In the last game of the first round he got his first win in the First Division, 6-0 against UD Las Palmas and the first Hat-Trick in the top category, achieved by Michael Olunga on January 13, 2018.
In the 2018-19 season, Girona reached the Copa del Rey quarterfinals for the first time after drawing 1-1 at home and 3-3 away against Atlético de Madrid. In the quarterfinals it was eliminated by Real Madrid 7-3 on aggregate. In March he won his first Supercopa de Catalunya by beating FC Barcelona 0-1 with a goal from Cristhian Stuani. The equipment would lose the category when being 18º, with 37 points at the end of the regular season, returning to Second division.
Marcelo Claure
In August 2020, the Bolivian-American businessman Marcelo Claure bought a shareholding package of Pere Guardiola's Girona Football Group. With this transaction, the City Football Group became the main shareholder of the Club with 47% of the shares, Claure had 35% and Girona Football Group 16%. Claure is also the owner of Club BolÃvar, the most important in his country.
Return to second
In the first season back to second, he finished in fifth position, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. They managed to defeat AlmerÃa CF 1-0 at home and 1-2 away. However, they were eliminated by Elche CF with 0-0 in the first leg and losing 0-1 at home in the 96th minute.
In the 2020/21 season, the team once again entered the play-offs for promotion to the first division after finishing the regular season in fifth position. In the semi-finals they were paired again with AlmerÃa CF who won 0-2 away and drew 0-0 at home. Their fourth final was played against Rayo Vallecano, winning in Vallecas 1-2 and losing at home 0-2, which left the team one more season in the silver division.
Second stage in La Liga Santander
On June 19, 2022, Girona returned to the first division (it was sixth in the Smartbank League) by eliminating CD Tenerife 0-0 (first leg) and 1-3 (return) in the promotion play-off final and 0-1 (first leg) and 0-2 (return) against SD Eibar in the semifinal of play-off.
Post a Comment