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Sporting Gijón

Full name	Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Rojiblancos (Red-and-Whites)
Founded	1905 (as Sporting Gijonés)
Ground	El Molinón, Gijón, Asturias, Spain (Capacity: 26,000)
Chairman	Manuel Vega-Arango
Manager	Manuel Preciado
League	La Liga
2008-09	La Liga, 14th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club from Gijón, Asturias. Founded in 1 June 1905, it currently plays in Spanish first division.

Known as Rojiblancos because of their red and white striped jerseys, their home field is El Molinón stadium, the oldest professional football field in Spain, in use since at least 1908.

Sporting de Gijón is chronologically the sixth-oldest club in La Liga 2009-10. The club ranks 15th in the All-Time La Liga table, 2nd in the All-Time Segunda División table^[1] and is one of nine clubs in Spanish football to have never been relegated from the second division.

History

The club was established in 1905 with the name Sporting Gijonés, Anselmo López being the first president. King Alfonso XIII accepted the Royal patronage of the club for the Spanish crown in 1912, introducing the term "Real" (Spanish for "Royal") to its name, becoming Real Sporting Club Gijonés. In 1916 a new change took place to adopt today's denomination, Real Sporting de Gijón. From 1941 until the 1970s, 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 into First Division for the first time, and played thereafter in both the first and second divisions, achieving greatest success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, competing for league and national cup titles and laying the groundwork for a 21-year continuous stretch in La Liga. During this period, Sporting competed in the UEFA Cup six times, losing in the Round of 32 four times, and the Round of 16 twice, most recently in 1991-92.

Football players celebrate with their fans the club's return to top-flight, 15th of June 2008

Following a disastrous 1998 campaign, the club was relegated to Second Division, where they played for a ten seasons stretch. On 15 June 2008, the club secured promotion back to Primera for the 2008-09 season. In the 08-09 season their best victories have came against Valencia (2-3) and Sevilla (1-0). In their first five games of the 08-09 season, they allowed 20 goals. The 08-09 season also saw them break La Liga record of 29 consecutive games without a draw. They played 33 games before their only draw of the season, 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao on 3 May 2009.

Club colours and crest

Flag of Gijón

Sporting de Gijón have worn red and white striped jerseys since their inception, being the first spanish actual first division's team to wear red & 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.^[2]

Like most old football clubs, 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.^[3]

Real Sporting de Gijón's flag.

Flag

The official flag of 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

Stadium information

• Name - El Molinón
• City - Gijón
• Capacity - 26,000
• Opened - 1908
• Pitch size - 105 x 70 m
• Other Facilities: - Escuela de Fútbol Ángel Viejo Feliú, a.k.a. Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo, simply Mareo

Mareo facilities

The Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo is the training ground and academy base of Sporting de Gijón. It was opened on March 28, 1978.

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, 8 pitches, one service building (including team catering areas), gymnasium and medical center.

Supporters

Sporting de Gijón - Athletic de Bilbao, 2008-09

During most home matches the majority of the seats in the stadium are occupied by season ticket holders, or socios ("associates"), of which there are 21,000.^[4] In addition to socios, the club has more than 180 peñas (official, club-affiliated supporters' groups) in Spain and abroad.^[5] During the season 2008-09, Sporting de Gijón had the tenth-highest average attendance in the league, 21,491, and the fifth-highest average percentage, 84% of the total stadium capacity.^[6]

Sporting de Gijón supporters commonly call themselves Sportinguistas in order to show their dedication to the club.^[7] Sportinguistas are widely regarded as one of the most loyal, traveler and cheerful supporter groups in La Liga,^[8][9][10] providing one of the best atmospheres in the competition.^[11] When following their team in large groups through the country, they are referred to as La Mareona, Spanish for The Big Tide.

About 300,000 fans showed up when Sporting's latest promotion was celebrated in June 2008.^[12]

Rivalries

The team's historic rival is Real Oviedo. When both teams play in the same division, they compete in the Asturian derby. This derby is currently on hold as Oviedo are playing in third level. However, Sporting's B team and Oviedo are in the Segunda División B Group 2, and will face off twice during the 09-10 season.

Honours

National titles

• Spanish League: runners-up 1978-79^[13]
• Spanish Cup: runners-up 1981^[14], 1982^[15]
• Second Division: 1943-44, 1950-51, 1956-57, 1969-70, 1976-77; runners-up 1929-30

Regional titles

• Asturian Championship:^[16] 1916-17, 1917-18, 1918-19, 1919-20, 1920-21, 1921-22, 1922-23, 1923-24, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1929-30, 1930-31, 1939-40

Friendly tournaments

• Ramón de Carranza Trophy:^[17] 1984
• Trofeo Villa de Gijón:^[18] 1962-1965, 1970, 1972, 1975-1979, 1984-1986, 1988-1992, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2008
• Trofeo Costa Verde:^[19] 1962, 1963, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1975-1979, 1984-1986, 1988-1992
• Trofeo Principado:^[20] 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 2006
• Trofeo Ciudad de Pamplona:^[21] 1979
• Torneo Ciudad de León:^[22] 1997
• Trofeo Presidente - Ciudad de Oviedo:^[23] 1980, 1986
• Trofeo Ciudad del Cid:^[24] 1981
• Trofeo Ibérico:^[25] 1972, 1979
• Trofeo Conde de Fontao:^[26] 1969-1971, 1974, 1977, 1989
• Trofeo Emma Cuervo:^[27] 1957, 1960, 1963, 1967, 1972, 2007
• Trofeo Ramón Losada:^[28] 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009
• Trofeo Concepción Arenal:^[29] 1970, 1971
• Trofeo Luis Otero:^[30] 2003, 2008

Individual Honours

Pichichi Trophy

In Spanish football, the Pichichi is the trophy awarded by Spanish sports newspaper 'Marca' to the top goalscorer for each league season.

Ricardo Zamora Trophy

In Spanish football, the Ricardo Zamora is the trophy awarded by Spanish sports newspaper 'Marca' to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio for each league season.

Seasons

Recent seasons

Season		Pos.	PI	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Manager	Notes
1999-00	2D	9	42	17	9	16	54	48	60	Pedro Braojos / Ciriaco Cano
2000-01	2D	7	42	17	13	12	55	49	63	Vicente Cantatore / José María M. Acebal
2001-02	2D	6	42	17	13	12	47	57	64	José María M. Acebal
2002-03	2D	10	42	11	20	11	44	41	53	José María M. Acebal / Antonio Maceda
2003-04	2D	5	42	20	10	12	58	40	70	Marcelino García Toral
2004-05	2D	9	42	15	12	15	41	39	57	Marcelino García Toral
2005-06	2D	9	42	13	17	12	41	34	56	Ciriaco Cano
2006-07	2D	13	42	16	8	18	53	53	56	Manuel Preciado
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

Season to season

• 38 seasons in Primera División
• 41 seasons in Segunda División
• Participations in UEFA Cup: 6

Players

Current squad

As of 15 January 2010 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Juan Pablo 2 DF Alberto Botía (on loan from Barcelona) 3 DF José Ángel 4 MF Andreu 5 MF Alberto Rivera 6 MF Carmelo 7 MF Pedro (vice-captain) 8 MF Michu 9 FW Mate Bilić 10 FW Francisco Maldonado 11 MF Alberto Lora 12 DF Grégory Arnolin

No.   Position Player 13 GK Iván Cuéllar 14 DF Iván Hernández 15 DF Roberto Canella 16 DF Gerard Autet 17 MF Diego Castro (vice-captain) 18 FW Luis Morán 19 MF Diego Camacho 20 MF Miguel de las Cuevas 21 MF Kike Mateo 22 DF Rafel Sastre (captain) 23 FW David Barral 24 MF Sergio Matabuena

From reserve team

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

No. Position Player - DF Joni López - MF Marcos Landeira - GK Raúl - DF Pedro Orfila

No.   Position Player - DF Alain - MF Pablo Acebal - FW Carlinos - MF Cristian Portilla

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player - DF Jorge (at Gimnàstic de Tarragona)

Some notable players

To appear in this section a player must have played at least 200 games for the club or amassed 30 caps as an international

see also Cat:Sporting de Gijón footballers

Player of the year (1967-2009)

The following players have been awarded the 'Molinón de Plata' since its creation in 1967, given to the best player of the year by the Federation of Sporting Gijón Supporters Clubs:^[31]

Year Player 1967 Alonso 1968 Alberto 1969 Florín 1970 Puente 1971 Castro & Cuervo 1972 Churruca 1973 Castro 1974 Quini 1975 José Manuel 1976 Fanjul 1977 Castro

Year Player 1978 Ferrero 1979 Quini 1980 Uría 1981 Cundi 1982 Redondo 1983 Maceda 1984 Maceda 1985 Ablanedo 1986 Joaquín 1987 Jiménez 1988 Joaquín

Year Player 1989 Jiménez 1990 Ablanedo 1991 Ablanedo 1992 Isierte 1993 Abelardo 1994 Abelardo 1995 Ablanedo 1996 Ablanedo 1997 Ablanedo 1998 The supporters 1999 José Manuel

Year Player 2000 Yago 2001 Pablo Amo 2002 Villa 2003 Borreguero 2004 Samuel 2005 Ismael Irurzun 2006 Roberto 2007 Congo 2008 Kike Mateo 2009 Diego Castro

Player records

Most appearances

The 4 players with the most league appearances still at the club as of 1 September 2009 are:

Name	Seasons	Apps	Goals
Joaquín	1977–1992	479	65
Jiménez	1979–1991	420	8
Ablanedo	1982–1988	401	0
Quini	1970–1980 / 1984–1987	348	165

Most goals

The 4 players with the most league goals still at the club as of 1 September 2009 are:

Name	Seasons	Goals	Apps
Quini	1970–1980 / 1984–1987	165	348
Joaquín	1977–1992	65	479
Enzo Ferrero	1975–1985	54	241
Pío Alonso	1944–1948	44	–

Personnel

Current Technical Staff

Manuel Preciado

Position	Staff
Manager	Manuel Preciado
Assistant Manager	Iñaki Tejada
Goalkeeping Coach	Isidro Fernández
Physical Fitness Coach	Gerardo Ruiz
Director of Football	Emilio de Dios
Academy Director	José María M. Acebal
Head Coach Reserve Team	Javier Vidales

Last updated: January 2010
Source: Sporting de Gijón Official Website

Former managers

The following is a list of Sporting de Gijón managers from the beginning of the club's official managerial records in 1922 to the present day.^[32]

The club's longest-serving manager in La Liga is José Manuel Díaz Novoa, who had six spells managing the club from 1979 to 1999, totalling 227 matches.

Presidents

Current Board of Directors

Office	Name
President	Manuel Vega-Arango Alvaré
Vice-president	Antonio Veiga Suarez
Counselor	Amador Yenes Argüelles
Counselor	Mariano Fernández Prendes
Counsel Secretary	Carlos Barcia Alonso
General Manager	Alfredo García Amado

Last updated: 1 September 2009
Source: Sporting de Gijón Official Website

See also

• Sporting de Gijón B - Sporting de Gijón's farm team.

References

External links

Official websites

• RealSporting.com Official club website (Spanish)
• Real Sporting de Gijón at the Liga de Fútbol Profesional official website (Spanish)
• Real Sporting de Gijón at the UEFA official website

News sites

• Sporting de Gijón news from Marca (Spanish)
• Sporting de Gijón news from AS (Spanish)