Villarreal CF

Early years

Villarreal CF was founded as Villarreal CD 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 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]

1929–1998

Villarreal entered regional competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929–30 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, before promotion in 1950–51 to the first.^[3] In 1942, the club changed their name to CAF Villarreal, with a new badge in the yellow colour of their new shirts. The "F" stood for Foghetcaz, an athletics club and supporter of the team.^[4]

The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in 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 1992–93, 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.

La Liga debut

Villarreal's La Liga debut started with a match against reigning European champions Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 31 August 1998. 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 Liga.

European qualifications

Arsenal FC vs Villarreal CF UEFA Champions League 2008–09 quarter-finals.

After finishing seventh on their return to the Primera, Villarreal finished in 15th place for two-straight seasons.^[5]

2010–11

Real Madrid C.F. vs. Villarreal CF 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 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 taking a 0–1 lead at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto made a remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 defeat for Villareal. Although Villareal won the second leg with a 3–2 win, 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.

Relegation and promotion

Last match of the 2012–13 season game against UD Almería. Finally, Villarreal won and promoted to La Liga.

On 13 May 2012, Villarreal were relegated from the Primera 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.^[10] 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.^[11]

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 in 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 2015–16 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 2016-17 UEFA Champions League playoff round. The club progressed to the semi final Europa League, but were knocked out 3–1 on aggregate by Liverpool. Villarreal led the first leg 1–0, but lost 3–0 in Liverpool.

Domestic

• La Liga
  • Runners-up (1): 2007–08
• Segunda División
  • Runners-up (1): 2012–13
• Segunda División B
  • Runners-up (2): 1987–88, 1991–92
• Tercera División
  • Winners (1): 1970

European

• UEFA Champions League
  • Semi-finalists (1): 2005–06

• UEFA Europa League
  • Semi-finalists (3): 2003–04, 2010–11, 2015–16

• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (2): 2003, 2004

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 30 MF Samu Chukwueze

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player — GK Ander Cantero (at Rayo Majadahonda until 30 June 2019) — DF Juan Ibiza (at Almería until 30 June 2019) — DF Pau Torres (at Málaga until 30 June 2019) — DF Rúben Semedo (at Huesca until 30 June 2019) — MF Alfred N'Diaye (at Málaga until 30 June 2019) — MF Chuca (at Elche until 30 June 2019) — MF Ramiro Guerra (at Gimnàstic until 30 June 2019)

No. Position Player — MF Denis Cheryshev (at Valencia until 30 June 2019) — MF Leo Suárez (at Valladolid until 30 June 2019) — MF Roberto Soriano (at Torino until 30 June 2019) — FW Akram Afif (at Al Sadd until 30 June 2019) — FW Cristian Espinoza (at Boca Juniors until 31 December 2018) — FW Enes Ünal (at Valladolid until 30 June 2019)

Most appearances

Bold denotes players still at the club

#	Name	Matches
1	Bruno Soriano	373
2	Marcos Senna	363
3	Cani	327
4	Rodolfo Arruabarrena	284
5	Javi Venta	260
6	Pascual Donat	254
7	Gonzalo Rodríguez	253
8	Quique Álvarez	250
9	Santi Cazorla	248
10	Mateo Musacchio	235

Top Scorers

#	Name	Goals
1	Giuseppe Rossi	82
2	Diego Forlán	59
3	Cédric Bakambu	46
4	Juan Román Riquelme	45
5	Marcos Senna	37

Competition record

Former internationals

• Spain: Sara Monforte