Granada CF

Granada Club de Fútbol was founded on 14 April 1931,[2] originally as Recreativo de Granada; the first president was Julio López Fernández. It was him who registered the club in the Registry of Associations in the Civil Government and presented the first Board of Directors.[3]

The first football match was played against Deportivo Jaén on 6 December 1931, which resulted in a 2–1 victory.[4] The first goal in the match, and in the club's history, was scored by Antonio Bombillar. The first home match was played against U.D. Andújar two weeks later. Granada CF won it 1-0. It took place at Campo de Las Tablas stadium.[4] In the 1931–32 season, the club finished 2nd in the Tercera Regional – Región Sur championship.[4] 4 wins in 6 matches helped Granada CF to be promoted to Segunda Regional. The club started the season in a new division with a new president, Gabriel Morcillo Raya.[5] During the 1932-33 season the club had the biggest win in its history, 11–0 against Xerez FC on 23 April 1933.[6]

After several promotions, in 1941–42 the club made its La Liga debut. It was the match against Celta on 28 September 1941. The game ended up in 1–1 draw.[7] The first Granada goal in the highest Spanish division was scored by César Rodríguez Álvarez.[8] During that season Granada had some historical home wins, among them 8–0 against Real Oviedo and 6–0 against Barcelona.[4] Granada finished the season in the 10th position among 14 teams.[9] From here until the 1980s, it alternated between that category and Segunda División, with its golden age coming during the 1970s, with eight top flight seasons, which included a best-ever two sixth league places (1971–72, 1973–74). Granada finished the 1971-72 season with 9 wins in the last 10 home games, among them wins against Barcelona and Real.[4]

In 1959 Granada achieved its greatest sports landmark, being runner-up of the Copa del Generalísimo (later Copa del Rey). In the final, played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the team lost to Barcelona 4–1. The only goal for Granada was scored by the Argentinian forward Ramón Carranza.[10]

In the 1980s, Granada had some brief appearances in the second division. In 1983–84, they finished 8th among 20 teams in Segunda División, just 10 points away from the champion Real Madrid Castilla and the runner-up Bilbao Athletic.[11] The 1984–85, Granada finished 18th and were relegated to Segunda División B;[12] in the same season, the club was eliminated by Estepona in the first round of the Copa del Rey.[13]

Granada spent most of the following seasons in Segunda División B, dropping another level in 2002–03, due to non-payment to its players.[14] After four seasons in the fourth division, former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz, along with his son Paco, arrived at the club. With their help, the Andalusian side was again promoted to the third category but got itself into serious financial trouble. In the 2005–06 season Granada became a champion of the Tercera División Group 9 and qualified for the promotional play-offs, where the first rival was Linense. After the two games ended up in 1-1 draws, Granada won in the penalty shootout.[15]

In 2006–07, Granada played in Group IV of the third level after four seasons in Tercera. The president Paco Sanz with the massive support of the fans continued to lead the project with the intention of bringing the team to the top division, but the lack of time after the promotion led to hasty actions.[16] In July 2009, the club was in such financial difficulty that it was on the brink of closing.[17] The solution to the crisis came with the signing of a partnership agreement with Udinese Calcio, with the Spaniards incorporating large numbers of players contracted to the Italian club as well as receiving its youth players and reserves as part of the agreement.[17] At the end of the season, Granada won its group then got promoted in the play-offs, returning to the second division after 22 years.

In 2010–11, Granada finished in fifth position, with most of the players loaned by Udinese still on board.[17] On 18 June 2011, the club became the first winner of the promotion play-offs – a different system was used from 1985 to 1999 – after successively defeating Celta de Vigo (1–1, penalty shootout) and Elche (1–1 on aggregate, away goals rule), thus returning to the top division after a 35-year absence.[18][19] In June 2016, Chinese businessman Jiang Lizhang became the new owner of the club, buying the Pozzo family's controlling stake.[20] After surviving in the top flight for six seasons, the team was relegated in 2016–17 after being defeated by Real Sociedad.[21]

Under new manager Diego Martínez, Granada returned to the top flight as runners-up to CA Osasuna in the 2018–19 Segunda División.[22]

As of 24 February 2020 [23]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Rui Silva 2 DF Dimitri Foulquier (on loan from Watford) 3 DF Álex Martínez 4 MF Maxime Gonalons (on loan from Roma) 5 DF José Martínez (on loan from Eibar) 6 DF Germán (vice-captain) 7 MF Álvaro Vadillo 8 MF Yan Eteki 9 FW Roberto Soldado 10 FW Antonio Puertas 11 DF İsmail Köybaşı 12 MF Ramon Azeez 13 GK Aarón

No. Position Player 14 MF Fede Vico 15 DF Carlos Neva 16 DF Víctor Díaz (captain) 17 FW Gil Dias (on loan from Monaco) 18 FW Antoñín 19 MF Ángel Montoro 20 DF Jesús Vallejo (on loan from Real Madrid) 21 MF Yangel Herrera (on loan from Manchester City) 22 DF Domingos Duarte 23 FW Darwin Machís 24 FW Carlos Fernández (on loan from Sevilla) DF Quini DF Neyder Lozano

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

No. Position Player 26 MF Antonio Aranda 27 FW Adrián Butzke 29 MF Isma 31 FW Mario Rodríguez

No. Position Player 32 DF Antonio Montoro 35 GK Unai Etxebarría 39 DF Pepe 40 GK João Costa

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

No. Position Player DF Bernardo Cruz (at Numancia until 30 June 2020) MF Jaime Garijo (at Calahorra until 30 June 2020)

No. Position Player MF José Antonio González (at Córdoba until 30 June 2020)

• Segunda División (3): 1940–41, 1956–57, 1967–68
• Segunda División B (3): 1982–83, 1999–00, 2009–10
• Tercera División (3): 1933–34, 2003–04, 2005–06
• Copa del Rey

Runners-up: 1958–59

• Andalucia Cup : 1932–33
• Andalucia Championship reservations : 1971–72

• Antonio Puerta Trophy: 2010

• La Liga: Enrique Porta (1971–72)
• Segunda División: Miguel (1964–65), Rafa (1955–56)