Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The rias ...

, in the autonomous community of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in Segunda División RFEF, holding home games at ''

Estadio Nuevo Colombino Estadio Nuevo Colombino is a multi-purpose stadium in Huelva, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Recreativo de Huelva. Football was first introduced to Spain in Huelva and it still hosts the annual ...

'', which has a 21,670 capacity. Team colours are white shirts with blue vertical stripes and white shorts.

History

Foundation/Early years

Two Scots, Alexander Mackay and Robert Russell Ross, overseas workers at the

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

mines, founded ''Huelva Recreation Club'' to provide their employees with physical recreation. Then they were invited by Sevilla F.C. to play their first football match. Very little is officially reported, being one of the most notable games of the time a knock-out stage in 1896 against Locomotoras Albacete Balón-Pie, precursor of the latter

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

, in a national cup championship. During the 1910s, the club won three non-official

n regional cups, and became the first Spanish side to defeat a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

team, winning against

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

. In 1940, it first reached ''

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

'', only lasting however one year and not returning until 1957. Since 1965, the team also began hosting the ''

Trofeo Colombino Trofeo Colombino was a summer football tournament hosted annually by Recreativo de Huelva at their home ground Nuevo Colombino in Huelva, Spain. The tournament is held in honor of Recre's position as the oldest surviving Spanish football club and ...

''.

Later years

In 1977–78, led by, amongst others, former

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

youth graduate

Hipólito Rincón Hipólito "Poli" Rincón Povedano (born 28 April 1957) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker. He played mainly for Real Madrid and Real Betis in a 13-year career, amassing La Liga totals of 239 games and 81 goals. Having won ...

, Recreativo first gained promotion to the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

. After just one season, it returned to level two, staying there until 1990, the year of a ''

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

'' relegation. In 1999–2000, Recreativo were due to be relegated to the third division, but were redeemed when

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

descended into the second and thus their reserves were ejected. With a new stadium and the appointment of

Luis Alcaraz Ángel Luis Alcaraz Acosta (born June 20, 1941 in Humacao, Puerto Rico) is a former professional second baseman. Alcaraz was signed as a free agent by the Milwaukee Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB) on January 1, 1959 and then traded to the ...

as manager, and the club returned to the top flight for the first time in 23 years on 19 May 2002 with a 2–1 home win over fellow Andalusians

Xerez CD Xerez Club Deportivo, known simply as Xerez, is a Spanish football team based in Jerez de la Frontera, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Xerez currently plays in Tercera División RFEF, the fifth tier of Spanish football. Founded on 24 ...

. After this one season at the top, the team was immediately relegated back. However, in the same campaign, it reached the final of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

for the first time, being defeated by

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

0–3 in

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,2005–06, after beating Numancia on 4 June 2006,

Marcelino García Toral Marcelino García Toral (; born 14 August 1965), known simply as Marcelino in his playing days, is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. During a ten-year senior career, he amassed La Liga totals o ...

's Recreativo mathematically secured promotion with two matches left to be played. Ahead of the new season, the club bought players including France youth international striker

Florent Sinama Pongolle Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons ...

from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and young winger

Santi Cazorla Santiago "Santi" Cazorla González (; born 13 December 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer. A former Spanish international, Cazorla operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but also played as a winger, central midfielder or as a ...

from

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

, with a budget of only €15 million. The club finished eighth in the table, at 54 points, a best-ever, and made headlines with a 3–0 win against Real Madrid at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...

. The club's leading goalscorer was Sinama Pongolle with 12 goals to his name, while García Toral left at its conclusion for

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

''Recre'' narrowly avoided relegation the following season, and in 2008–09, one win in its last 15 matches led to it coming in last place and returning to ''Segunda'' after three years. Overspending in aim of returning to the top flight led to debts. At the end of the 2014–15 season, the team fell into Segunda B for the first time in 18 years. A year later, the club was nearing extinction due to financial problems. In May 2021, due to restructuring of the

Spanish football league system The Spanish football league system consists of several professional, semi-professional and non-professional leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. The top two tiers of the male league pyramid— Primera División ( La Li ...

, the club was relegated two tiers to the fifth level for the first time in its history. Journalist Damián Ortiz of the ''Diario de Huelva'' called the entire squad "bastards without honour" and "a black mark on the history of Recreativo de Huelva". In April 2022, ''Recre'' achieved promoted back to fourth division.

Season-by-season record

Current squad

Out on loan

Youth players

Honours

* Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup): ''Runners-up'':

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, ''Semi-finals'': 1906,

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

* Campeonato Regional Sur (Andalusia Championship): 1918 *

: 2005–06

Notable coaches

International players

References

External links

Official website

Futbolme team profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Recreativo Huelva Football clubs in Andalusia Organisations based in Spain with royal patronage Association football clubs established in 1889 1889 establishments in Spain Mining association football teams Segunda División clubs La Liga clubs