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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, that plays in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

, the top flight of

Spanish football Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Spain has some of the most important teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and others). It also has a high number of players (most of them being unprofession ...

. This clubs has been founded in 1923, the club passed much time of its history in the lower divisions of Spanish football and began in La Liga in 1998. In the 21st century, Villarreal gained some league stability, although they sustained relegation in 2012, rebounding the next year and then remaining in the top division to date. The club made its first appearance in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

in 2005, with its best result being the semi-finals in 2006 and 2022. Villarreal also appeared in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

during this time, and won the competition in 2021 by defeating Manchester United in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, clinching their first major trophy. The club is nicknamed ''El Submarí Groguet'' or ''El Submarino Amarillo'' ( Yellow Submarine) due to its yellow home kit, and due to being a low-profile team compared to

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 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

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 ...

, and regional rivals

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

. They play their home games at the Estadio de la Cerámica, and have been touted as an example of a small but successful club.

History

1923–29: Early years

Villarreal CF was founded as Club Deportivo Villarreal 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. On 17 June 1923, Castellón, a modern rival of the club, played the first match against a club named after

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

. On 21 October of that year, Villarreal played their first game ever, playing against Castellón. Villarreal started off with a kit of white shirts and black shorts, reflected in their first badge.

1929–98: Time in lower divisions

Villarreal entered regional competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929 to 1930 onwards. The 1934–35 season saw the team lose to Cartagena when a win would have seen them promoted to the nationwide Second Division. The following season saw Villarreal win the First Division of the region before the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. When the war finished in 1939, the club played again in the Second Division of the region. However, CD Villarreal was dissolved in the early 1940s, and in 1942, CA Foghetecaz, an acronym for the club's founders (Font, Gil, Herrero, Teuler, Catalá and Zaragoza), was one of several clubs established in its place. In 1946, the new club joined the Valencian Football Federation and renamed itself as CAF Villarreal, where the F stood for Foghetecaz. The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in 1954, with a badge similar to the present one. 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. The club adopted their present badge in the middle of 1966. In 1966–67, Villarreal returned to the Tercera as champions. In 1970, they reached the national Segunda for the first time. 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. 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 to 1993, Villarreal were often in low or mid-table positions, but reached the play-offs in 1997–98 by finishing fourth. 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 The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

1998–2012: La Liga and European debuts

Villarreal's

debut started with a match against reigning European champions

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 ...

on 31 August 1998 where they lost 4-1 despite taking the lead after 3 minutes. The first home game was against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

the week after. Because of a difficult season, Villarreal were relegated to the

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 ...

for the 1999–2000 season, but by finishing third, they were then promoted back to the Primera División. Van Persie Free Kick cropped

After finishing seventh on their return to the Primera, Villarreal finished in 15th place for two-straight seasons. Villarreal competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2002, defeating FH of Iceland,

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

of Italy, and

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

of France. They lost in the final to compatriots

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, 2–1 on aggregate. In the middle of 2003, they defeated the Dutch team

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, fry, It Hearrenfean ) is a town and municipality in the province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the municipality had a population 50,859 (1 July). ...

in the final of the Intertoto Cup, thereby qualifying for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. In their major European debut, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions

. In the league, Villarreal finished in eighth place. In the middle of 2004, Villarreal retained the Intertoto Cup, beating compatriots

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

after the final finished 2–2 on aggregate. This qualified them to the UEFA Cup. They lost in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup to Dutch side AZ, losing 3–2 on aggregate. During the same season, Villarreal finished in third place in La Liga, earning the club their first direct qualification to a European tournament, the Champions League. The club's centre-forward

Diego Forlán Diego Martín Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, Forlán is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi ...

won the

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish football, the Trofeo Pichichi is awarded by the sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael "Pichichi" Moreno, the trophy has been awarded annually since the ...

for top scorer in the league, with 25 goals. Villarreal defeated the English Premier League's Everton in a play-off for the Champions League group stages. The group saw Villarreal go undefeated, drawing both games against Manchester United and achieving a draw and a win each against

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

of France and Benfica of Portugal. The win over Benfica was away and both teams advanced to the last 16. The club then drew 3–3 against Rangers of Scotland in the Last 16, advancing on away goals due to a 2–2 draw at Ibrox. In the quarter-finals, Villarreal beat

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

on away goals after finishing 2–2 on aggregate. The club bowed out in the semi-finals against Arsenal, losing 1–0 away at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

Juan Román Riquelme Juan Román Riquelme (; born 24 June 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current vice-president of Boca Juniors, the club where he spent the majority of his playing career.penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

saved by

Jens Lehmann Jens Gerhard Lehmann (; born 10 November 1969) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was a member of Arsenal's " Invincibles", playing every match of their unbeaten title-winning season. He holds the UEFA Ch ...

in the home game, which finished 0–0. Arsenal went on to lose in the final in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to another Spanish club,

. Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga, which only earned an Intertoto Cup position. Villarreal contested the Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2006 and was knocked out in its first game, to

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

of Slovenia. The first leg was lost 2–1 at home and the away game was a 1–1 draw. The team finished 5th in La Liga and qualified for the

. Villarreal gained their best-ever league position in 2008, finishing second to Real Madrid by eight points, and also reached the last 32 in that season's UEFA Cup. After defeating BATE Borisov of Belarus in a play-off, the team won Group C unbeaten. Their group opponents were

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

of Italy,

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive in ...

of Czech Republic,

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

of Sweden, and

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

of Greece. In the last 32, Villarreal were defeated by eventual champions

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

, losing the first leg 1–0 in Russia to a

Pavel Pogrebnyak Pavel Viktorovich Pogrebnyak (russian: Па́вел Ви́кторович Погребня́к ; born 8 November 1983) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Moscow, Pogrebnyak began his career at Spart ...

goal. The second leg was won 2–1 by Villarreal at

El Madrigal EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

, but Zenit advanced on away goals. The club automatically qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League by finishing second in La Liga the previous season. They drew Manchester United, for the second consecutive campaign,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, and

Aalborg BK Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but cur ...

. They made a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goal-less draw at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, a third 0–0 draw in a row against the English giants. A first win was sealed on 30 September by beating

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

's Celtic 1–0 at

, courtesy of a

Marcos Senna Marcos Antônio Senna da Silva (born 17 July 1976), known as Senna, is a retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He was mainly known for his passing range and long-range shooting and was also a penalty specialist. H ...

free-kick. On 21 October, during a Champions League match against Aalborg, they scored six goals to three. The Spaniards went through to the knock-out stage after drawing 2–2 with Aalborg in Denmark and drawing goalless once again against Manchester United. In the last group stage match, they lost to an already-eliminated Celtic. In the knock-out stage, they faced

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

, who left Villarreal with a 1–1 away advantage, but lost 1–2 in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Villarreal reached the quarter-finals for the second time in two attempts, and were once again paired with Arsenal. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw by a

free kick, equalised by an

Emmanuel Adebayor Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (; born 26 February 1984) is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Togolese Championnat National club Semassi. He previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Ho ...

volley.

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team. Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...

, and

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball c ...

secured a 3–0 win for Arsenal on the return, knocking Villarreal out of the tournament. Ozil_-_Flickr_-_Jan_S0L0_(7)

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 UEFA Europa League The 2010–11 UEFA Europa League was the second season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 40th edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 1 July 2010, with ...

after UEFA determined that

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 ...

'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 FC Dnepr Mogilev ( be, ФК Дняпро Магілёў, ''FK Dniapro Mahilyow''; russian: ФК Днепр Могилёв) is a Belarusian association football, football team, playing in the city of Mogilev. Their home stadium is Spartak Stadium ...

qualified them for the group stage. Villarreal suffered an early setback following a shock 2–0 loss in their away fixture against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

. Despite this, however, later wins against Dinamo, Club Brugge and PAOK saw them top their group. After beating

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

and

Twente Twente ( nl, Twente , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Ge ...

in the knockout phases, Villarreal qualified for the semi-finals to face tournament favourites

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. After Villareal took a 0–1 lead at the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; English: Dragon Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third largest football stadium in Portugal ...

, Porto made a remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 defeat for Villarreal. Although Villarreal won the second leg 3–2, Porto's first leg goal total saw them advance to the final on aggregate, where they beat

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

to be crowned champions.

Giuseppe Rossi Giuseppe Rossi (; born 1 February 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal and Fiorentina, in addition to spells with other clubs in England, I ...

finished as the tournament's second top goalscorer with 11 goals, behind Porto's Radamel Falcao.

2012–present: Relegation and European glory

On 13 May 2012, Villarreal were relegated from La Liga after defeat to

. 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 A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

later that day. Following their relegation, there was a mass exodus of players at the club, with star players such as

Borja Valero Borja Valero Iglesias (; born 12 January 1985) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder. He began his career with Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid but did not have any impact with its first team, and play ...

, Diego López, Giuseppe Rossi and

Nilmar Nilmar Honorato da Silva (born 14 July 1984), commonly known as Nilmar, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He won club and personal honours with Internacional and Corinthians in Brazil, and also played in ...

leaving the side. 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 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,Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

1–0 on 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 The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. In 2014–15, Villarreal again finished the year in sixth, enough to secure direct qualification to the

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-finals of the 2015–16 Europa League, but were knocked out by

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 ...

. Villarreal won the first leg 1–0, but lost 3–0 in Liverpool and 3–1 on aggregate. In 2019–20, Villarreal finished fifth, earning a place in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. The team went on a memorable run, advancing to the

after knocking out Arsenal 2–1 on aggregate. Facing favoured Manchester United, Villarreal held them to a 1–1 draw after extra time and then won 11–10 in a penalty shoot-out, winning the club's first ever major trophy. Courtesy of their triumph, Villarreal switched their next year's participation in the inaugural 2021–22 Europa Conference League to the 2021–22 Champions League. In the 2021–22 season, Villarreal progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League after knocking out

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in the round of 16 and Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, before losing 5–2 on aggregate to Liverpool.

Rivalries

Villarreal has supported a long rivalry with Castellón for geographical reasons, since both are from the

province of Castellón Castellón (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea ...

. They also rival

, since the two had been the most competitive teams of the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

; this clash is called the " Derbi de la Comunitat."

Records

* Villarreal's biggest league win at home was by a five-goal margin, achieved on four occasions. The club recorded 5–0 home victories against

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

(1998–99 La Liga),

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

(2002–03 and 2016–17 La Liga), and

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

(2009–10 La Liga). The most goals Villarreal scored in a league game was six, in a 6–3 home win against

Racing 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, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Span ...

during the 2003–04 La Liga season. * The club's largest away league wins were a 5–1 victory at

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

during the 2000–01 La Liga season, a 4–0 victory at

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

in the same division during the 2004–05 season, and 4–0 and 5–1 victories at

and Levante, respectively, both during the 2020–21 La Liga season. * The club's first major trophy was won in 2021 with a penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final.

Club colours

The club's famous yellow kit dates back to 1947. With the new season fast approaching, the son of the then Villarreal president travelled to Valencia to purchase replacements of the club's official kit of white shirts and black shorts. Discovering that the shop had neither in stock, he instead bought the only colour that they did have, which happened to be yellow. The players agreed that the shirts were suitable, although they weren't keen on the black shorts, so the president's son travelled to Castellón and purchased a batch of white shorts. The players voted that they should be dyed blue. After remaining as the club's official kit for some time, the yellow shirts and blue shorts combination was last worn in the 2002–03 season, and the club has since sported all-yellow kits. Away colours have been navy blue. From 2005 to 30 June 2011, the shirt sponsor was "Aeroport Castello", an airport. The current shirt sponsor is Pamesa, a ceramics company. From the 2016–17 season, the kit has been made by the Spanish company

Joma Joma () is a Spanish sports clothing manufacturer that currently produces footwear and clothing for football, futsal, handball, basketball, volleyball, running, tennis, and padel. Its headquarters are located in Portillo de Toledo, Spain. Histo ...

, having previously been produced by the Chinese company

Xtep Xtep International Holdings Limited (SEHK stock code: 1368) is a Chinese manufacturing company of sports equipment based in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. Established in 2001, the company was listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on ...

and Puma of Germany, among others.

Honours

Domestic

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

** Winners: 1969–70

European

** Winners:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* UEFA Intertoto Cup ** Winners: 2003, 2004

Season to season

* 23 seasons in

* 10 seasons in

* 4 seasons in

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 ...

* 23 seasons in

In Europe

Autobús del Vila-real per la Pantera Rosa, València

:''Accurate as of 25 August 2022''

UEFA club coefficient ranking

Nickname and mascot

The team is

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d ''El Submarino Amarillo'' (the Yellow Submarine) because of their yellow strip. The

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

(named ''Groguet'', "Little Yellow") is characterised as an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

. He made his debut on 26 October 2001 and was named on 13 December that year by a local 12-year-old, Javier Fuster Almela, following a province-wide competition open to under-15s.

Players

Current squad

Reserve team

Out on loan

Player records

Most appearances

'' Bold denotes players still at the club''

Most goals

Current technical staff

, - , Manager , ,

Quique Setién Enrique "Quique" Setién Solar (; born 27 September 1958) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is the current manager of La Liga club Villarreal. As a player, he was nicknamed ''El Maestro'', an ...

, - , Second Manager , , Pablo Villanueva , - , Goalkeeping Coach , , Javi García , - , Fitness Coach , , Mario Segarra
Moisés de Hoyo , - , Technical Assistant , , Pablo Rodríguez
Antonio Rodríguez
Jaime Arias , - , Analyst , , Víctor Mañas
Carlos Mulet , - , Delegate , , Xisco Nadal , - , Director of Medical Services , , Héctor Usó , - , Medical Services , , Simón Bueno , - , Nurse , , Sergio Broceño , - , Physiotherapist , , Nacho Fornás
Josep Rochera
Igor de Fuentes
Axel Tirado
Omar Marín , - , Rehab fitness coach , , Ángel Torres
Jordi Vives , - , Massage therapist , , Juan Hernández , - , Field delegate , , Luis Jiménez , - , Equipment Manager , , Jorge Garrido
Adrián Ortells , -

Coaches

Josep Seguer Josep Seguer Sans (6 May 1923 – 1 January 2014) was a Spanish football defender and manager. Playing career Born in Parets del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Seguer played 14 La Liga seasons with FC Barcelona, becoming a senior in 1942 and b ...

(1978–1980) * José Manuel Pesudo (1985–1986) * Julio Raúl (1990–1991) * López Sanjuán (1990–1992) * Carlos Simón Server (1991–1992) *

Fidel Uriarte Fidel Uriarte Macho (1 March 1945 – 19 December 2016) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. Having spent most of his 15-year professional career with Athletic Bilbao, he was crowned La Liga's Pichichi in 1968, winning two Copa ...

(1995) *

David Vidal David Vidal Tomé (born 2 August 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Football career Vidal was born in Porto do Son, A Coruña, Galicia. After an unassuming career (the central defender never play ...

(1995–1996) *

Javier Subirats Javier Subirats Hernández (born 2 October 1957) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder. Most of his career was closely associated with Valencia, as a player and director. Over the course of 11 seasons, he amassed La Liga t ...

(1996–1997) *

José Antonio Irulegui José Antonio Irulegui Garmendia (born 1 April 1937) is a Spanish former football defender and manager. Playing career Born in Lasarte-Oria, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Irulegui played professional football with SD Eibar, Real Sociedad and P ...

(1996–1999) *

Joaquín Caparrós Joaquín de Jesús Caparrós Camino (born 15 October 1955) is a Spanish football manager. After winning the Segunda División with Sevilla in 2001, Caparrós was a regular on the La Liga sidelines for the best part of two decades. He coached ...

(1 July 1999 – 4 October 1999) * Paquito (1999–2000) *

Víctor Muñoz Víctor Muñoz Manrique (born 15 March 1957), known simply as Víctor in his playing days, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a manager. An all-around midfield unit, he was best known for his great physical strengt ...

(1 July 2000 – 30 June 2003) *

Benito Floro Benito Floro Sanz (born 2 June 1952) is a Spanish football manager. Football career Floro was born in Gijón, Asturias. During his professional career he managed Albacete Balompié (two spells, starting off in 1989 in Segunda División B and ...

(1 July 2003 – 24 February 2004) *

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Lúis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed teams in Spain, England, Argentina, Chile, China and Ecuador. ...

(7 July 2004 – 30 June 2009) *

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

(1 July 2009 – 31 January 2010) *

Juan Carlos Garrido Juan Carlos Garrido Fernández (born 29 March 1969) is a Spanish football manager. He managed Villarreal and Betis in La Liga before working for several years in the Arab world, winning the CAF Confederation Cup with Egypt's Al Ahly and Mo ...

(31 January 2010 – 21 December 2011) *

José Francisco Molina José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Eleven years of his extensive professional career were spent at Atlético Madrid and Deportivo de La Coruña, where he won a total ...

(22 December 2011 – 18 March 2012) *

Miguel Ángel Lotina Miguel Ángel Lotina Oruechebarría (; born 18 June 1957) is a Spanish professional manager and former footballer who played as a striker. Playing career Born in Meñaka, Biscay, Lotina started playing football with local Gernika Club, rep ...

(19 March 2012 – 30 June 2012) *

Julio Velázquez Julio Velázquez Santiago (born 5 October 1981) is a Spanish football manager, currently in charge of Eredivisie club Fortuna Sittard. He began coaching at 15, and was the youngest ever Segunda División manager with Villarreal B at 30. He ma ...

(1 July 2012 – 13 January 2013) *

Marcelino Marcelino is a surname that originated in Spain. There are also several families with the Marcelino surname in Philippines, Portugal, and the Americas (North, Central, and South). * San Marcelino, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Zam ...

(14 January 2013 – 10 August 2016) *

Fran Escribá Francisco 'Fran' Escribá Segura (born 3 May 1965) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a left winger. He is the current manager of Real Zaragoza. Club career Born in Valencia, Escribá played youth football with Valen ...

(18 August 2016 – 25 September 2017) * Javier Calleja (25 September 2017 – 10 December 2018) * Luis García (10 December 2018 – 29 January 2019) * Javier Calleja (29 January 2019 – 20 July 2020) *

Unai Emery Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanish football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Aston Villa. After a career spent playing mostly in Spain's Segunda División, Emery transitioned into coa ...

(23 July 2020 – 24 October 2022)

Women's football

References

External links

*
Villarreal CF
at

Villarreal CF
at

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villarreal La Liga clubs Football clubs in the Valencian Community Association football clubs established in 1923 1923 establishments in Spain Segunda División clubs UEFA Europa League winning clubs UEFA Intertoto Cup winning clubs