Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all ...

based in

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it 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 Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

, to which they gained promotion in the

2022 Segunda División play-offs The 2021–22 Segunda División play-offs were played from 1 June to 19 June 2022 and determined the third team promoted to La Liga for the following season. Teams placed between 3rd and 6th position took part in the promotion play-offs. Regulat ...

. Girona holds its home matches at the 11,810-capacity Estadi Montilivi. The club also has youth and amateur women's teams for competition.

History

Football became of a particular interest in Girona at the beginning of the 20th century. The first major club in the city was Strong Esport (founded in 1902 under original name of FC Gerundense). In the 1920s in Girona there were two new clubs, CE Gironí and UD Girona. After the disappearance of the UD Girona it was decided to create a new football team in the city. On 23 July 1930, in the café Norat in La Rambla of

, Girona Futbol Club was founded upon the dissolution of Unió Esportiva Girona for economic reasons. On 1 August 1930 the city council authorized the club so that it could use the city's emblem on its badges. It was achieved thanks to the efforts of enthusiasts led by the club's first president Albert de Quintana de León. The team subsequently entered in the second division of the Catalan Championships. Its first official match was against Colònia Artigas with the lineup: Florenza, Teixidor, Farró, Flavià, Comas, Corradi, Ferrer, Escuder, Clara, Torrellas and Taradellas. 1935–36 was the first season Girona played in

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 L ...

, and the club finished in top position in its group, subsequently appearing in the playoff stage 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 Blu ...

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at L ...

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, Real Murcia and Xerez, but finishing second from bottom, thus out of the

promotion zone. After 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 Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, the club fluctuated between the second level and

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 ...

, falling into the latter category in 1959 and being further demoted in 1980 –

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 Foo ...

was created as the new division three in 1977, and the club lasted three years in the competition. In 1968, construction of the Estadi Montilivi began, with home matches being held there on a permanent basis from 1970 onwards after nearly five decades at the Vista Alegre stadium. In the following decades, Girona alternated between the third and the fourth divisions, even spending three seasons in the regional championships, in 1982–83 and 1997–99. On 16 June 2008, after defeating

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territori ...

1–0 in the play-offs, the Raül Agné-led side achieved a second consecutive promotion, returning to the second tier after a 49-year absence. On 22 July 2010, a group of local businessmen led by Ramon Vilaró, Joaquim Boadas and Josep Slim purchased 72% of the club's shares, previously held by former club president Josep Gusó and Josep Rofes, thus becoming the new owners of Girona. Vilaró was elected the new president while Agné, after a spell with Recreativo de Huelva, returned as manager for the upcoming second division campaign, lasting in the position until 14 January 2012 when he was sacked following a 0–3 loss at Recreativo. In 2011, Girona created a

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, having previously grown a natural grass pitch in Palau. On 9 May 2013, the club's

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

, under the slogan "''El Girona FC també és meu''" ("Girona FC is mine too"), approved an increase of the club's capital in

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

300,000 to be distributed in €10 shares, aiming to balance its estate. On the last matchday of the 2014–15 season, Girona needed to beat Lugo at home to earn promotion to La Liga, but were denied by a last-minute goal by the visitors. Girona had to settle for a play-off place, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by

, despite winning the first leg 3–0. The next season, they reached the play-off final but were defeated by

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

. Girona finally earned promotion to La Liga after the 2016–17 season as they finished runners-up to Levante. This was the first time that Girona had ever been promoted to

in their 87-year history. On 23 August 2017, it was announced City Football Group (CFG) had purchased 44.3% ownership in Girona. Another 44.3% was held by Girona Football Group, led by Pere Guardiola, the brother of CFG-owned

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

manager

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the ...

. On 29 October 2017, Girona recorded a memorable victory defeating reigning

European Cup 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 ...

winners Real Madrid 2–1. In July 2018 it was announced that Girona FC would be participating in their first ever Pre-Season international tournament held in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

by Nippon Toyota. Girona FC faced the Indian team Kerala Blasters and the Australian Team Melbourne City FC. On the last match day of the 2018–19 La Liga season, Girona were relegated to Segunda Division, ending their two-year spell in the Spanish top tier.

Training centre

The club's new training facilities are under construction since December 2017, located at the PGA Catalunya Golf Course complex to the south of

. Occupying an area of , the new complex will serve as the exclusive training centre of the club for the next years. It will be home to a training pitch of hybrid grass as well as a pitch of natural grass, in addition to indoor training facilities.

Season to season

*3 seasons in

*24 seasons in

*13 seasons in

*44 seasons in

*3 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Players

First team squad

Reserve team

Out on loan

Club officials

Current technical staff

Board of directors

{, class="wikitable" , - !Office !Name , - , President , Delfí Geli , - , Board president , Pere Guardiola , - , Vice president , Diego Gigliani , - , rowspan=4, Board members , Marcelo Claure , - , Andy Young , - , Roger Solé , - , Simon Cliff , - , CEO , Ignacio Mas-Bagà

Coaches

* Francisco Bru (1937–39) * Károly Plattkó (1948–49) *

Hilario Hilario or Hilário can be both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Hilario (1905–1989), Spanish footballer and manager * Hilário (born 1939), Portuguese footballer and manager * Hilário (born 1975), Por ...

(1949–50) * Domènec Balmanya (1952) *

Emilio Aldecoa Emilio Aldecoa Gómez (30 November 1922 – 4 September 1999) was a Spanish professional footballer who played in the English and Spanish football leagues and later managed in Spain and England. He made one appearance for the Spain national team ...

(1955–57), (1959–60) * Dagoberto Moll (1965–66) *

(1967–68) * Vicenç Sasot (1972–74) *

(1974–76) * Lluís Coll (1976) * Vicenç Sasot (1979–80) * Pepe Pinto (1980–81), (1981–82) * Luis Costa (1981–82) *

(1982) * Antonio Lagunas (1987) * Alfonso Muñoz Jaso (1987–88), (1993–95) * José Manuel (1988) * Paco Bonachera (1993) * Pere Gratacós (1997–99) * Narcís Julià (2003) * Agustín Abadía (2003–04) *

Josep María Nogués Josep María Nogués Salvatella (born 29 April 1959) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a manager. Managerial career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Nogués has previously coached teams in the Tercera and Segunda ...

(2005) * Joan Carrillo (2006–07) * Ricardo Rodríguez (2007) * Raül Agné (2007–09) * Javi Salamero (2009) * Miquel Olmo (2009) *

Cristóbal Parralo Cristóbal Parralo Aguilera (born 21 August 1967), known simply as Cristóbal as a player, is a Spanish retired professional footballer, currently the manager of Racing de Ferrol. He played mainly as a right back, but could also appear as a ce ...

(2009) * Narcís Julià (2009–10) * Raül Agné (2010–12) * Josu Uribe (2012) * Javi Salamero (2012) * Rubi (2012–13) * Ricardo Rodríguez (2013) * Javi López (2013–14) *

Pablo Machín Pablo Machín Díez (; born 7 April 1975) is a Spanish manager. he is the currently head coach La Liga club of Elche. Playing career Born in Soria, Machín was a CD Numancia youth graduate. Despite making five first team appearances during the ...

(2014–18) *

Eusebio Sacristán Eusebio Sacristán Mena (; born 13 April 1964), known simply as Eusebio in his playing days, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He had a 20-year playing career, which started and en ...

(2018–19) * Juan Carlos Unzué (2019) * José Luis Martí (2019–20) * Francisco (2020–21) * Míchel (2021–)

Honours

National

* Segunda Division B **Winners (1): 2007–08 * Tercera Division **Winners (5): 1933–34, 1947–48, 1954–55, 1988–89, 2005–06

Regional titles

Supercopa de Catalunya The Supercopa de Catalunya (''Catalonia Supercup'') is a football supercup competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation since 2014 for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. The match features the two best ran ...

**Winners (1): 2019

References

External links

Official website

{{Authority control Girona FC Association football clubs established in 1930 Sport in Girona 1930 establishments in Spain La Liga clubs