Villarreal CF (Spain)

Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or Villarreal CF as the club is commonly known, is a professional football club from the Spanish eastern city of Vila-real, which was formed on March 10th 1923 as Villarreal CD.

The team started off playing in white shirts and black shorts in their El Madrigal home, playing their first ever game against local rivals CD Castellón. After playing local football and friendlies, the club joined the Spanish pyramid at the regional level, commencing in the 1929-30 season.

The team came close to winning promotion to the national Segunda División in 1934-35, but lost their vital game with Cartagena CF. Villareal won the first division of the Comunitat Valenciana in 1935-36 before football was suspended during the Spanish Civil War. Football recommenced in 1939 with Villareal being placed in the second tier of the regional leagues.

The club changed their title to CAF Villarreal in 1942 as the team adopted their yellow shirts.

Villareal won promotion in 1950-51 before another change of name followed in 1954, to the current Villarreal CF, along with a new badge. In 1955-56, the team progressed to the Tercera Liga, the third tier of national football, before returning to regional status in 1960-61.

In 1966-67, ‘El Submarino Amarillo’, the Yellow Submarine, was promoted from the regional first division back to the Tercera Liga; going on to win promotion in 1969-70 to the second tier Segunda División for the first time. Their spell lasted two seasons before returning to Tercera División. 

Worse was to come in the 1975-76 season as Villareal were relegated to the Regional Preferente, before winning back their Tercera status at the first attempt. The Tercera División became the fourth tier following the reorganisation of Spanish football in 1977, with Villareal regaining their third-tier status with promotion to Segunda Liga B in 1986-87.

A return to Segunda Liga B followed in 1989-90, with the team continuing the impetus the following season as they reached the second level Segunda Liga. The team initially struggled but reached the play-offs in 1997-98, with Villareal defeating SD Compostela on away goals.

Villareal kicked off the 1998-99 season in the top-flight La Liga for the first time as the gradual development of El Madrigal continued, with José Antonio Irulegui coaching the team. 

The team was relegated, despite the goals of Gică Craioveanu and Manolo Alfaro. Paquito took over as coach and led his charges back to La Liga in 1999-00, where the team stabilised their status with two fifteenth-place finishes under the stewardship of Víctor Muñoz. Success in the Intertoto Cup saw Villareal qualify for the UEFA Cup of 2003-04.

Wins against Trabzonspor, Torpedo Moscow, Beşiktaş, AS Roma, and Celtic saw Villareal progress all the way to the semi-final, where they were defeated 1-0 on aggregate by local rivals Valencia CF. Juan Román Riquelme and Sonny Anderson weighed in with goals through the run under coach Benito Floro. New coach Manuel Pellegrini arrived for the 2004-05 season, 

It saw El Submarino Amarillo reach the last eight of the UEFA Cup, where they went out to Dutch side AZ, but the side finished in a best-ever third place in La Liga. Diego Forlán topped the scoring chart as Villareal qualified for the following season’s Champions League, where the side defeated Everton, progressed through a group including Manchester United. 

Rangers and Internazionale were defeated before the side bowed out to Arsenal in the semi-final. Villareal finished as La Liga runners-up in 2007-08. Two more good La Liga finishes arrived as Marcos Senna and Robert Pirès created chances from midfield for Nihat Kahveci and Joseba Llorente. 

Pellegrini was replaced by Ernesto Valverde in the summer of 2009, who lasted just six months before Juan Carlos Garrido took over team affairs. A fourth-place league finish followed in 2010-11 as Giuseppe Rossi put away the chances created by Santi Cazorla. Villareal also went close to honours in the Europa League, going out in the semi-finals to eventual winners, FC Porto.

Villareal suffered a traumatic 2011-12 campaign. Garrido was replaced as coach by José Molina in December before being sacked within a few months as Miguel Ángel Lotina tried but failed to prevent relegation to Segunda División.

Manuel Preciado was appointed as the new head coach in June 2012, but died from a heart attack a few days later. Julio Velázquez lasted until the winter break before Marcelino was appointed to lead the team. Villareal finished as runners-up and won promotion back to La Liga in 2012-13, despite the departure of star players Borja Valero, Diego López, Rossi and Nilmar. 

The goalkeeping of Juan Carlos went a long way to restoring top-flight status. Two consecutive sixth-place finishes ensued as Bruno captained the team, Denis Cheryshev created in midfield, and Sergio Asenjo took up goalkeeping duties. Villareal finished the 2015-16 campaign in fourth place.

Bruno Soriano captained the team as Roberto Soldado knocked in the goals, while Alphonse Areola starred between the posts. The team qualified for the Champions League in the 2015-16 season. Villareal finished third in their group and dropped down to the Europa League, from where they progressed to the knockout stages. 

SSC Napoli, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and Sparta Praha were defeated before Liverpool ended the run in the semi-finals with Cédric Bakambu and Denis Suárez starring. Marcelino was replaced as coach by Fran Escribá in August 2016, who took the team to a fifth-place finish.

The renovated Estadio de la Cerámica

Javier Calleja was appointed as coach at the renamed Estadio de la Cerámica in September 2017 as Pablo Fornals pulled the creative strings on the pitch. The 2018-19 season saw Villareal progress to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, where they were defeated by local rivals Valencia.

2020-21 was to see even greater advancement in the same competition, as the likes of Arsenal, Dinamo Zagreb, and Dinamo Kyiv were beaten along the way to reach the final in Stadion Gdańsk, where Manchester United were beaten 11-10 on penalties. This was after a 1-1 draw with Gerard scoring, while Gerónimo Rulli became the goalkeeping hero.

The renovated Estadio de la Cerámica

Unai Emery came in as manager in July 2020, taking his team to the Champions League semifinal in 2021-22 after wins against Juventus and Bayern München before Liverpool ended the dreams of glory. The manager headed off to Aston Villa to be replaced by Quique Setién in September 2022, who led the team to fifth place a few months later.

By the end of 2022, a major renovation of Estadio de la Cerámica was completed, at a time when Nicolas Jackson was scoring the goals. Pacheta became manager in September 2023, lasting just a few months before the return of Marcelino, who led the side to fifth place in 2024-25 as Ayoze Pérez top scored.

Villareal CF will play in La Liga in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Villarreal CF 2 CD Leganés 1 - aggregate 2-2; Leganés win on away goals (Wednesday 10th January 2018) Copa Del Rey Round of 16 (att: 12,122)

The TV companies had been very kind to me with their coverage of Copa Del Rey second-leg games, well after I’d booked my flights for a two-night stay in Valencia. I knew that Levante, Valencia and Villarreal were all at home, but it was purely by chance that I could get to two games.

My train journey north was full of my usual adventure and mishap, meaning I only got to see the home of CF Nules. Nevertheless, I was in good form as I got off the train ready to go and buy a ticket before relaxing with a beer or three.

I’d researched that the club shop would be open in the town centre, but the store on Plaça Major remained shut. Perhaps all hands were needed up at Estadio de la Ceramica, as El Madrigal had been renamed. The walk from the main square to the stadium took me through lots of narrow lanes in the neat and tidy town before I walked up Carrer Ermita.

This took me to a large open area outside the stadium. I’d got my eye on returning to town to try out Beer-attack, which looked tempting, with the promise of several beers on tap. However, it was at least ten minutes away. I wanted to be inside the ground a little earlier, as experience told me that navigation inside Spanish venues wasn’t the easiest.

Instead, I crossed the road once I’d obtained my match ticket for €20. Something was appealing about Bar Deportivo, despite there being quite a good choice of other venues, which looked to be slightly more upmarket. I immediately felt at home, as old boys played cards on a Formica-topped table with a green baize cloth. 

There was a real down-to-earth but friendly feel to the place. I sat at the bar and ordered a pint of Amstel Ora, which was a dark golden beer. Within minutes, the glass collector started to remove the seats at the bar in advance of the growing crowd. I was using my principle that smiling went a long way if there was a language barrier. I was soon making friends.

There was a free table, so I went to sit down. Two older fans soon arrived. I think they asked if the other seats were free. Again, I smiled and made gestures that they were welcome to join me. They soon established that I was not a local. Between us, we established that I was there for the match, I’d been to watch Valencia the previous evening, and I thought that Villarreal were about to win 2-0. 

I wasn’t quite ready to take in the quick-fire Castellon being uttered my way, mind! My friend, the glass collector, was also doing table service. When he saw that I was nearly ready for a refill, he pointed, I nodded, and a beer was promptly delivered. I gave him a small tip on top of the €2.50 charge. I didn’t have any wait when I next needed service.

I’d left it as late as I could before I followed the crowds along Carrer Blasco Ibáñez behind the Main Stand. Several shops were selling beer and cheap snacks. I opted for a large bag of crisps for just €1 before going in. Entrance to my stand was under some buildings, with programmes free to take from a rack. 

I was in Fondo Norte, a large bank of open seating, with a covered section above the corporate facilities at the back to house visiting fans behind a Perspex screen. Estadio de la Ceramica was a decent venue. The opposite goal, Fondo Sur Cubierto, had a larger cover but was not dissimilar to where I was, with its corner sections adjoining the side stands.

The Preferencia had a small bottom tier with its own roof, while the upper section had cover for only the back few rows. The final side, Tribuna, contained the main corporate facilities on its own tier at the rear under the most substantial roof in the arena. As with Valencia, I waited to see which seats were vacant before taking up the best position. 

I couldn’t complain with any view on offer as I settled down to what promised to be an intriguing tie, as the home side looked to make up a one-goal deficit from the first leg. The game quickly took on the look of a defence against attack training session, as the side from Madrid was determined to progress to the last eight of the competition for the first time. 

Carlos Bacca, on loan from Milan, came close when heading a free kick over the bar in the early stages. The same player was frustrated as visiting keeper Nereo Champagne saved his low curling effort. The custodian made an excellent stop from Pablo Fornals, who really should have done better from ten yards.

Leganés were rewarded for their resolute defending on the half-hour mark when a pass found Nabil El Zhar just inside the Villarreal half. He ran at the heart of the defence before dinking a delightful chip over Mariano Barbosa, which dipped under the bar. The visiting players were naturally delighted. The away goal meant that the hosts would have to score three times to go through. 

Just two minutes later, Samu Castillejo had a good chance to equalise when put through, but Champagne saved once again. The keeper pulled off another top stop from a fierce Jaume Costa drive as the home support became even more exasperated. Their frustration was beginning to become apparent in their team as the half came to a close.

During the interval, I went for a wander to get some different angles for photos and to get the blood flowing. It had been a pleasant day, but the temperatures had now dropped to around 5°. I went further back for the second half, just in front of the corporate area. Two minutes after the break, El Submarino Amarillo were back in the game. 

Suddenly, I felt like I’d been slapped from behind. I looked around to see what was going on. The ladies in the corporate area were in charge of pumping air into the blow-up dancing figures that are seen at some events. They blew around, and one had found the back of my head! Champagne continued to pull off some top stops. 

He and his team showed off some top-class time-wasting skills and acting worthy of an award. It’s fair to say it wasn’t going down well, especially as Enes Ünal had a goal chalked off for offside. Half chances continued to arrive, but Villarreal were denied by a mixture of poor finishing, brave defending and excellent goalkeeping. 

Leganés missed a great opportunity to put the game to bed on a breakaway, but the finish was woeful. With just two minutes remaining, home substitute Denis Cheryshev fired in from a low pull-back to set up a grandstand finish. The board showed that there would be four additional minutes. However, it wasn’t to be for the locals despite a frantic finale, including a foray for late set pieces from goalkeeper Barbosa. 

The home side received a decent ovation from their fans. I applauded both teams. I really enjoyed the match. If only Villarreal had scored ten minutes earlier. The timings meant that I had just enough time to return to Bar Deportivo, where the welcome was as warm as before, and some vocal youths were settling down to watch the Real Madrid against Numancia game.

My train back to Valencia took around an hour. I’d considered going for some drinks, but I decided to quit while ahead and grab some supper and walk back to my hotel for a decent night's sleep before heading to the airport the following morning.