Granada CF

Granada Club de Fútbol was founded on 14 April 1931,[3] 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.[4]

The first football match was played against the Deportivo Jaén on 6 December 1931, which resulted in a 2–1 victory.[5] The first goal in the match, and in the club's history, was scored by Antonio Bombillar. The first home match was played against the U.D. Andújar two weeks later. Granada CF won it 1-0. It took place at Campo de Las Tablas stadium.[5] In the 1931–32 season, the club finished 2nd in the Tercera Regional – Región Sur championship.[5] 4 wins in 6 matches helped Granada CF to be promoted to the Segunda Regional. The club started the season in a new division with a new president, Gabriel Morcillo Raya.[6] During the 1932-33 season the club had the biggest win in its history, 11–0 against the Xerez FC on 23 April 1933.[7]

After several promotions, in 1941–42 the club made its La Liga debut. It was the match against the Celta on 28 September 1941. The game ended up in 1–1 draw.[8] The first Granada goal in the highest Spanish division was scored by César Rodríguez Álvarez.[9] During that season the Granada had some historical home wins, among them 8–0 against the Real Oviedo and 6–0 against the Barcelona.[5] The Granada finished the season in the 10th position among 14 teams.[10] From here until the 1980s, it alternated between that category and the 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). The Granada finished the 1971-72 season with 9 wins in the last 10 home games, among them wins against the Barcelona and the Real.[5]

In 1959 the Granada achieved its greatest sports landmark, being the runner-up of the Copa del Generalísimo (later Copa del Rey). In the final, played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the team lost to the Barcelona 4–1. The only goal for the Granada was scored by the Argentinian forward Ramón Carranza.[11]

In the 1980s, the Granada had some brief appearances in the second division. In 1983–84, they finished 8th among 20 teams in the Segunda División, just 10 points away from the champion the Real Madrid Castilla and the runner-up the Bilbao Athletic.[12] In 1984–85, the Granada finished 18th and were relegated to the Segunda División B;[13] in the same season, the club was eliminated by the Estepona in the first round of the Copa del Rey.[14]

Granada spent most of the following seasons in the Segunda División B, the dropping another level in 2002–03, due to non-payment to its players.[15] 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 the Granada became a champion of the Tercera División Group 9 and qualified for the promotional play-offs, where the first rival was the Linense. After the two games ended up in 1-1 draws, the Granada won in the penalty shootout.[16]

In 2006–07, the Granada played in Group IV of the third level after four seasons in the 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.[17] In July 2009, the club was in such financial difficulty that it was on the brink of closing.[18] The solution to the crisis came with the signing of a partnership agreement with the 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.[18] At the end of the season, the Granada won its group then got promoted in the play-offs, returning to the second division after 22 years.

In 2010–11, the Granada finished in fifth position, with most of the players loaned by the Udinese still on board.[18] 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 the Celta de Vigo (1–1, penalty shootout) and the Elche (1–1 on aggregate, away goals rule), thus returning to the top division after a 35-year absence.[19][20] In June 2016, Chinese businessman Jiang Lizhang became the new owner of the club, buying the Pozzo family's controlling stake.[21] After surviving in the top flight for six seasons, the team was relegated in 2016–17 after being defeated by the Real Sociedad.[22]

Under new manager Diego Martínez, Granada returned to the top flight as runners-up to the CA Osasuna in the 2018–19 Segunda División.[23] The following season, the team finished in 7th in the top flight, qualifying for the first time to the UEFA Europa League.[24]

As of 1 February 2021 [25]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POR Rui Silva 2 DF  GLP Dimitri Foulquier 3 DF  ARG Nehuén Pérez (on loan from Atlético Madrid) 4 MF  FRA Maxime Gonalons 5 MF  ESP Luis Milla 6 DF  ESP Germán (vice-captain) 7 FW  COL Luis Suárez 8 MF  CMR Yan Eteki 9 FW  ESP Roberto Soldado (3rd captain) 10 FW  ESP Antonio Puertas 11 FW  VEN Darwin Machís 12 MF  POR Domingos Quina (on loan from Watford) 13 GK  ESP Aarón

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  ESP Fede Vico 15 DF  ESP Carlos Neva 16 DF  ESP Víctor Díaz (captain) 17 DF  ESP Quini 18 DF  ESP Adrián Marín 19 MF  ESP Ángel Montoro (4th captain) 20 DF  ESP Jesús Vallejo (on loan from Real Madrid) 21 MF  VEN Yangel Herrera (on loan from Manchester City) 22 DF  POR Domingos Duarte 23 FW  ESP Jorge Molina 24 MF  BRA Kenedy (on loan from Chelsea) 26 MF  ESP Alberto Soro

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 27 MF  ESP Antonio Aranda 28 DF  ESP Pepe Sánchez 29 MF  ESP Isma Ruiz 30 DF  ESP Raúl Torrente 31 GK  ESP Arnau Fàbrega 33 FW  ESP Echu 35 GK  POR João Costa 36 MF  ARG Juan Ignacio Brunet

No. Pos. Nation Player 37 MF  ESP Álvaro Bravo 38 FW  ESP Dani Plomer 39 MF  KVX Eris Abedini 40 DF  ESP Carlos León 41 GK  ESP Ángel Jiménez 42 DF  ESP Sergio Barcia 43 GK  ESP Rafael Romero 44 DF  GHA Kingsley Fobi

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  NGA Ramon Azeez (at Cartagena until 30 June 2021) — FW  ESP Antoñín (at Rayo Vallecano until 30 June 2021)

• 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

Semi-Finals: 2019-20

• La Liga

7th: 2019-2020

• 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)