Girona FC

Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs.

Girona holds its home matches at the 14,624-capacity Estadi Montilivi. It is a part of City Football Group Limited. The club also has youth and amateur women's teams for competition.

History
Football became of 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 the original name of FC Gerundense). Some of the team's first players were Narciso Callicó and Salvador Hormeu, both of whom went on to play for FC Barcelona. In the 1920s, football gained strength with clubs such as CE Gironí, founded in 1921, but above all by Unió Deportiva Girona, founded on 13 February of the same year, when the elements united of the Sports Center Gironenc, heirs of the dissolved Strong, with other sports enthusiasts. The club soon became the strongest in the city. UD Girona, however, disappeared in 1929 due to financial problems, following a debt of around 200,000 pesetas (a real fortune for those times. 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, 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, and the club finished in top position in its group, subsequently appearing in the playoff stage against Celta de Vigo, Real Zaragoza, Arenas Club, Real Murcia and Xerez, but finishing second from bottom, thus out of the La Liga promotion zone. After the Spanish Civil War, the club fluctuated between the second level and Tercera División, falling into the latter category in 1959 and being further demoted in 1980 – Segunda División B 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 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, 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, having previously grown a natural grass pitch in Palau. On 9 May 2013, the club's board of directors, under the slogan "El Girona FC també és meu" ("Girona FC is mine too"), approved an increase of the club's capital in €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 Real Zaragoza, despite winning the first leg 3–0. The next season, they reached the play-off final but were defeated by Osasuna. 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 La Liga in their 87-year history.

On 23 August 2017, it was announced City Football Group (CFG), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi United Group, 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 manager Pep Guardiola. On 29 October 2017, Girona recorded a memorable victory, defeating reigning Champions League winners Real Madrid 2–1.

On the last match day of the 2018–19 La Liga season, Girona were relegated to Segunda Division, after losing 2–1 against Deportivo Alavés, ending their two-year spell in the Spanish top tier. In the 2021–22 season Girona finished sixth in the Segunda Division and were promoted to La Liga in the play-offs, beating Tenerife 3–1 on aggregate in the final. In the 2022–23 season they finished 10th with 49 points, 4 points away from a UEFA Europa Conference League play-off spot.

In the 2023–24 season, Girona reached the top 4 of La Liga for the first time after 2 matches, soon reaching the top of the La Liga table after 7 matches with 19 points, the club's best-ever start in top flight football. On 10 December 2023, they defeated FC Barcelona in the league for the first time, a 2–4 away victory taking them to the top of the table with 41 points and just 1 defeat, their best ever record in La Liga after just 16 rounds. they sat second in the La Liga table, with 56 points from 23 games, and with only a single loss, placing them 2 points behind Real Madrid. On 4 May 2024, Girona achieved a 4–2 victory over Barcelona, securing their first ever qualification to the UEFA Champions League and its first ever European qualification and finished the season in 3rd place with 81 points.

Training centre
The club's new training facilities have been under construction since December 2017, located at the PGA Catalunya Golf Course complex to the south of Girona. Occupying an area of 20000 m2, the new complex will serve as the exclusive training centre of the club for the next $3 1/2$ years. It will be home to a 110 x training pitch of hybrid grass as well as a 160 x pitch of natural grass, in addition to indoor training facilities.

Season to season

 * 5 seasons in La Liga
 * 24 seasons in Segunda División
 * 13 seasons in Segunda División B
 * 44 seasons in Tercera División
 * 3 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Board of directors
{| class="wikitable" !Office !Name
 * President
 * Delfí Geli
 * Chairman
 * Pere Guardiola
 * rowspan=5| Board members
 * Marcelo Claure
 * John MacBeath
 * Roger Solé
 * Simon Cliff
 * Ingo Bank
 * Secretary of the Board
 * Ricard Capdevila
 * Chief executive officer
 * Ignacio Mas-Bagà
 * Simon Cliff
 * Ingo Bank
 * Secretary of the Board
 * Ricard Capdevila
 * Chief executive officer
 * Ignacio Mas-Bagà
 * Chief executive officer
 * Ignacio Mas-Bagà
 * Ignacio Mas-Bagà

Coaches

 * 🇪🇸 Francisco Bru (1937–39)
 * 🇭🇺 Károly Plattkó (1948–49)
 * 🇪🇸 Hilario (1949–50)
 * 🇪🇸 Domènec Balmanya (1952)
 * 🇪🇸 Emilio Aldecoa (1955–57), (1959–60)
 * 🇺🇾 Dagoberto Moll (1965–66)
 * 🇪🇸 Emilio Aldecoa (1967–68)
 * 🇪🇸 Vicenç Sasot (1972–74)
 * 🇪🇸 Emilio Aldecoa (1974–76)
 * 🇪🇸 Lluís Coll (1976)
 * 🇪🇸 Vicenç Sasot (1979–80)
 * 🇪🇸 Pepe Pinto (1980–81), (1981–82)
 * 🇪🇸 Luis Costa (1981–82)
 * 🇪🇸 Emilio Aldecoa (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 (2005)
 * 🇪🇸 Joan Carrillo (2006–07)
 * 🇪🇸 Ricardo Rodríguez (2007)
 * 🇪🇸 Raül Agné (2007–09)
 * 🇪🇸 Javi Salamero (2009)
 * 🇪🇸 Miquel Olmo (2009)
 * 🇪🇸 Cristóbal Parralo (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 (2014–18)
 * 🇪🇸 Eusebio Sacristán (2018–19)
 * 🇪🇸 Juan Carlos Unzué (2019)
 * 🇪🇸 José Luis Martí (2019–20)
 * 🇪🇸 Francisco (2020–21)
 * 🇪🇸 Míchel (2021–)

Domestic

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

Regional titles

 * Supercopa de Catalunya
 * Winners (1): 2019

Most appearances
Competitive, professional matches only. Up to date as of 26 May 2024

Top goalscorer
Competitive, professional matches only. Up to date as of 26 May 2024