Racing de Santander

Chart of Racing Santander league performance 1929-2023

Real Racing Club played their first football match on 23 February 1913, losing 1–2 to neighbouring Strong. It was officially founded on 14 June, as Santander Racing Club, appearing in its first tournament during that summer (Luis Redonet Trophy) and being admitted to the Northern Federation on 14 November, eventually merging with Santander Football Club.

Santander Racing Club squad of 1922. Fred Pentland (first on the left) was the coach of the team this year.

Ángel Sánchez Losada, first president of the club.

In the 1928–29 season, the Spanish League competition began. After a complicated elimination process to determine the tenth and final team for the new First Division, Racing successively beat Valencia, Betis and Sevilla. The club was part of the first goalless game in the league, against Athletic Bilbao.

During the Second Republic, the classifications of Santander varied. In 1930–31, It achieved the runner-up position in the Spanish League, tied at 22 points with champion Athletic Bilbao, and third-place Real Sociedad. This is the highest finish achieved by the club in all its history, trained by the English Robert Firth and chaired by Fernando Pombo.

They also participated in the International Tournament of Paris, falling in the semifinal to Slavia of Prague (2–1). In the 1930s, under the presidency of the academic José María de Cossío, it had varied positions, from third place in (1933–34) to low table rankings. In seasons 1934–35 and 1935–36, Racing played in the Commonwealth Championship of Castilla-Aragón, in which it finished second in the first season. Meanwhile, in Cantabria a lesser championship was disputed, not qualifying for the Spanish Cup; Santoña won it. During the 1935–36 season, Racing was the first club in the Spanish league to beat Barcelona and Real Madrid in the four league matches (both home and two as a visitor) in the same season: on 8 December 1935 they won 4–0 against Barcelona in the Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, on 15 December they won in Madrid 2–4, on 8 March 1936 they beat Barcelona 2-3 and on 15 March they defeated Madrid 4–3 at El Sardinero. The only player to score in all matches (one goal in each match, and two in Madrid) was Milucho.

In 1950, the Cantabrians returned to the top flight after a ten-year absence, scoring 99 goals in only 30 games.[4][5]

Campos de Sport de El Sardinero before 1910

RC Racing de Santander first crest, 1913

During the period of Francoist Spain, the club was renamed Real Santander in 1941, because of the prohibition on non-Spanish names. The name was restored in 1973 as the team returned to the first division one year after nearly relegating, under young manager José María Maguregui. Racing was immediately relegated, And spent the ensuing seasons bouncing between divisions one and two, also being crowned champions in Segunda División B (the new third level, created in 1977) in 1991. Veteran Quique Setién returned to his main club the following year, helping it return to the top flight and scoring in the 1994–95 campaign against FC Barcelona, in a historic 5–0 home win.[6]

Racing was the first Spanish team to wear a sponsor's name on their shirt: German electronics company Teka on 27 December 1981 away to Real Madrid (the corporation then sponsored the opponents early in the following decade).[7]

On 25 March 2000, Racing played its 1,000th game in La Liga.

In the 2000s, Racing only played one season in the second division, winning promotion with Setién as manager. Racing finished the 2005–06 season in the 16th position, just 1 point away from relegation back to Segunda división.[8] The next season was much better, as the club finished 10th, easily retaining its place in the top flight.[9] In 2007–08, under Marcelino García Toral, it finished in sixth position, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup for the first time ever; additionally the club reached the semifinals of the Copa del Rey twice during this decade, being ousted by eventual runners-up Getafe CF and Atlético Madrid in 2008 and 2010, respectively.[10]

On 22 January 2011, Indian business tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed, founder and chairman of Western Gulf Advisory, an investment company, purchased Racing de Santander, immediately firing coach Miguel Ángel Portugal.[11] The 2011–12 season brought with it three different managers, and the side returned to the second level after one full decade in the top division.[12]

At the end of the following campaign, Racing again finished in 20th position and suffered relegation,[13] also being immersed in a severe institutional and economic crisis.[14][15] Ending their 22 years in professional league. In spite of that plight, the team was able to reach the quarterfinals in the 2013–14 edition of the domestic cup after ousting top-divisioners Sevilla FC[16] and UD Almería;[17] in the first leg against the latter, club fans stormed the presidential tribune at Estadio El Sardinero and assaulted chairman Ángel Lavín.[18]

On 27 January 2014, Racing's players, citing several months of unpaid wages, announced they would not play their upcoming Cup match unless the club's president and board resigned. Three days later, prior to the second leg against Real Sociedad and after a 1–3 loss in the first match, Racing players gathered at the centre circle immediately after kick-off and refused to play. Referee Jesús Gil Manzano suspended the game after one minute, and the home team was given a loss due to forfeit;[19][20][21] as a result of the protest the club was fined and banned from the following edition of the tournament,[22] and on 31 January Lavín was sacked, with former player Juan Antonio Sañudo being appointed his successor by practically all the shareholders.[23]

Estadio El Sardinero 2017

Racing won their group in the 2013–14 Segunda División B, and won the playoff against Llagostera to be promoted back to the second tier, but they were immediately relegated in the 2014–15 season. They again took first place in the Segunda B section in 2015–16, but were eliminated in the promotion playoffs, failing to score a goal across four matches in the ties lost to Reus and Cádiz.[24]

Racing was promoted back to the second division after four years in the third tier in 2018–19, by winning their regional group and defeating Atlético Baleares in the promotion playoff on the away goals rule, but they were immediately relegated in the 2019–20 season after only winning five games out of 42 and finished in last place. They were unable to bounce back to the second tier immediately, finishing fourth then second in the unique small two-phase group setup during 2020–21 Segunda División B to find themselves remaining at the third level, in the newly formed Primera División RFEF, for the 2021–22 season. Racing confirmed their finish the season in first place and promoted to Segunda División, after two years in third division and fighting with Deportivo La Coruña for the top spot. On 3 June 2022, Racing took the inaugural Primera División RFEF title with a 3-0 win over Andorra.

Racing Santander is one of few Spanish teams that have played the majority of their history in La Liga, but do not have a major rival, mostly because Racing are the only fully professional team from Cantabria, so there isn't much competition between Racing and any other club from that area, with most others playing at the regionalised fourth level; only Gimnástica de Torrelavega have ever reached the second tier. However, Racing fans generally consider their biggest rival to be the major team from the Basque Country, Athletic Bilbao, due to geographic proximity and the long history between these clubs.[25][26][27][28] Bilbao is the closest city to Santander (approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi)), and the relationship between Racing and Athletic has been described in the past as 'the duel of the North',[29][30] although the rivalry is dormant as Racing have not played in the top division since 2012.

There is also a minor rivalry between Racing and a club from neighboring Asturias: Real Oviedo and an hostility with Getafe.

Racing Santander supporters maintain friendly relations with fans of Sporting de Gijón.

• La Liga
  • Runners-up: 1930–31
• Segunda División
  • Winners (2): 1949–50, 1959–60
  • Promoted (6): 1972–73, 1974–75, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1992–93, 2001–02
• Tercera División/Segunda División B/Primera División RFEF
  • Winners (3): 1943–44, 1947–48, 1969–70, 2021–22
  • Group Winners (4): 1990–91, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19
  • Promoted (6): 1943–44, 1947–48, 1969–70, 1990–91, 2013–14, 2018–19
• Cantabrian Championship[31]
  • Winners (13): 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1938–39, 1939–40

UEFA Europa League:

Season	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2008–09	First round	Honka	1–0	0–1	2–0
	Group stage	Twente		0–1
		Schalke 04	1–1
		Paris Saint-Germain		2–2
		Manchester City	3–1

As of 1 September 2023.[32]

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  ESP Miquel Parera 2 DF  ESP Álvaro Mantilla 3 DF  ESP Saúl García 4 DF  ESP Pol Moreno 5 DF  ESP Germán Sánchez 6 MF  ESP Íñigo Sainz-Maza (captain) 7 FW  ESP Marco Sangalli 8 MF  ESP Jorge Pombo 9 FW  ESP Juan Carlos Arana (on loan from Eibar) 10 FW  ESP Iñigo Vicente 11 FW  ESP Andrés Martín (on loan from Rayo Vallecano) 13 GK  ESP Jokin Ezkieta

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 FW  ESP Ekain Zenitagoia 15 DF  ESP Rubén Alves 16 MF  ESP Iván Morante (on loan from Ibiza) 17 FW  ESP Peque Fernández 19 MF  FRA Clément Grenier 20 FW  CIV Lago Júnior 21 MF  ESP Aritz Aldasoro 22 DF  ESP Juan Gutiérrez 23 DF  ESP Dani Fernández 27 MF  ESP Yeray Cabanzón 40 DF  ESP Mario García

Reserve team

Main article: Rayo Cantabria

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 26 FW  ESP Álvaro Santamaría 29 FW  ESP Jeremy Arévalo

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 DF  ESP Mario Jorrín 32 MF  ESP Diego Campo

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ESP Diego Mirapeix (at Sestao River until 30 June 2024) — FW  NGA Cedric Omoigui (at Ibiza until 30 June 2024)

Current technical staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	José Alberto López
Assistant coach	Pablo Álvarez
Fitness coach	Dani Salvador
Goalkeeping coach	Pedro Dorronsoro
Analyst	Enric Soriano
Kit man	Manolo San Juan José Ruiz
Delegate	Delfín Calzada

Last updated: 10 July 2023
Source: [33]

Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.

• Rayo Cantabria – Racing's reserve team
• CDE Racing Féminas – affiliated women's team

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Racing de Santander.

• Official website (in Spanish)
• Futbolme team profile (in Spanish)
• BDFutbol team profile