Villarreal clinched promotion to the top flight of Spanish football by drawing with Compostela (1-1)
Today, 24th May 2016, marks the 19th anniversary of Villarreal’s wondrous first promotion to the top flight of Spanish football. This feat was achieved at the Multiusos de San Lázaro stadium, where the Submarine knocked out Compostela in the promotion playoffs. In fact, the Sant Pasqual festivities were coming to an end and it was a cold night in Vila-real, but a sensational goal by Alberto Saavedra completely changed the scenes in the city from La Plana Baixa region of the Catellón province. On 24th May 1998, Villarreal secured their promotion to the top flight after surprising Santiago de Compostela with a 1-1 draw, a result that sent the Submarine up 19 years ago today.
The Yellows did well to get a goalless draw in the first leg giving them the advantage going into the game in Compostela –who were at that time still serving in the First Division- to make the dream come true in the Multiusos de San Lázaro stadium. It was the team from the Castellón province who were the first to get on the score sheet with a great left-footed strike from outside the box by the Sevilla native, which ended up counting for promotion. The Submarine had to suffer to hold on to their lead though. In the 75th minute, Chiba equalized for the Galicians and almost gave Yellows fans a heart attack that changed to euphoria the second the referee blew the final whistle.
From then on, taking into account the 2017/18 campaign, Villarreal CF have played in the top flight of Spanish football for 18 seasons, in 14 of which they will have played European football (12 without counting the Intertoto Cup). Very impressive.
To find out more about the history of Villarreal CF just click on the following link: Villarreal CF History.
