Villarreal CF paid tribute to season-ticket holders born on 10th March
Just ahead of Villarreal CF’s 97th anniversary, which will take place on 10th March, the Yellows paid tribute to season-ticket holders from all ages who were born on this day. They got get a small present on behalf of the club and they got a special memory of this moment, being in a photo with the Yellows’ starting XI.
Villarreal CF will turn 79 on Tuesday. Founded on the 10th March 1923 by a group of sport fans from Vila-real, which included pharmacist José Calduch Almela as one of the main driving forces. Although the team did not play official matches until the following decade, at that time ‘Club Deportivo Villarreal’ was starting to develop the identity that the club is still known by today. In fact, one of the primary decisions was to purchase some land for the team’s football pitch; the chosen grounds were known as the El Madrigal and nowadays it is one of the oldest stadium’s in the top flight, the Estadio de la Cerámica.
Since then, Villarreal CF has played 20 seasons in the top flight of Spanish football, even finishing as runners-up in the 2007/08 season. In Europe, the Yellows reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in their first time participating in the competition, eventually getting knocked out by Arsenal (2005/06 season). The Yellow Submarine has played European football, including the current season, for 13 seasons now (15 counting the Intertoto Cup). Incredible.
The footballer to have played the most official matches for Villarreal CF is Bruno Soriano, just ahead of another club legend, Marcos Senna. Villarreal’s top goal scorer in history is Giuseppe Rossi (82 goals, 22 of them from the penalty spot). The Italian-American striker scored 54 goals in LaLiga (13 penalties), seven in the Copa del Rey (one penalty), five in the Champions League (one penalty) and 16 in the Europa League (seven penalties).
