Girona Football Club History

Prehistory

Girona began playing football in the first decade of the 20th century. The city's first major club was Strong Esport (1902), originally called FC Gironí. Other clubs of those years were Youth Grouping (1903), Girona Sport (seminarians), Athletic (workers), Club Patronage (Catholic) and other lesser known ones, such as Gerunda, Olympic, Catalonia, Student and Industrial. The first football matches in the city took place on the Mart de la Devesa field.

 
Strong Girona FC Emblem

In the 1920s, football was already very popular in the city. Among the many teams, the CE Gironí club, founded in 1921, stood out. It competed with FC Ateneo Social Democrático, but especially Unió Esportiva Girona, founded on February 13 of that year by former players of the Gironan Center team, joined by other sports enthusiasts.
This club soon became the strongest in the city. The club's stadium, Vista Alegre, was built in 1922. However, at the end of the decade, having accumulated debts of about 200,000 pesetas (the current state at that time), the club was disbanded due to bankruptcy.

 
Emblem of the FC "Unió Deportiva Girona"

The Birth of FC GIRONA

On 23 July 1930, the new Girona Football Club was founded to replace U.D. Gerona. It was created thanks to the city's football enthusiasts who gathered in the Norat de la Rambla café.
On 1 August, the city council gave the club permission to use its emblem. An agreement was reached with the Catalan Football Federation to include the new team in the second division, which was planned to be expanded, but something went wrong, and Girona had to start with competitions in the 2nd ordinary category.
The first official match took place with the Artigas Coloni team on their home field and ended with a score of 1-1 (the goal was scored by Clara).
The first line-up of Girona in this historic match: Florenza, Teixidor, Farro, Flavia, Comas, Corradi, Ferrer, Escuder, Clara, Tarradellas and Torrellas. Coach - Josep Viñas, president of the College of Amateur Referees of Girona.
In its first year of existence, the team achieved promotion. In February, the city council decided to grant the club an annual subsidy of 2,000 pesetas, on the condition that the Vista Alegre stadium be made available for municipal events, as well as free entry to the team's matches for 100 city schoolchildren.

Girona in the lower divisions

Before the 1935-1936 season, Girona sold players Iborra and Balmanya to FC Barcelona, ​​for which they received 15,000 pesetas and Barça's commitment to play a friendly match.
Despite the loss of its leading players, in 1936 the com On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary, a state parade of the best teams was held in Montilivi. anda won the right to play in the tournament for promotion to the 1st division, together with Celta, Zaragoza, Arenas, Murcia and Jerez. However, in this tournament the team took only the penultimate place and remained in the second division.
In the same year, Girona played in the Spanish Cup and lost to the Real Betis team in two matches (1-2 in Girona and 2-3 in Seville).
From 1937 to 1939 there was no time for football. The civil war led to the fact that only a few local football leagues (Catalan, Valencian, etc.) more or less functioned. The teams played many friendly matches, the proceeds from which were sent to charity: for the benefit of victims of fascism, militias, hospitals... During the war, the Vista Alegre stadium was partially destroyed after a bombing.
Football returned to the country in the 1939-1940 season. Girona played in the Catalan category league and in the 2nd Spanish division. There was no longer any reason to dream of promotion, the priority goal became the fight for survival. In the 1942-1943 season, the team was relegated to the third division, in 1947 they returned to the second and again dropped to the third in 1951. This continued: 1956-1959 second division, 1959-1977 third, 1977-1980 second and 1980-1982 third.

50th anniversary

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Girona club, the best teams of Spain were invited to Montilivi. In the summer of 1980, matches were held with Real Sociedad, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Despite the defeats in these games, the fans of "Girona" enthusiastically filled the stadium and the club managed to earn 11 million pesetas. However, it should be noted that for a third division team, Girona showed a very good level of football.

On the brink of disaster

Before the 1981-1982 season, Girona FC's debt exceeded 15 million pesetas, and following the competition, the team was relegated to the regional division. The sale of two leading players to Zaragoza could not change the financial situation and the debt amounted to almost 19 million pesetas. Nevertheless, the team managed to win the tournament and returned to the third division, where they spent five seasons.
The economic situation continued to deteriorate. In 1984, the Montilivi stadium passed into the ownership of the municipality, but this only slightly improved things. A few years later, the club was again on the verge of bankruptcy.
Surprisingly, financial problems did not seem to affect the sporting results. In 1989, Girona managed to get into Division B, and in the 1991-1992 season, they took third place in League B, which allowed them to qualify for a place in the second League A. They still failed to get there. By this time, the club's debt exceeded 30 million pesetas.
In the early 90s, the team was on the verge of relegation from the second division, in 1996 it still could not hold on and, having spent only one season in the third division, again dropped to the regional league (Catalan Primera).
Two years later, Girona managed to return to the third division, in 2003 they rose to the second division B, but in 2005 the team was relegated again.

Rebirth

In 2007, Girona again returned to the second division "B", and the following year made it to Segunda.
After several years of vegetating in the middle of the tournament table, in the 2012-2013 season Girona reached 4 places, which allowed it to participate in the tournament for the right to promotion to the class. But this time the team stopped one step away from success, in the last round losing to Almeria.
The following season, the unrelenting burden of financial problems again pulled the team down and it barely saved itself from another relegation to the lower league.
Then, three seasons in the second division became the best in the history of the club. Girona took 3rd and 4th place consecutively and participated in tournaments for the right to promotion to Primera, but lost in the final in 2015 to Zaragoza and in 2016 to Osasuna. 4 June 2017 Girona have finally reached the Spanish top division directly, finishing 2nd in Segunda.

At the highest level

On 23 August 2017, Girona FC was acquired in equal shares by City Football Group (which owns, among others, Manchester City) and Girona Football Group, owned by Peru Guardiola (brother of Pepe Guardiola).
In preparation for the team's debut in Primera, the Montilivi stadium was reconstructed - two additional stands were installed and the lighting system was updated. Two training fields have been built - with natural grass and hybrid surfaces.
Girona finished their first season in La Liga in 10th place.
The 2018-2019 season was marked by reaching the quarterfinals of the Spanish Cup, where the team lost to Real Madrid. In the same year, the Super Cup of Catalonia was won for the first time, where Barcelona was defeated in the final. However, following the results of the championship, Girona took 18th place and dropped back to Segunda, where they spent the next three years, taking 5th, 5th and 6th place. This gave the right to participate in the transitional tournaments, but they managed to achieve success again only on the third try. After losing the finals to Elche in 2020 and Rayo Vallecano in 2021, Girona returned to La Liga in 2022, beating Tenerife.
In 2020, there were changes in the club's ownership. Bolivian businessman Marcelo Claure bought 35% of Girona's shares from Pere Guardiola, making City Football Group the main shareholder with 47%.
In the 2022-2023 season, Girona finished 10th in La Liga.
The 2023-2024 season was sensational. Girona started the season excellently, for some time holding the first place in the standings, and finished the championship winning the bronze medals. During the tournament, Barcelona were defeated twice, with the same score of 4:2. This result gave Girona the right to participate in the UEFA Champions League, where it played its first international match (September 18, 2024, with Paris Saint-Germain, 0:1).