Top Facts about Villarreal CF, The Yellow Submarine

Villarreal Club de Futbol, S.A.D., also known as Villarreal CF or just Villarreal, is a professional football club headquartered in Villarreal, Spain, that competes in La Liga, Spain's top level. Founded in 1923, the club spent much of its time in Spanish football's lower levels, making their La Liga debut only in 1998. Villarreal established some league stability in the twenty-first century, and the team made its first appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2005.

During this time, the club also competed in the UEFA Europa League, but was relegated in 2012, recovered the following year, and has remained in the top flight to this day. Villarreal won their first major trophy in 2021 when they beat Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Final.

Due to its yellow home kit and low profile compared to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and regional rivals Valencia, the club is known as El Submari Groguet or El Submarino Amarillo (Yellow Submarine). They are a modest but successful team that play their home games at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

Because they are both from the province of Castellon, Villarreal has long encouraged a rivalry with Castellon. They also have a rivalry with Valencia, as the two teams used to be the most competitive in the Valencian Community; this encounter is known as the "Derbi de la Comunitat."

Because of their yellow uniforms, the team is known as El Submarino Amarillo (the Yellow Submarine). The mascot (named Groguet, which means "Little Yellow") is an anthropomorphic submarine. After a province-wide competition open to under-15s, the mascot made his debut on October 26, 2001, and was named on December 13, 2001, by a local 12-year-old, Javier Fuster Almela.

Top Facts about Villarreal CF, Rising to Fame in the 21st Century

Before starting, we thought it would be best to provide a quick profile about the club. Feel free to have a look.

Quick Facts

• Full Name:

   Villarreal Club de Futbol S.A.D.

• Nicknames:

   El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine)

• Date of Formation:

   10 March 1923

• Location:

   Villarreal, Spain

• Age:

   99 years

• Nationality:

   Spanish

• Home Stadium:

   Estadio de la Ceramica

• Home Colors: 

  Yellow

• President:

   Fernando Roig

• Head Coach:

   Unai Emery

• Market Value: 

  £325.80m

• League:

   La Liga

• Current Table Position:

   7

Villarreal CF Colors & Records

The iconic yellow kit of the club dates back to 1947. With the start of the new season approaching, the son of Villarreal's then-president traveled to Valencia to change the club's official white shirts and black shorts.

When he realized the shop didn't have either, he bought the only color they did have, which happened to be yellow, one of the Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

The players agreed that the shirts were OK, but not the black shorts, so the president's son flew to Castellon and bought a supply of white shorts.

They were voted to be colored blue by the players. The yellow shirts and blue shorts combination, which had been the club's official outfit for some time, was last used in the 2002–03 season, and the club has since worn all yellow kits. Navy blue has been the team's away colors.

The jersey sponsor was "Aeroport Castello," an airport, from 2005 to June 30, 2011. Pamesa, a ceramics company, is the current shirt sponsor.

The kit has been manufactured by Joma since the 2016–17 season, having previously been produced by Xtep of China and Puma of Germany, among others.

Valencia's 2021-22 home shirt is white with black side panels and sleeves, the latter having a slight camo design, and is based on the same template as Man City and

's home shirts.

Villarreal's biggest league win at home came four times with a five-goal advantage. Salamanca (1998–99 La Liga), Celta Vigo (2002–03 and 2016–17 La Liga), and Tenerife (2009–10 La Liga) were all defeated 5–0 at home.

In a 6–3 home triumph against Racing Santander during the 2003–04 La Liga season, Villarreal scored the most goals in a league game, another one of the Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

A 5–1 victory at Las Palmas in the 2000–01 La Liga season, a 4–0 triumph at Real Sociedad in the same division in the 2004–05 season, and 4–0 and 5–1 victories at Celta Vigo and Levante, respectively, in the 2020–21 La Liga season were the club's largest away league wins.

For the first time in the club's history, they won the 2021 UEFA Europa League Final on penalties, defeating

11–10 after the game ended 1–1 after extra time.

Villarreal CF Home Stadium

Estadio de la Ceramica, often known as El Madrigal, is a football stadium in Villarreal, Spain, that has been in operation since 1923.

It is the current home stadium of Villarreal CF of

, Spain's top football league.

The stadium has 23,500 seats, which is half of the population of Villarreal, making it Spain's 25th largest stadium and the fifth largest in the Valencian Community.

The stadium was first used for a match between Castellon and Cervantes on June 17, 1923, and was dubbed Campo del Villarreal (Villarreal Field) two years later to honor the rural lands on which it was built.

It is known as the Feudo Amarillo ("Yellow Fief") and is located near Plaza Labrador, five kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea and 50 meters above sea level.

The stadium underwent its initial renovations during the off-season prior to the 1952–53 season.

The pitch was changed from 95 x 65 m to 105 x 65 m to match the size of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium from the 1952 Summer Olympics, which was used as a model.

The club built a small covered stand in the 1960s, and the south stands were completed during the 1971–72 season.

It was dismantled in 1988 to make way for a new stand, which debuted with a friendly match against

on March 8, 1989. 

New renovations began in honor of the club's 75th anniversary. The south stand was demolished once more to make way for a new one with a roof, an amphitheater, the VIP sector, and the northern stand, which were completed for the 1999–2000 season.

On September 16, 1973, the stadium was floodlit for the first time for a night match between Villarreal and Ibiza in the third division, one of the

Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

The floodlight towers, which are positioned at each of the four corners of the field and have nine halogen lamps on top, were built with assistance from the city hall.

Several times, the changing rooms were relocated. They were in the southeastern corner of the stadium until the 1935–36 season, then in the northeast until 1989, when they were moved to the southwestern corner. They are now located beneath the main stand, following the most recent stadium improvements.

Villarreal changed the name of their stadium from El Madrigal to Estadio de la Ceramica (English: Ceramics Stadium) on January 8, 2017, immediately before a La Liga match against

, another one of the Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

Molde FK of Norway played their Europa League last 32nd home match at the stadium in February 2021, owing to COVID-19 travel restrictions in their own nation.

Villarreal CF Early Days

Villarreal CF was created on March 10, 1923, as Club Deportivo Villarreal, with the goal of "to promote all sports, especially football."

The stadium was rented for 60 pesetas each month, with men's tickets costing half a peseta and children's tickets costing a quarter of a peseta. Women were allowed to attend for free.

The first match against a club named after Miguel de Cervantes was played on June 17, 1923, by Castellon, a modern rival of the club.

Villarreal played their debut game against Castellon on October 21st of that year. Villarreal began with a white shirt and black shorts outfit, which was mirrored in their first badge, one of the Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

From 1929 to 1930, Villarreal competed in regional events within the Spanish football pyramid. The team lost to

in the 1934–35 season, when a win would have seen them promoted to the national Second Division. Villarreal won the region's First Division the next season, just before the Spanish Civil War broke out.

When the war ended in 1939, the club returned to the region's Second Division. Another one of the

Top Facts about Villarreal CF

is that in the early 1940s, CD Villarreal was dissolved, and CA Foghetecaz, an acronym for the club's founders (Font, Gil, Herrero, Teuler, Catala, and Zaragoza), was one of the numerous clubs formed to take its place. 

The new club became a member of the Valencian Football Federation in 1946 and changed its name to CAF Villarreal, with the F standing for Foghetecaz.

In 1954, the name was changed to Villarreal CF, with a badge that looked close to the current one. They were promoted to the Tercera Liga (Third Nationwide) as winners in 1956 after finishing seventh and fourth in the First Regional League twice. After finishing 14th in 1960–61, they were demoted.

In the middle of 1966, the club acquired its current logo. Villarreal won the Tercera for the second time in 1966–67. For the first time in 1970, they made it to the national Segunda. They were relegated the next season after narrowly surviving relegation the previous season.

They were relegated from the Tercera to the Regionals in 1975–76 but were promoted back the following season. Villarreal was promoted to Segunda Liga B in 1986–87. They finished 18th in 1990 and were relegated to the Tercera.

Back-to-back promotions were achieved when the club returned to Segunda B and finished second, gaining promotion to Segunda A for the first time.

Villarreal was frequently near the bottom or middle of the table from 1992 to 1993 but finished fourth in 1997–98 to qualify for the play-offs.

was the opponent in the two-legged play-off. Villarreal hosted the first leg, which ended in a 0–0 tie, but the Galician team's home match ended in a 1–1 draw, ensuring Villarreal's promotion on the away goals rule.

Villarreal CF Competing in the Top-flight

On August 31, 1998, Villarreal made their La Liga debut against defending European champions

at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The following week, the team played Celta de Vigo at home for the first time. Villarreal was demoted to the Segunda Division for the 1999–2000 season due to a tough season, however, they were promoted back to the Primera Division after finishing third, one of the Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

Villarreal finished 15th for two seasons in a row after finishing seventh in their first season back in the Primera.

In the middle of 2002, Villarreal competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, defeating FH of Iceland, Torino of Italy, and Troyes of France. They were defeated in the final by Malaga, 2–1 on aggregate.

They qualified for the UEFA Cup by defeating Heerenveen of the Netherlands in the final of the Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2003.

Villarreal made their major European debut in the UEFA Cup, reaching the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions Valencia.

Villarreal came in eighth place in the league. Villarreal won the Intertoto Cup again in the middle of 2004, defeating Atletico Madrid on penalties following a 2–2 aggregate result in the final. 

This earned them a place in the UEFA Cup. In the 2004–05 UEFA Cup quarter-finals, they were defeated 3–2 on aggregate by Dutch team AZ.

Villarreal finished third in La Liga the same season, earning the club its first direct qualification to a European tournament, the Champions League.

, the club's center-forward, won the Pichichi Trophy as the league's best scorer with 25 goals.

In the middle of 2006, Villarreal competed in the Intertoto Cup but was eliminated in the first round by Maribor of Slovenia.

The first match was lost 2–1 at home, with the second leg ending in a 1–1 tie. In La Liga, the squad finished fifth and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

In 2008, Villarreal achieved its best-ever league finish, finishing second to Real Madrid by eight points, and also advanced to the UEFA Cup's final 32, another one of the Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

The team went undefeated in Group C after defeating BATE Borisov of Belarus in a play-off. Fiorentina of Italy, Mlada Boleslav of the Czech Republic, IF Elfsborg of Sweden, and AEK Athens of Greece were their group opponents.

Villarreal CF, The UCL 2008

Due to their second-place finish in La Liga the previous season, the team was automatically qualified for the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League, one of the

Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

For the second year in a row, they were matched against Manchester United, Celtic, and Aalborg BK. They got off to a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford, their third 0–0 draw against the English giants in as many games.

On September 30, the team won for the first time, defeating Gordon Strachan's Celtic 1–0 at El Madrigal, thanks to a Marcos Senna free-kick.

They defeated Aalborg by a margin of six goals to three in a Champions League encounter on October 21.

After a 2–2 tie with Aalborg in Denmark and another goalless draw against Manchester United, the Spaniards advanced to the knockout stage. They lost their final group-stage encounter to Celtic, who had already been eliminated.

In the knockout stage, they faced Panathinaikos, who had a 1–1 away advantage over Villarreal, despite the Greeks losing 1–2 in Athens.

Villarreal advanced to the quarter-finals for the second time in two tries, this time against Arsenal. The first match ended in a 1–1 tie after Marcos Senna's free-kick was equalized by an Emmanuel Adebayor strike.

On the return, Theo Walcott,

, and Robin van Persie helped Arsenal to a 3–0 victory, knocking Villarreal out of the competition.

Surprisingly, they will face Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League 2022 semi-final first leg on Wednesday 27 April.

Villarreal CF, Rising to the Top

Villarreal was relegated from La Liga on May 13, 2012, after losing to Atletico Madrid. Following a terrible season, Villarreal was hit by tragedy when Manolo Preciado, who had been named as the club's new manager on June 6, 2012, died of a heart attack later that day.

Following their relegation, the club experienced a tremendous exodus of players, with stars like Borja Valero,

, Giuseppe Rossi, and Nilmar departing.

Villarreal were promoted back to La Liga on the final day of the season after finishing second behind winners Elche after a year in the Segunda Division.

The team started its new season in the top division by winning its first three games; the winning streak ended with a tie against Real Madrid at El Madrigal, but the team remained unbeaten until losing 1–0 to Real Betis on the seventh matchday.

The Yellow Submarine finished sixth in the 2013–14 season, qualifying for the Europa League the following season.

Villarreal finished sixth in the 2014–15 season, ensuring straight entrance to the Europa League group stage. 

Villarreal led La Liga for the first time in the 2015–16 season during the sixth and seventh weeks, before dropping to fifth the following week.

The club finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League playoff round.

The club advanced to the Europa League semifinals but were defeated by Liverpool.

Villarreal won the first leg 1–0, but lost the second leg 3–0 in Liverpool, resulting in a 3–1 aggregate loss.

Villarreal finished fifth in the 2019–20 season, gaining a spot in the UEFA Europa League for 2020–21.

The team proceeded to the 2021 UEFA Europa League Final, where they defeated Manchester United 11–10 on penalties after a 1–1 tie in extra time.

This was the team's first major continental championship, one of the Top Facts about Villarreal CF.

Villarreal's participation in the first 2021–22 Europa Conference League was switched to the 2021–22 Champions League after the victory.

Villarreal qualified for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 for the third time in their history on December 9th, 2021.

Read More:

Follow 

for the