Real Club Deportivo de A Coruña (; spelled as Deportivo da Coruña in Galician), also known as Deportivo La Coruña, RC Deportivo or simply as Deportivo, is a Spanish professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football league system.
Founded in 1906 as Club Deportivo de la Sala Calvet by Federico Fernández-Amor Calvet, Deportivo have won the La Liga title once, in the 1999–2000 season, and finished as runners-up on five occasions. The club have also won the Spanish Cup twice (1994–95 and 2001–02), three Spanish Super Cups (1995, 2000 and 2002), and the now defunct Concurso España (1912). The Blue and Whites were a regular fixture in the top positions of La Liga for the best part of 20 years, from 1992 to 2010, finishing in the top half of the table in 16 out of 19 seasons, and are ranked 12th in the all-time La Liga table. As a result, the club was a regular participant in European competitions, playing in the UEFA Champions League for five consecutive seasons between 2000–01 and 2004–05, reaching the quarter-finals twice and reaching the semi-finals in the 2003–04 season.
Deportivo have played their home games at the 32,490-capacity Riazor since 1944, when the stadium was built. Their traditional home kit consists of blue and white striped shirts with blue shorts and socks. The club has a long-standing rivalry with Celta Vigo, and matches between the two sides are known as the Galician derby.
History
Foundation and first steps
Unlike what happened in most of the Iberian Peninsula, football did not reach the city of A Coruña through the English, instead, it was introduced by José María Ábalo, a youngster who had returned to his hometown after studying in England. The game gained rapid popularity and several teams were formed on an informal basis.
In December 1906, members of Sala Calvet gymnasium formed Deportivo de La Coruña, naming Luis Cornide as the first president. In May 1907, Alfonso XIII of Spain granted the club the "Real" ("royal") denomination. Dépor started playing at Corral de la Gaiteira ("Piper's Yard"), but soon moved to Old Riazor, a new ground near the Riazor beach.
The team played friendly matches regularly and competed in local leagues, but failed to achieve success in the Copa del Rey in its early years. However, in 1912 Deportivo won their first official title, the short-lived Concurso España.
In 1920, the Spanish national team made its debut at the Summer Olympics in Antwerp. A good run for Spain increased the popularity of football, and as a result, many teams gained professional status, and a league competition was established and scheduled for the 1928–29 season.
1928–1947: Segunda División and the top flight In 1928, Dépor failed to qualify for the first ever Primera División, instead competing in the Segunda División, where it finished eighth out of ten. The team kept battling over the next few years in a division that was soon to undergo many structural and geographical changes. In 1932, in the Cup, Dépor defeated Real Madrid, which had gone unbeaten through the entire season in the league.
In 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out, forcing the abandonment of all official competitions until the 1939–40 season. That year, The Herculeans qualified for the promotion stage. The final game was against archrivals Celta de Vigo, who were fighting to avoid relegation. Celta won 1–0 and remained in the top flight as Depor's hopes of promotion were denied. The following season, however, the club reached the promotion play-offs again, this time beating Murcia 2–1 to earn promotion to La Liga for the first time in the team's history.
The first season in the top flight saw the club finish fourth. However, the club declined in the next few seasons, finishing ninth, 12th and, in 1944–45, 14th, resulting in relegation. Instant promotion was achieved the following year, but Dépor were relegated again at the end of the 1946–47 season. Nonetheless, the team gained instant promotion in 1947–48.
This decade saw Depor's entrance to the top flight, so the club decided to build a new ground, Riazor, which remains their home today. It was opened on 28 October 1944 with a league game against Valencia. In this era, the key player of the team was Juan Acuña, the club's goalkeeper. "Xanetas", as he was known by locals, earned four Zamora Trophies between 1942 and 1951, making him the second-most decorated keeper in the Spanish league.
1948–1957: The "Golden Decade" The club ended the 1948–49 season in tenth place. The next season would see their first major achievement in the league; Dépor finished as runners-up, just one point behind Atlético Madrid under the management of Argentinian Alejandro Scopelli, who brought to the club a group of South American players such as Julio Corcuera, Oswaldo García, Rafael Franco and Dagoberto Moll, a group that made the team more competitive and able to remain top flight status for nine consecutive seasons until 1957. During that period, managers like Helenio Herrera and renowned players like Pahiño and Luis Suárez played at the Riazor.
1958–1973: "Elevator Team"
After nine seasons of first-tier football in Spain, the team was relegated to the Segunda División in 1957 and stayed there for five seasons until 1962, when they were promoted into the top flight. This started a yo-yo era that led the club to be known as the "elevator team"; promotions were achieved in 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968 and 1971, yet subsequent relegations occurred during 1963, 1965, 1967, 1970 and 1973.
Dépor had one of the best youth systems at the time in Spain, as youngsters including Amancio Amaro, Severino Reija, José Luis Veloso and Jaime Blanco began their careers at the Riazor, in the future to become regular fixtures on the Spanish national team. Still more, including Luis Suárez, went on to play for larger clubs in Spain and Europe. However, the difficult financial situation of the club led to the forced sales of these players, and the team could not consolidate themselves in the top flight. This "yo-yo era" ended with relegation from the Primera División in 1973.
1974–1988: Dark times After being relegated in 1973, the team struggled in the Second Division, failing to avoid another relegation and falling to the third tier (Tercera División) for the first time in their history. However, Dépor gained instant promotion and established themselves in the second tier for the rest of the decade. In 1980, Dépor were again relegated to the newly created Segunda División B, the third tier, again for the second time in their history. Again, however, the drop was short-lived as the team gained promotion the following season. Notably, Dépor were relegated and promoted along with arch-rivals Celta de Vigo, who played during the 1980–81 season the most attended games ever in Spain's third tier.
The club continued to play in the Second Division, showing little chance of being promoted back to the top flight. In the 1987–88 season, Dépor struggled and only avoided relegation after Vicente Celeiro scored a goal during added time against Racing Santander in the last game of the season. This is often regarded as the end of the club's dark times and the beginning of a new era.
During this period, the club was heavily affected by financial difficulties and internal troubles with managers being sacked almost every year. In the summer of 1988, an open and popular club assembly chose a new board of directors headed by Augusto César Lendoiro. Deportivo had a debt estimated at 600 million pesetas, had been out of the top flight for 15 years and lacked established structures at economic and sporting level.
1989–1998: Resurgence and "Súper Dépor"
Arsenio Iglesias, a former Deportivo player and manager, was again appointed as manager in the 1988–89 season. Dépor had a lengthy run in the Copa del Rey, though ultimately falling in the semi-finals to Real Valladolid. The next year, the team competed well in the league and qualified for the promotion play-offs, but expectations were denied again, this time by Tenerife. The 1990–91 season saw Dépor finishing as runners-up, finally achieving promotion to La Liga after an 18-year absence. Additionally, the club's finances began to improve and social support increased, especially amongst youth groups.
The 1991–92 season, the team's first back in the top flight, saw Dépor struggle, and they were forced to take part in the relegation play-off, beating Real Betis in a two-legged round. In 1992, Arsenio Iglesias began his fourth spell as Dépor manager; experienced players were also added to the team during that period, including López Rekarte, Paco Liaño, Claudio Barragán, José Luis Ribera, Adolfo Aldana and Donato, along with promising youngsters such as local player Fran and Brazilians Bebeto and Mauro Silva.
The 1992–93 Deportivo squad experienced a resurgent season, placing in top positions all season and ultimately finishing third after champions Barcelona and runners-up Real Madrid, respectively, thus qualifying for European competition for the first time in their history. That year, the club also provided La Liga's Pichichi Trophy winner, Bebeto, and its Zamora Trophy winner, Paco Liaño. Additionally, Dépor made a historic comeback against Real Madrid at Riazor, trailing 2–0 at half-time but winning the game 3–2 and starting a run of 18 seasons to Los Blancos without a win at A Coruña.
In 1993–94, Dépor had another fantastic season, leading the table for the majority of the year and coming to the last matchday in first to face mid-table Valencia, knowing a win would ensure the first league title in club history. The game was very close, but near its end, Valencia's Serer conceded a penalty on Nando. Regular penalty-taker Donato had been substituted, so Serbian defender Miroslav Đukić took it, but Valencia keeper González caught the ball; Deportivo saw their possible league title denied. After the frustration passed, the fans nonetheless recognised the impressive season the club had: Paco Liaño earned his second Zamora Trophy after conceding just 18 goals in 38 games, and Dépor made its debut in European competitions with the UEFA Cup, beating Aalborg and Aston Villa but losing to Eintracht Frankfurt in the round of 16.
The 1994–95 season began with manager Arsenio Iglesias stating he would leave the club after the end of the year, though Dépor made another great campaign finishing again as runners-up, this time to Real Madrid. In that season's UEFA Cup, Deportivo were beaten again in the round of 16 by a German club, this time by Borussia Dortmund 3–2 on aggregate. Depor had won the first leg at home 1–0, and Dortmund equalized in the second leg to send the match into extra time. Now in extra time, Depor scored a second goal to put the match at 2–1, but with five minutes remaining, Dortmund scored two goals in two minutes to win the series. Despite this tough defeat, the season still hid a great surprise for the club, as Dépor made a fantastic run in Copa del Rey and reached the final for the first time in club history, against Valencia. On 24 June 1995, at the Santiago Bernabéu, the final was levelled at 1–1 when referee García-Aranda suspended the game in the 80th minute due to heavy rain and a hailstorm. It was decided that the game would resume three days later. Two minutes after the match resumed, Alfredo Santaelena scored a header, which proved to be the winning goal that handed Depor their first major title (notwithstanding the 1912 Concurso España).