Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is aSpanish football club based inIrun, in the autonomous community of theBasque Country, in the province ofGipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays inSegunda Federación – Group 2, holding home matches at the 5,000-seaterStadium Gal.[2] Real Unión was one of the founding members ofLa Liga in 1929. The club spent four seasons in the Spanish elite, suffering relegation in 1932. Real is yet to return to the top tier, spending the rest of its history bouncing between the second and fourth tiers of Spanish football.
Real Unión were among the early pioneeringSpanish football teams and, along with fellowBasque clubsAthletic Bilbao,Real Sociedad andArenas Club de Getxo were founding members ofLa Liga, in 1928.The club was formed in 1915 following the merger ofIrún Sporting Club andRacing Club de Irún. The former was founded in 1902 asIrún Foot-Ball Club, changing its name in 1907. The latter, formed in 1908, had already won the1913 Copa del Rey, beating Athletic Bilbao 1–0 in a replayed final. The club was briefly known asUnión Club Irún beforeAlfonso XIII gave the club royal approval, but during theSecond Spanish Republic the club reverted to this name.
Real Unión then won theCopa del Rey a further three times, beatingReal Madrid in1918[3] and again in1924 (with formerDerby County andEngland strikerSteve Bloomer acting as their coach). In1927, they defeated Arenas Getxo in the first all-Basquefinal. The latter two finals both ended in 1–0 victories, withJosé Echeveste netting the winner on both occasions. In1922, they were runners-up, losing 5–1 toBarcelona. In 1930, they participated in theCoupe des Nations inGeneva, Switzerland, a predecessor of theUEFA Champions League since the champions of all major European football nations were invited, although it has never been entirely clear why Unión was invited as they had finished sixth in the1929–30 La Liga. Nonetheless, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals bySlavia Prague.[4] The club was relegated fromLa Liga in1932.
In 1920, whenSpain made their international debut at theOlympic Games, the club provided the squad with two players—Eguiazábal andPatricio, the latter scoring Spain's first-ever goal in international football in a 1–0 victory overDenmark on 28 August 1920.[5] Another Real Unión player,René Petit, took part in the same Olympic Games withFrance. In the 70s and 80s, Spanish internationalsJavier Irureta andRoberto López Ufarte began their career with the club.
After a season in theSpanish second division, the team was relegated to thethird division. In the 2010/11 season, they finished fourth in their group and entered the promotion playoffs. They lost the playoff tiebreaker toSevilla Atlético after winning the first match 2–1 but losing the second 3–0. The 2011/12 season was inconsistent for Real Unión, and they finished 14th in the league. They finished eighth in 2012/13, and despite financial struggles in 2013/14, they managed to avoid relegation to the fourth division by finishing 15th.
In the 2014/15 season, the team was back fighting for promotion in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they were knocked out in the first round byUCAM Murcia. Murcia scored the winning goal in extra time of the second match – the first game atStadium Gal had been a 0–0 draw. Despite this disappointment, the team bounced back strong and won theCopa Federación on April 16, 2015, after beating Castellón in a two-game final.[7]
In July 2021,Unai Emery and his family completed a takeover of the club for whom his father and grandfather had played.[8][9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
^Real Federación Española de Fútbol (March 2011)."Historial"(PDF).Revista Oficial de la R.F.E.F. p. 70. Archived fromthe original(pdf) on 18 July 2012. Retrieved10 May 2023.
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(in Spanish)
