Getafe

HISTORY

Earliest foundation

The first incarnation of Getafe Club de Fútbol existed since 1945, when five Getafe locals, Enrique Condes García, Aurelio Miranda Olavaria, Antonio Corridor Lozano, Manuel Serrano Vergara and Miguel Cubero Francés, decided to form a team from the area while meeting at the "La Marquesina" bar. Officially founded on 24 February 1946, the club was called Club Getafe Deportivo

The earliest days of this club were played out of the Campo del Regimiento de Artillería, which did not have goals. Shortly after, the club moved to San Isidro, where the current Municipal Sports Center of San Isidro exists today. Here, Club Getafe gained promotion to the third division following a victory against CP Villarrobledo in the 1956/57 season. Getafe even came close to promotion into Segunda during 1957/58, before being defeated by C.D. Almería.

On September 2, 1970, the club finally inaugurated its own stadium as they gained promotion back into Tercera División. Presided over by chairman Francisco Vara, Las Margaritas was founded with a 3-1 victory over Michelín. The team survived in the third level that season, and six years later gained a historic promotion to second division.

New history in Segunda

A highlight for the club came in 1978, when they were drawn against highly-fancied Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Round of 16. Playing at home in the first leg, Getafe drew with a star-studded Barcelona team 3-3, before travelling away for the Second Leg and being thrashed 8-0 at the Nou Camp. At the conclusion of the 1981/82 season, following unpaid payments to players, Getafe was automatically relegated and subsequently liquidated. Meanwhile, on September 1, 1976, a new club was founded in the National Sports Council and the Regional Federation of Castille. The club was Peña Madridista Getafe (the Real Madrid supporter's club of Getafe). This club played for four seasons in various divisions, until taking the name Club Deportivo Peña Getafe, and played under this name for a further two seasons. On July 10, 1982, they joined forces with the much older Club Getafe Promesas, and were registered again in the Regional Federation of Castille.

Present existence

Based on the merger the previous year, the present Getafe Club de Fútbol was officially founded on July 8, 1983, after passing through the general partners assembly.

Starting in the regional leagues in 1983/84, Getafe was promoted for four consecutive seasons until reaching Segunda División B. The club started a new period with its promotion into Segunda in 1994/95, staying only two years. Threatening absolute disappearance just a few years later in 1997, Getafe survived relegation into the fourth level Tercera División following a two-legged playoff victory over Huesca.

Returning to the second division for 1999/00, Getafe lasted another two seasons. One year later, however, they would return, following an amazing promotion during 2001/02 during which one of their players, Sebastián "Sebas" Gómez, was murdered, and controversy regarding unpaid payments of players following a debt of 3 million euros.

Consolidating their position after one year, Getafe had a fantastic season in Segunda. At the top of the table for most of the year, the side travelled to the Canary Islands on the final matchday needing a win to assure a historic promotion to the first division. Amazingly, they defeated Tenerife 5-3 with five goals from Sergio Pachón,  thus becoming along with Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and Rayo Vallecano the fourth team from the Community of Madrid and the first of them from outside of the capital to ever play in La Liga .  With this promotion, Getafe had

La Liga

Getafe hired Quique Sánchez Flores as coach for their first season in the top division, but were widely tipped to be relegated.[citation needed] The club started 2004–05 poorly, lying at the bottom of the table,. Home wins over Espanyol, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and Real Madrid,[10] followed by a sole away win of the season over Athletic Bilbao, saw Getafe climb to finish 13th, being the only promoted side to avoid relegation. At the end of the season the club lost coach Flores, and several players to rival clubs.  In Getafe's next season the club briefly topped the table  before slipping to finish 9th.  During the 2006 World Cup, Argentine-born Mariano Pernía became Getafe's first ever Spanish international, before moving to Atlético Madrid.

In 2006–07 Getafe again finished ninth in the league,  conceding only 33 goals in 38 matches and goalkeeper Roberto "Pato" Abbondanzieri was awarded the Zamora Trophy, having recorded 12 clean sheets. The highlight of the club's season was reaching the Copa del Rey 2006-07 final, a competition in which Getafe had never even reached the quarter-finals before. The run included a two-legged semi-final against Barcelona in which Getafe lost the first leg 5-2 at the Camp Nou[18] before producing a 4-0 rout in the second leg at the Coliseum.[19] Getafe lost their first ever major final 1–0 to Sevilla in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Through this the club qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup qualification, as Sevilla had already qualified for the UEFA Champions' League through their league position.

The following season, coach Bernd Schuster left after two seasons to become head coach at Real Madrid,  and Getafe appointed Michael Laudrup as his replacement. Under Laudrup's leadership Getafe again finished the league mid-table. In the UEFA Cup, the team managed to progress to the quarterfinals after finishing top of Group G, only losing once, setting up a tie against four-times European Cup winners Bayern Munich. Getafe drew the away leg 1-1 ,  thanks to an injury time equaliser from Cosmin Contra. In the second leg Rubén de la Red was sent off after six minutes. Contra put Getafe ahead just before halftime, but in the 89th minute Franck Ribéry equalised, sending the game into extra time. Two quick goals, from Javier Casquero and substitute Braulio, gave Getafe a 3-1 lead but Bayern pulled a goal back from Luca Toni, before Toni again scored seconds before the end of extra time, giving Bayern an away goals win.  Getafe also had successful run in the Copa del Rey, reaching the final for a second year running. In the final, at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Getafe were beaten 3–1 by Valencia.

Stadium

Getafe play at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, located in Getafe. Its pitch dimensions are 105x70 metres. The stadium was inaugurated on January 1, 1998, named after the Spanish international (and of Real Madrid fame) Alfonso Pérez. Though he never played for or against Getafe, or even in the stadium, he is perhaps the most famous footballer to come out of the area and was at the height of his career during the mid-1990s.

Before playing in the Coliseum, Getafe played their home matches at the nearby Estadio de las Margaritas, part of the greater Sports City of Las Margaritas. The Coliseum was subsequently built as a natural extension to the much smaller facilities at Las Margaritas. Since its foundation, the stadium has had numerous renovations, and now seats 14,400 people and several thousand more standing. As such, the exact capacity of the is variable and ambiguous. Getafe generally fill the stadium for local matches against Real and Atlético Madrid, as well as against Barcelona, most famously in the 2006-07 Cup semifinal. For the first time in their history, Getafe pre-sold out the whole of the Coliseum before their Second Leg match against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup Quarter-final.

Getafe president Ángel Torres has expressed interest in upgrading the Coliseum to a much greater 20,000 seat arena, in conjunction with Madrid's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.  The failure of this bid and poor crowd averages has put this redevelopment in doubt.

Getafe use the nearby Sports City when training. These facilities include several training pitches with both grass and artificial turf, full medical rooms and recuperation facilities.