Club Deportivo Elemental Racing Féminas is a Spanish
women's association football
Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...
club based in the
autonomous community
The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...
of
Cantabria
Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...
, currently playing in the
Segunda División Pro. They are affiliated to
Real Racing Club de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...
, although play their home matches in
Torrelavega
Torrelavega ( Asturian: ''Torlavega'') is a municipality and important industrial and commercial hub in the single province Autonomous Community of Cantabria, northern Spain.
It is situated roughly 8 kilometres from the Cantabrian Coast and 27.5 ...
and have previously been based in
Santa Cruz de Bezana.
History
The roots of the club date back to the end of the 20th century when efforts were made to establish women's football in
Cantabria
Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...
where no teams and few players were registered.
[CDE Racing Féminas, 21 años de historia](_blank)
DE Racing Féminas, 21 years of history Carlos Romero, ''Reinas del Balón'', 30 August 2020 (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 April 2022 SD Reocín
Sociedad Deportiva Reocín was a football team based in Reocín in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1964, the team last played in Primera Regional. The club's home ground is '' Pepín Cadelo'', which has a capacity of 4,000 spectat ...
was established in 2001, and for some years was linked to the professional men's club
Real Racing Club de Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...
although in reality their involvement was minimal, extending only to the use of kit in exchange for use of the name.
'Reocín Racing' reached the highest level in the Spanish system, the
Primera División (then known as the Superliga) in 2010 and were able to maintain their position for a second season before dropping back into the regional
Segunda División
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...
, joining Group 2 – mostly comprising
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
and
Navarre
Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
se clubs – as there were not enough Cantabrian clubs to form their own section. When Reocín were relegated further to the
regional lower division level in 2015 they were disbanded; however, a new club, Ave Fénix Racing (again loosely associated with Racing Santander) was quickly formed with almost the entire Reocín playing squad, being granted entry to the Segunda Group 1 along with teams from
Asturias
Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain.
It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...
and
Galicia; a reserve team was installed in the Cantabria league in place of that of Reocín.
In 2017 Racing Santander increased its involvement in the women's team, with an introductory event at a home fixture at the
Estadio El Sardinero
Campos de Sport de El Sardinero ("El Sardinero Sport Fields"), or simply El Sardinero, is a multi-purpose stadium in Santander, Spain. It is currently used mostly for football matches, serving as the home ground of the former La Liga side Racing ...
. The Fénix players and coaches migrated to the renamed Racing Féminas, and access was provided to the club's training ground for some matches
(it is therefore a matter of interpretation whether the team was founded in 2015 when Ave Fénix was formed, or 2017 when it was rebranded as Racing Féminas). Some more Cantabrian teams also reached the second tier, most notably
CD Monte who became a main rival and finished above Racing in the
2017–18 season – the match between them was played at the Sardinero due to its local significance, with 2,000 spectators in attendance.
A fourth place the following year was sufficient for the team to be included in the two-group Segunda División Pro for the
2019–20 season. In October 2019, the president of Racing Santander
Alfredo Pérez commented that there were plans to launch a fully integrated women's section but the present Racing Féminas did not have this status, indicating that they were more of a collaborative / partner organisation as Reocín and Fénix had been before.
Racing Féminas competed in the
Copa de la Reina
Copa or COPA may refer to:
COPA
COPA may refer to:
* Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet
* Canadian Owners and Pilots Association
* Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association
* Parlia ...
for the first time in the
2021–22 season after the competition was opened up to clubs outside the top division; they reached the third round before losing 5–0 at home to the professionals of
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...
.
Players
The career of midfielder
Silvia Martínez ('Pinxis') spanning three decades has been closely linked to the development of football locally:
her father José Ramón was involved in the foundation of Reocín in 2001 primarily so she and her female friends could enjoy the game as teenagers, having grown too old to be allowed to play with boys.
[Reocín Racing: el orgullo femenino de Cantabria](_blank)
eocín Racing: the women's pride of Cantabria Isabel Roldán, ''Diario AS
''Diario AS'' () (sometime stylized as ''AS'' or ''As''; ) is a Spanish daily sports newspaper that concentrates particularly on association football.
Profile
''Diario AS'' is part of PRISA which also owns ''El País'' and ''Cinco Días''. The ...
'', 1 June 2010 (in Spanish) Martínez played for Reocín throughout their existence, including gaining promotion and featuring in the top division, before continuing as
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
and figurehead with Ave Fénix then Racing Féminas, as well as being acknowledged for scoring one of the fastest goals in Spanish football in 2017,
and taking part in the first match of the
Cantabria autonomous football team
The Cantabria autonomous football team is the regional football team for Cantabria, Spain. They are not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA and therefore are only allowed to play friendly matches.
History The Northern Federation
In the early 20th ce ...
in 2019.
In 2020, forward
Athenea del Castillo Athenea is a feminine given name.
People with the name include:
* Athenea del Castillo (born 2000), Spanish professional footballer
* Athenea Pérez (born 1996), Spanish model and beauty pageant titleholder crowned Miss Universe Spain 2023
See ...
, whose departure to
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...
a year earlier had caused a lengthy dispute between the clubs (Racing demanded a transfer fee but the player was only on an amateur contract and was offered a professional deal by ''Depor''), became the first former player to be selected for the
Spain women's national football team
The Spain women's national football team, officially known as the Spain national football team (), has represented Spain in international Women's association football, women's football competitions since 1980. It is governed by the Royal Spanis ...
.
Ligia Moreira (
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
),
Liucija Vaitukaitytė (
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
) and
Elexa Bahr (
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
) were
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
for their country as Racing players in the early 2020s.
Season to season
See also
*
:CDE Racing Féminas players
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Racing Feminas
Women's football clubs in Spain
Feminas
2015 establishments in Spain
Sport in Santander, Spain
Association football clubs established in 2015
Football clubs in Cantabria
Segunda Federación (women) clubs