Granada C.F.

Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda División. Its main shareholder is the Chinese company Desport, and its president Jiang Lizhang. The club was founded in 1931 with the name of ''Club Recreativo Granada'', and plays its home matches at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes.

Since 17 July 2020, the club is located at position 22 of the historical points classification of the First Division, and 20 of the historical First Division number of seasons classification, where it has participated in 25 seasons and finished in sixth place twice. Granada was the Copa del Rey runner-up in 1959 (the competition was then known as the ''Copa del Generalísimo''). The club finished the 2019–20 season in 7th, qualifying for their first-ever European appearance, in the UEFA Europa League, where they were quarter-finalists.

History

Foundation

''Granada Club de Fútbol'' was founded on 6 April 1931, originally as ''Recreativo de Granada''; the first president was Julio López Fernández. It was him who registered the club in the Registry of Associations in the Civil Government and presented the first Board of Directors.

The first football match was played against the Deportivo Jaén on 6 December 1931, which resulted in a 2–1 victory. The first goal in the match, and in the club's history, was scored by Antonio Bombillar. The first home match was played against U.D. Andújar two weeks later. Granada won it 1–0. It took place at Campo de Las Tablas stadium. In the 1931–32 season, the club finished 2nd in the ''Tercera Regional – Región Sur'' championship. 4 wins in 6 matches helped Granada achieve promotion to the Segunda Regional. The club started the season in a new division with a new president, Gabriel Morcillo Raya. During the 1932–33 season the club had the biggest win in its history, 11–0 against Xerez on 23 April 1933.

La Liga entry and peak

After several promotions, in 1941–42 the club made its La Liga debut. It was the match against the Celta on 28 September 1941. The game ended up in 1–1 draw. The first Granada goal in the highest Spanish division was scored by César Rodríguez Álvarez. During that season the Granada had some historical home wins, among them 8–0 against Real Oviedo and 6–0 against Barcelona. Granada finished the season in the 10th position among 14 teams.

From 1942 until the 1980s, it alternated between the top flight and the Segunda División, with its golden age coming during the late 1960s and mid 70s, as the Andalusian club had eight consecutive top flight seasons between 1968–69 and 1975–76 and made the Copa del Rey semi and quarter-finals on 4 occasions. These seasons also included a best-ever sixth league places in the 1971–72 and 1973–74 seasons. Granada finished the 1971–72 season with 9 wins in the last 10 home games, with powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid being among those wins.

In 1959 Granada achieved its greatest landmark, being the runner-up