Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in

Irun Irun ( es, Irún, eu, Irun) is a town of the Bidasoaldea region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. History It lies on the foundations of the ancient Oiasso, cited as a Roman-Vasconic town. During the Span ...

, in the autonomous community of the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

, in the province of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French de ...

, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at the 5,000-seater ''

Stadium Gal Stadium Gal is a football stadium in Irun, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain. It is owned by Real Unión, currently in Segunda División B. The capacity of the stadium is 5,500 spectators. The stadium is located on the left bank of the Bidasoa r ...

''. Real Unión was one of the founding members of

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

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.

History

Partido de fútbol entre el Real Unión y Real Sociedad el campo de Atotxa (1 de 2) - Fondo Car-Kutxa Fototeka

Real Unión were among the early pioneering Spanish football teams and, along with fellow Basque clubs Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Arenas Club de Getxo were founding members of

, in 1928. The club was formed in 1915 following the merger of ''Irún Sporting Club'' and ''Racing Club de Irún''. The former was founded in 1902 as ''Irún Foot-Ball Club'', changing its name in 1907. The latter, formed in 1908, had already won the 1913 Copa del Rey, beating Athletic Bilbao 1–0 in a replayed final. The club was briefly known as ''Unión Club Irún'' before

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, A ...

gave the club royal approval, but during the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 ...

the club reverted to this name. Real Unión then won the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

a further three times, beating

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

and again in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China h ...

(with former

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

striker

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem "Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played at ...

acting as their coach). In

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

they defeated Arenas Getxo in the first all-Basque

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. The latter two finals both ended in 1–0 victories, with

José Echeveste José Echeveste Galfarsoro (19 March 1899 – 7 December 1982) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward for Real Unión and for the Spain national team. He spent all 13 seasons of his playing career with Real Unión, thus being a histor ...

netting the winner on both occasions. In

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

they were runners-up, losing 5–1 to

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

. In 1930 they participated in the

Coupe des Nations Coupe des Nations 1930 ( en, Cup of Nations) was a football tournament in the summer of 1930 in Geneva, Switzerland, organized by local club Servette FC. Servette had just won the Swiss championship, and organized this event as a counterpoint to t ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

, Switzerland, a predecessor of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

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 the

1929–30 La Liga The 1929–30 Primera División season started 1 December 1929, and finished 30 March 1930. A total of 10 teams contested the league, where Barcelona were the defending champions. As different from the previous season, the last qualified team wa ...

. Nonetheless, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

. The club was relegated from

in 1932. In 1920, when

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

made their international debut at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

, the club provided the squad with two players— Eguiazábal and Patricio, the latter scoring Spain's first-ever goal in international football in a 1–0 victory over

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

on 28 August 1920. Another Real Unión player,

René Petit Renato Petit de Ory, better known by its French name, René Petit (8 October 1899 – 14 October 1989) was a Franco-Spanish engineer, known for being a footballer in his youth. He was one of the most popular players in Spanish football in the 19 ...

, took part in the same Olympic Games with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. In the 70s and 80s, Spanish internationals

Javier Irureta Javier Iruretagoyena Amiano (born 1 April 1948), Irureta for short, is a Spanish retired football attacking midfielder and manager. He had a distinguished playing career with Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, playing in 344 La Liga games ...

and

Roberto López Ufarte Roberto López Ufarte (born 19 April 1958) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed ''The little devil'', most of his 15-year career was spent at Real Sociedad where he remained 12 seasons, winning four maj ...

began their career with the club. On 11 November 2008, in the

2008–09 Copa del Rey The 2008–09 Copa del Rey was the 107th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The competition started on 23 August 2008 and concluded on 13 May 2009 with the final, held at the Mestalla Stadium ...

against

, Real Unión lost 3–4 at the Santiago Bernabéu, but secured a famous aggregate victory following a 3–2 home victory in the first leg (

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

). It was the first time in history that Real Madrid were eliminated by a

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

team at home. The club finally returned to the Segunda División in 2009 after a 44-year absence, successively defeating

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding ...

(2–1 aggregate) and

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo ...

(3–1) in the 2008–09 promotion play-offs. However, it would be a short-lived return, as the team was immediately relegated, after ranking 21st.

Season to season

---- * 4 seasons in

*10 seasons in Segunda División *2 seasons in

Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

*27 seasons in

*40 seasons in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

* 7 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Current squad

Reserve team

Honours

: Winners (4)

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

**Runners-up:

Copa Federación de España The Copa Real Federación Española de Fútbol, popularly known as the Copa Federación (Federation Cup) or Copa RFEF, is a Spanish football competition for teams from the Segunda División B, the Tercera División and sometimes from the Preferent ...

: Winners 2014–15 *

: Winners: 2002–03, 2008–09 *

: Winners 1957–58, 1963–64; 1991–92,

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

* North Regional Championship: Winners 1917–18 *

Gipuzkoa Championship The Gipuzkoa Regional Championship (Spanish: ''Campeonato Regional de Guipúzcoa''; Basque: ''Gipuzkoako Herrialde Txapelketa'') was an official football tournament in Spain, organised by the Gipuzkoan Football Federation in which affiliated clubs ...

: Winners (8) 1919–20, 1920–21, 1921–22, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31 * RFEF Basque tournament: Winners 1998–99, 2014–15

International

*Tournoi de Pâques de l'Olympique de Pantin :''Winners'': 1922 *Tournoi de Pentecôte de Paris Football Latin :''Winners'': 1923 *Tournoi "Stade Buffalo" de Paris :''Runners-up'': 1930

Notes

Famous players

Note: players that have reached international status. :'

Former coaches

* Javier Zubillaga

References

External links

Official website

Futbolme team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Real Unión Football clubs in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football clubs established in 1915 Copa del Rey winners Irun 1915 establishments in Spain Sport in Gipuzkoa U Segunda División clubs La Liga clubs Primera Federación clubs