Real Sociedad
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| Full name | Real Sociedad de Fútbol | ||
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| Nickname(s) | txuri-urdin | ||
| Founded | 1909 | ||
| Ground | Anoeta, San Sebastián | ||
| Capacity | 32,000 | ||
| Chairman | José Luís Astiazaran | ||
| Manager | José Maria Amorrortu | ||
| League | La Liga | ||
| 2003-04 | La Liga, 15th | ||
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Real Sociedad are a Basque football club from San Sebastián/Donostia in Guipúzcoa/Gipuzkoa. Founded on September 17 1909, it currently plays in the Primera División.
Known as the txuri-urdin ("white-blue" in Guipuzcoan Basque), from their colors: blue with white vertical stripes and white shorts. A blue quarter on white also appears in the flag of their home town. The home stadium is the Anoeta that seats 32,000 spectators.
Given the Real ("royal") title by King Alfonso XIII when San Sebastián was summer capital of Spain (see also Real Madrid and Real Betis), Real Sociedad were one of the founder members of the National Championship league in 1928-29. That season, the team finished fourth, with Benzobas being the highest scorer of the Championship. The team's name changed to Donostia Football Club in 1931, with the advent of the Second Spanish Republic, but changed back to Real Sociedad after the Civil War in 1939.
The team has generally fluctuated between the Primera and Segunda divisions, in one period (during the 1940s) managing to be relegated and promoted seven times. The best period of the team's history must be the early 1980s where they won the Primera two seasons running.
For many years, Real Sociedad followed the practice of their Basque rival Athletic Bilbao of signing only Basque players. They abandoned the policy in 1989 when they signed Irish international John Aldridge from Liverpool. The team that finished a surprising second in La Liga in 2002-03 dramatically illustrated this change. Key contributors to that side included a Serb (Darko Kovacevic), a Turk (Nihat Kahveci), a Russian (Valeri Karpin), and a Dutch goalkeeper (Sander Westerveld).
Honours
- Copa del Rey winners in 1909 and 1987 and runners-up four times (in 1928 in a triple replay).
- Primera División champions 1980-81 and 1981-82. Runners-up 1979-80, 1987-88 and 2002-2003.
- Super Cup winners 1983.
Famous Players
- Mariano Arrate
- Jesus Maria Satrústegui
- Jesus Maria Zamora
- Roberto López Ufarte
- Bakero
- Alberto Górriz
- Luis Arconada
- Juan Antonio Larrañaga
- Xabi Alonso
- Darko Kovacevic
- Nihat Kahveci
- Valeri Karpin
- Sander Westerveld
- Javier de Pedro