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, Basque Country, Spain | ||
| Capacity | 32,000 | ||
| Chairman |  Miguel Fuentes Azpiroz | ||
| Manager | Miguel Ángel Lotina | ||
| League | La Liga | ||
| 2005-06 | La Liga, 16th | ||
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Real Sociedad is a Spanish football club from the Basque city of San Sebastián/Donostia in Guipúzcoa/Gipuzkoa. Founded on September 17 1909, it currently plays in La Liga.
Known in Basque as Erreala or the txuri-urdin ("white-blue" in 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 Estadio Anoeta, which seats 32,000 spectators.
History
Football was introduced to Donostia in the early 1900s by students and workers returning from Britain. In 1904 they formed the San Sebastian Recreation Club and in 1905 they competed in the Copa del Rey. In May 1905 the San Sebastian Football Club was formed as a separate branch of the club. In 1909 they applied to enter the Copa del Rey but complications over registration permits saw them compete as Club Ciclista de San Sebastian. This team beat Club Español de Madrid 3-1 in the final. Out of the confusion the Sociedad de Futbol was formed on September 7th, 1909. In 1910 Spanish clubs played in two rival cup competitions and Sociedad de Futbol entered the Copa UECF as Vasconia de San Sebastian. In the same year Alfonso XIII, who used San Sebastian as his summer capital, gave the club his patronage. They subsequently became known as Real Sociedad de Fútbol. Real Sociedad were founder members of La Liga in 1928. The team came fourth with Francisco "Cuqui" Bienzobas finishing as top scorer. The teams name was changed to Donostia Club de Futbol in 1931, with the advent of the Second Spanish Republic, but changed back to Real Sociedad after the Spanish 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. Real Sociedad's best league performance in recent years is their 2nd place finish in La Liga in 2002-03. Key contributors to that side included a Serb (Darko Kovacevic), a Turk (Nihat Kahveci), a Russian (Valeri Karpin), and a Dutch goalkeeper (Sander Westerveld).
Trophies
- Copa del Rey:2
- Copa del Rey:Runners-Up:2
- Primera División:2
- Primera División:Runners-Up:3
- Spanish Super Cup::1
Current squad 2006/07
The numbers are established according to the official website: www.realsociedad.com and www.lfp.es. The EU flags indicate players who, although foreign, are still members of the European Economic Community, thus the club is not restricted in player such foreigners.
As of August 19 2006 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Statistics 2005/06
| La Liga | Position | Pts | P | W | D | L | F | A |
| Real Sociedad | 16 | 40 | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 48 | 65 |
- Top Scores:
- Xabi Prieto - 9 goals
- Nihat - 7 goals
- Mark Gonzalez - 5 goals
- Top Goalkeepers
- Riesgo - 56 goals In 33 Matchs
- Alberto - 9 goals In 6 Matchs
Famous players
see also Category:Real Sociedad footballers
Famous Coaches
John Toshack, 1985-1989, 1991-1994, 2001-2002- Javier Irureta, 1995-1997
- Javier Clemente, 1999-2000
see also Category:Real Sociedad managers