LA LIGA
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| Spanish League (" La Liga") |
|---|
 |
 |
| 'Founded' |
| 1929 |
| 'Nation' |
| 'Relegation To' |
| Segunda DivisiĂłn |
| 'Number of Teams' |
| 20 |
| 'European Qualification' |
| Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup |
| 'Cups' |
| Copa del Rey Supercopa de España |
| 'Current Champions (2006/2007)' |
| Real Madrid |
| 'Most Successful Club' |
| Real Madrid (30) |
| 'Website' |
| Official |
'Liga de FĂștbol Profesional' (''Professional Football League''), commonly known as '''La Liga''' and also known as '''Primera DivisiĂłn''', is the professional football league in Spain. It is considered to be one of the best leagues in the world along with the English Premier League and the Italian Serie A.
Nine clubs have been crowned ''Campeones de Liga''. Since the 1950s, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have dominated the competition. The former have been champions 30 times while the latter have won it on 18 occasions. However during the 1930s and 1940s and in more recent seasons, ''La Liga'' has been more competitive. Other winners include Valencia CF, Sevilla FC, Atlético Madrid, Deportivo de La Coruña, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Real Betis.
In addition to their success in La Liga, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are two of the most successful teams in European competition history. In 2005/06 FC Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League and Sevilla FC won the UEFA Cup. ''La Liga'' became the first league to do the European "double" since 1997. [1]
La Liga is currently first in the UEFA rankings of European leagues based on their performances in European competitions over a five-year period, ahead of Serie A in second and the Premier League in third.[2] The 2005â06 average attendance of 29,029 for league matches is the sixth highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world. In professional football (soccer) leagues[3] La Liga was third-highest, behind the Bundesliga in first and the Premier League in second. [4]
History
Foundation
In April 1927 ''Jose Maria Acha'', a director at Arenas Club de Roldan, first proposed the idea of a national league in Spain. After much debate about the size of the league and who would take part, the Real FederaciĂłn Española de FĂștbol eventually agreed on the ten teams who would form the first ''La Liga'' in 1928. FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club de Getxo and Real UniĂłn were all selected as previous winners of the Copa del Rey. AtlĂ©tico Madrid, RCD Espanyol and CE Europa qualified as Copa del Rey runners-up and Racing Santander qualified through a knockout competition. Only three of the founding clubs, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, have never been relegated from the ''Primera DivisiĂłn''.
The 1930s
Although FC Barcelona won the very first ''La Liga'' and Real Madrid won their first titles in 1932 and 1933, it was Athletic Bilbao that set the early pace winning ''La Liga'' in 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936. They were also runners-up in 1932 and 1933. In 1935 Real Betis, then known as ''Betis Balompie'', won their only title to date. ''La Liga'' was suspended during the Spanish Civil War, but clubs in the Republican area of Spain, with the notable exception of the two Madrid clubs, competed in the Mediterranean League. FC Barcelona emerged as champions in 1937.
The 1940s
When 'La Liga' resumed in the 1940s it was Atlético Aviación, Valencia CF and Sevilla FC that initially emerged as the strongest clubs. Atlético Aviación were only awarded a place the 1939/40 ''Primera División'' as a replacement for Real Oviedo, whose ground had been damaged during the war. The club subsequently won their first ''La Liga'' title and retained it in 1941. While other clubs lost players to exile, execution and as casualties of the war, the Atlético Aviación team was reinforced by a merger. The young pre-war squad of Valencia CF had also remained intact and in the post-war years matured into champions, gaining three ''La Liga'' titles in 1942, 1944 and 1947. They were also runners-up in 1948 and 1949. Sevilla FC also enjoyed a brief golden era, finishing as runners-up in 1940 and 1942 before winning their only title to date in 1946. By the latter part of the decade CF Barcelona began to emerge as a force and they were crowned ''La Liga'' champions in 1945, 1948 and 1949.
Di Stéfano, Puskås, Kubala and Suårez
Although Atlético Madrid, previously known as ''Atlético Aviación'', were champions in 1950 and 1951 under ''catenaccio'' mastermind Helenio Herrera, the 1950s saw the beginning of the CF Barcelona/Real Madrid dominance. During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s there were strict limits imposed on foreign players. In most cases clubs could only have three foreign players in their squads, meaning that at least eight local players had to play in every game. During the 1950s, however, these rules were circumnavigated by Real Madrid and CF Barcelona who naturalised Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskås and Ladislao Kubala. Inspired by Kubala, Barça won the title in 1952 and 1953. Di Stéfano, Puskås and Francisco Gento formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s. Real won ''La Liga'' for the first time as ''Real Madrid'' in 1954 and retained it in 1955. They were winners again in 1957 and 1958, with only Athletic Bilbao interrupting their sequence. CF Barcelona with a team coached by Helenio Herrera and featuring Luis Suårez gained the title in 1959 and 1960.
The Madrid Years
Between 1961 and 1980, Real Madrid dominated ''La Liga'' with the club winning the competition 14 times. This included a five in a row sequence (1961-65) and two three in row sequences (1967-69 and 1978-1980). During this era only Atlético Madrid offered Real any serious challenge, adding four more titles to their tally in 1966, 1970, 1973 and 1977. Only Valencia CF in 1971 and the Johan Cruyff-inspired FC Barcelona of 1974 managed to break the might of Real Madrid.
The 1980s
The Madrid winning sequence was ended more significantly in 1981 when Real Sociedad won their first ever title. They retained it in 1982 and their two in a row was followed by another by their fellow Basques, Athletic Bilbao who won back to back titles in 1983 and 1984. Terry Venables led FC Barcelona to a solitary title in 1985 before Real Madrid won again another five in a row sequence (1986-90) with a team, guided by Leo Beenhakker, and including Hugo SĂĄnchez and the legendary ''La Quinta del Buitre'' - Emilio Butragueño, Manolo SanchĂs, MartĂn VĂĄzquez, MĂchel and Miguel Pardeza.
The 1990s
Johan Cruyff returned to FC Barcelona as manager in 1988, and assembled the legendary ''Dream Team''. Cruyff introduced players like Josep Guardiola, JosĂ© Mari Bakero, Txiki Beguiristain, Goikoetxea, Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup and Hristo Stoichkov. This team won ''La Liga'' four times between 1991 and 1994 and won the European Cup in 1992. Laudrup then moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid after a fall-out with Cruyff, and helped them end Barcelona's run in 1995. AtlĂ©tico Madrid won their ninth ''La Liga'' title in 1996 before Real Madrid added another Liga trophy to their cabinet in 1997. After the success of Cruyff, another Dutchman - Ajax manager Louis van Gaal - arrived at the Camp Nou, and with the talents of LuĂs Figo, Luis Enrique and Rivaldo, Barcelona again won the title in 1998 and 1999. Meanwhile, Real Madrid also experienced success on the intercontinental stage, winning the UEFA Champions League in 1998 and 2000.
21st Century
As ''La Liga'' entered a new century, the big two found themselves facing new challengers. Between 1993 and 2004, Deportivo La Coruña finished in the top three on ten occasions, a better record than either Real Madrid or FC Barcelona, and in 2000, under Javier Irureta, they became the ninth team to be crowned champions. Real Madrid won two more ''La Liga'' titles in 2001 and 2003 and the UEFA Champions League again in 2000 and 2002. They won their third title in 2007 after a three year drought. They were challenged by a re-emerging Valencia CF in both competitions. Under the management of HĂ©ctor CĂșper, Valencia CF finished as runners-up in the UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2001. His successor, Rafael BenĂtez, built on this and led the club to a ''La Liga'' title in 2002 and a ''La Liga''/UEFA Cup double in 2004. The 2004/05 season saw a resurgent FC Barcelona, inspired by Ronaldinho, winning their first title of the new century. In 2005/06 again saw FC Barcelona assert their dominance, winning the ''La Liga''/UEFA Champions League double. Sevilla FC also won the UEFA Cup in 2006 and again in 2007, when the Andalusians defeated fellow Spaniards RCD Espanyol 3-1 on penalties.
La Liga Clubs In Europe
Main articles: La Liga Clubs in Europe
Champions
Year By Year
Performance by club
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid | | | 1931-32, 1932-33, 1953-54, 1954-55, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1971-72, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1994-95, 1996-97, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07 |
| FC Barcelona | | | 1928-29, 1944-45, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1951-52, 1952-53, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1973-74, 1984-85, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2004-05, 2005-06 |
| Atlético Madrid | | | 1939-40, 1940-41, 1949-50, 1950-51, 1965-66, 1969-70, 1972-73, 1976-77, 1995-96 |
| Athletic Bilbao | | | 1929-30, 1930-31, 1933-34, 1935-36, 1942-43, 1955-56, 1982-83, 1983-84 |
| Valencia CF | | | 1941-42, 1943-44, 1946-47, 1970-71, 2001-02, 2003-04 |
| Real Sociedad | | | 1980-81, 1981-82 |
| Deportivo de La Coruña | | | 1999-00 |
| Sevilla FC | | | 1945-46 |
| Real Betis | | | 1934-35 |
Note on name changes
During the Spanish Second Republic clubs such as Real Madrid and Real Betis dropped the ''Real'' from their name, Real Sociedad became ''Donostia CF''. In 1941, a decree issued by Franco de Sietsma banned the use of non-Spanish language names. FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC became ''CF Barcelonaton'' and ''Sevilla CF'', both Athletic Bilbao and Athletic Aviación changed the spelling of their prefix to ''Atlético'', Sporting de Gijón and Racing de Santander became ''Real Gijón'' and ''Real Santander''...
Individual awards
Many individual awards are conceded relating to La Liga, although not sanctioned by the LFP nor the RFEF they're widely regarded as official.
The most notable of them are the Pichichi Trophy, awarded to the top scorer of the season, and the Zamora Trophy for the goalkeeper with the least "goals-to-games" ratio (with some extra rules, see the main article). Both trophies are awarded by the biggest sports newspaper in Spain, ''Marca''.
Selected La Liga Players
European Footballers of the Year
The following were all elected European Footballer of the Year while playing with La Liga clubs.
★ Alfredo Di StĂ©fano - 1957, 1959
★ Raymond Kopa - 1958
★ Luis SuĂĄrez - 1960
★ Johan Cruyff - 1973
★ Hristo Stoichkov - 1994
★ Rivaldo - 1999
★ LuĂs Figo - 2000
★ Ronaldo - 2002
★ Ronaldinho - 2005
★ Fabio Cannavaro - 2006
FIFA World Players of the Year
The following were all elected FIFA World Player of the Year while playing with La Liga clubs. In 2006, the three nominees for the award were all La Liga players. Fabio Cannavaro won the award, Zinedine Zidane came second and Ronaldinho came third. The last six awards have all been won by players playing in La Liga.
★ Romario - 1994
★ Ronaldo - 1996, 1997, 2002
★ Rivaldo - 1999
★ LuĂs Figo - 2001
★ Zinedine Zidane - 1998, 2000, 2003
★ Ronaldinho - 2004, 2005
★ Fabio Cannavaro - 2006
Other notable former star players
Selected current star players
★ Iker Casillas
★ Pablo Ibåñez
★ VĂctor ValdĂ©s
★ AndrĂ©s Iniesta
★ Antonio LĂłpez
★ JoaquĂn
★ Carles Puyol
★ RaĂșl
★ Vicente
★ David Villa
★ Xavi
★ Sergio Ramos
★ Fernando Morientes
★ Miguel Ăngel Angulo
★ MĂchel Salgado
★ IvĂĄn Helguera
★ David Silva
★ JosĂ© Antonio Reyes
★ David Albelda
★ Pablo Aimar
★ Juan RomĂĄn Riquelme
★ Roberto Ayala
★ Lionel Messi
★ Maxi RodrĂguez
★ Javier Saviola
★ Sergio AgĂŒero
★ Fernando Gago
★ Gonzalo HiguaĂn
★ Diego Milito
★ Gabi Milito
★ Gabriel Heinze
★ Daniel Alves
★ Adriano
★ EdmĂlson
★ Robinho
★ JĂșlio Cesar Baptista
★ Ronaldinho
★ Samuel Eto'o
★ MatĂas FernĂĄndez
★ Jon Dahl Tomasson
★ Christian Poulsen
★ Robert PirĂšs
★ Lilian Thuram
★ Thierry Henry
★ Ăric Abidal
★ Timo Hildebrand
★ Christoph Metzelder
★ Andreas Hinkel
★ Fabio Cannavaro
★ Gianluca Zambrotta
★ Mahamadou Diarra
★ FrĂ©dĂ©ric KanoutĂ©
★ Rafael MĂĄrquez
★ Giovani dos Santos
★ Ruud van Nistelrooy
★ Wesley Sneijder
★ Royston Drenthe
★ Arjen Robben
★ Deco
★ SimĂŁo Sabrosa
★ Maniche
★ Miguel
★ Nihat Kahveci
★ Aleksandr Kerzhakov
★ Diego ForlĂĄn
See also
★ List of football clubs in Spain
★ List of attendance figures at domestic professional sports leagues â the attendance of ''La Liga'' compared with other domestic leagues around the world
★ List of transfers of La Liga - 2005/2006 season
★ List of transfers of La Liga - 2006/2007 season
★ List of transfers of La Liga - 2007/2008 season
Notes and references
1. Competition facts
2. UEFA ranking of European leagues
3. Here, it is necessary to qualify "football" with "(soccer)" because there are leagues in two other football codes that rank above La Liga in per-game attendanceâthe NFL in the USA (American football) and the Australian Football League in Australian rules football.
4. Statistics on La Liga, including attendance figures
'La Liga' and 'Primera DivisiĂłn' or 'Primera' are used interchangeably in the United Kingdom but this is not the case in Spain.
External links
★ Official La Liga Site
★ Official RFEF Site
★ RFEF site
★ Marca
★ La Liga on Futbol.com
★ As
★ Spanish Liga Goals (Video)
★ El Mundo Deportivo
★ Sport
★ Soccer Spain
★ Primera Division
★ 2005-2006 Spanish La Liga Final Season, Team, and Player Statistics in .PDF format - (www.worldcupadvice.com)
★ Spanish Soccer Glossary
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