Guadalajara

First Steps

Guadalajara was founded on 4 January 1947. It was a group of friends who played on the soccer team of Educación y Descanso, a Franco regime program for young people, and the Frente de Juventudes. So, based on this seed, a club was created that was independent of all these organizations.

On January 4, a meeting was held in the Education and Recreation halls that would be the seed of Deportivo Guadalajara. From that meeting, a committee was formed consisting of Francisco Nicolás, Ignacio Burgos, Jaime Pujades, José Mª Moreno, Cayetano Morán, Carlos Camargo, Manuel Herrero, Antonio Vicenti, and Rafael Aguilar. The latter was elected president at first, but he gave up the position to Jaume Pujades. The club was thus founded, with the founding minutes being drawn up on January 30, 1947. The club was registered with the Castilian Football Federation on February 5 of that same year.

This committee would also choose the club's kit. The purple shirt and white shorts were chosen as the home kit. The red shirt and blue shorts were chosen as the away kit. Interestingly, the away kit was loaned by the Spain national football team.

On January 19, 1947, Deportivo Guadalajara played its first match. It was a friendly match in which it defeated Bar Ideal by a resounding 9-1.

On January 26, 1947, he played his first official match, beating Real Ávila CF 2-1 in the amateur championship.

In the 1947–48 season, it began competing in the First Regional Division, achieving promotion to the Tercera División the following season.

The 1950-51 season ended with the team in second place, qualifying for the promotion phase to the Second Division. In this phase, they faced Recreativo de Huelva, Real Betis, Alicante, Cacereño, and Atlético Baleares. One of the matches was broadcast live by Matías Prats, which was a major event for the city. The cost of traveling to the Balearic Islands was somewhat painful, according to people close to the club, and some players even had to pawn their socks and clothes to pay for the trip.

During the 1950s, Deportivo Guadalajara established itself in the Tercera División, remaining in that category without interruption until 1962, when it was relegated to the regional league for the first time.

On May 2, 1956, Deportivo Guadalajara played its first international match against the German team Grundig Fürth.

During this period, two players who later became famous and went on to play internationally in the 1960s wore the team's jersey: Isacio Calleja and Carlos Lapetra. Another player who stood out during this period was Juan José Laso, who would later become president of the club for 27 years.

A team without a home field

After being relegated in 1962, the club managed to return to the Tercera División the following year. However, just two years later, in 1965, the club was on the verge of collapse when it lost its home ground. That year, the “Campo del Productor” was demolished, which meant that for the next two seasons (1965-66 and 1966-67) the club stopped competing.

In 1967, Deportivo Guadalajara inaugurated its new home, the “Campo del Henares”. and returned to competition. The new stadium was built in an area with poor access and no water supply—water had to be transported in an old cistern to tanks located on the hillside opposite the stands so that the players could shower. Over time, the various areas of the stadium were improved, and in 1974 it was renamed the Campo de Fútbol Pedro Escartín (in honour of Pedro Escartín, former referee).

Simultaneously with this forced relocation, matters did not go well in the sporting arena either. The same season that the new stadium was inaugurated, the team would end up being relegated to the regional league.

Yo-yo club

Over the next six seasons, Guadalajara competed in the regional league. In 1973, after beating SD Huesca in the promotion play-offs, it managed to return to the Tercera División. In its absence, the Tercera División had gone from having 14 groups in the 1967-68 season to only four in 1970-71, with a consequent increase in difficulty. The team was placed in Group II, alongside teams such as Deportivo Alavés, Logroñés, Real Madrid Castilla, Atlético Madrileño, Osasuna, and Getafe. It achieved a more than commendable eighth place, although this would be the prelude to a poor season the following year, which included relegation.

During this period, Deportivo Guadalajara became a yo-yo team. It only lasted two seasons in the Tercera División before being relegated again. In 1975, it was relegated, returning to the Tercera División the following year after beating Villarreal in the promotion play-offs; in 1978, it was relegated again, returning to the Tercera División two seasons later; and in 1982, it was relegated once more, regaining its place in the division the following year.

In 1975, the first edition of the Trofeo Alcarria was held. A year later, they were crowned champions of the Campeonato de Castilla Amateur after beating Leganés on penalties.

The Tercera División pit

Since 1983, Deportivo Guadalajara has remained in the Tercera División for 23 consecutive seasons.

On 18 July 1985, on the day of the club hymn's official presentation, the club first appeared in the Copa del Rey, against Rayo Vallecano. It would spend the first sixty years of its existence in the fourth division and the regional leagues.

In the 1986-87 season, after the Tercera División was divided by autonomous regions, it was placed in Group XVII (later Group XVIII), the Castilla–La Mancha group. This first season was disastrous. It finished last with only three wins, eight draws, 27 losses, 31 goals scored, and a whopping 108 goals conceded, earning a meager 14 points. However, it was lucky in the promotion play-off against Unión Criptanense, a team it beat on penalties.

Despite this difficult season, in the following years Guadalajara would consolidate its position as one of the leading teams in its group, setting itself the goal of promotion to Segunda División B. On six occasions (1989, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2003, and 2006), Deportivo Guadalajara unsuccessfully competed in the promotion phase to that division.

During all these years in which the dream of promotion was unsuccessfully pursued, the club continued to transform itself. Thus, at the end of 1998, with Juan José Laso Rhodes as president, the club became a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva; and in 2001, local businessman Germán Retuerta took over the club.

In 2006, it came close to promotion, as after beating CD Don Benito in the first round, it succumbed to Granada in extra time in the final round.