Valladolid

20th-century history (1928–2001)

Real Valladolid was founded from the merger of Real Unión Deportiva de Valladolid and Club Deportivo Español Valladolid, the club played its first game on 22 September 1928. It was a 2–1 win over Alavés. Valladolid first reached the top level in the 1947–48 season, as champions of the Segunda División. The club became the first Castile and León club to play in the Spanish top flight. The following year, the team pushed on from this success and reached the finals of the Copa del Rey in Chamartín Stadium against Athletic Bilbao, losing 4–1.

The next ten years were spent in the first division, and relegation was short-lived as Valladolid gained promotion again in 1958–59 with a 5–0 win over Terrassa under manager José Luis Saso, a legendary figure in club history. He had originally been a goalkeeper for the club and went on to perform many roles, including serving as president of the club.

Valladolid swung between the first and second divisions in subsequent years, falling as low as to the third division in 1970–71. Next year the club was promoted to second division and in 1980 promoted to first division, where Valladolid played until 1992 when the club was relegated to the second division again. Promoted in 1992–93, the club was again sent down after the 2003–04 season. In 1984, Valladolid also won the Copa de la Liga (a competition only played in the early 1980s) over Atlético Madrid.

On 14 April 1996, Valladolid played its 1,000th game in La Liga.

The side's highest position during this 11-year stint was seventh in 1996–97, being coached in the previous seasons by former Real Madrid Castilla coach Rafael Benítez, as various players from that team would also later appear for Valladolid.

Carlos Suárez era (2001–2018)

In the 2006–07 season, after signing Basque José Luis Mendilibar as head coach, Valladolid had one of its best years in its history while playing in the second level. The club took the league lead in the 15th matchday and went on to finish with a competition all-time high 88 points, winning the championship by a total margin of eight points, and holding an advantage of 26 points over the non-promotion zone (fourth and below), both being all-time records in the league. Valladolid also achieved the honour of going unbeaten in 29-straight matches, from 10 October 2006 to 6 May 2007, being mathematically promoted after a 2–0 away win against Tenerife on 22 April 2007 (the 34th matchday of the season), the earliest any club has achieved promotion in Spanish history.

Also remarkable was the side's role in the season's Copa del Rey, reaching the quarter-finals after defeating two top division teams, Gimnàstic de Tarragona (4–1 aggregate) and the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League contender Villarreal (3–1), while playing the entire competition with reserve players.

Two relatively successful seasons in the top division followed, finishing in 15th place while avoiding relegation after a 1–1 draw on the last matchday of both seasons (against Recreativo de Huelva in 2007–08 and Real Betis in the following campaign).

After a slow start to 2009–10 (three wins in the first 20 matches), Mendilibar was sacked on 1 February 2010 following a draw at home against Almería. The week following his sacking, Valladolid dropped into the relegation zone (something that never happened during Mendilibar's 138-match stint), with former player Onésimo Sánchez taking charge.

After only one win in 10 matches, Sánchez was fired. Former Spain national team manager Javier Clemente was named Sánchez's replacement in a desperate move to avoid relegation with only eight matches remaining. After a brief breather (16th position), Valladolid again returned to the bottom three, then faced a must-win last game at the Camp Nou against a Barcelona squad needing a win to secure the Liga championship. Level in the standings with Racing de Santander, Málaga and Tenerife for the two final safe positions, Valladolid lost 0–4 and consequently was relegated, ending a three-year stay in the top flight.

The 2011–12 season saw Valladolid return to La Liga under the management of Miroslav Đukić, promoted through the play-offs after finishing third in the division.

Valladolid were relegated back to the Segunda División on the last matchday of the 2013–14 season.

In the 2017–18 season, Valladolid was promoted back to first division after four years via play-off defeating Sporting de Gijón and Numancia.

Ronaldo Nazário era (2018–2025)

In the summer of 2018, a series of purchase offers were presented by several foreign entrepreneurs. This process concluded with the acquisition led by the former Brazilian player Ronaldo Nazário, who was officially introduced as the majority shareholder and president of the board of directors on 3 September 2018. The presentation took place in the reception hall of the Valladolid City Hall. It is worth noting that the former president, Carlos Suárez, continued in the role of CEO until he resigned in August 2019.