Royal Recreational Club of Huelva

The Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S. A. D. is a sports club in Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. With soccer, beach soccer, rugby, basketball and badminton sections (in the beginning it also had cricket and tennis sections) Its soccer section currently plays in the RFEF Second Division, the fourth category of Spanish soccer after being promoted in the 2021-22 campaign. Founded in 1889, it is the oldest uninterrupted football club in the country, which is why it is known as ""The Dean" of Spanish football".

It is the twenty-first team with the most supporters in Spain (0.4%) according to a CIS survey in May 2007. In addition, its fans were recognized by LaLiga in 2009 as "player number 12", acknowledging thus their involvement and good work in favor of good football and the twinning between hobbies. In 2002, the Recre Foundation was registered in the Register of Private Foundations of a Cultural and Artistic Character, Associations and Similar Entities of Andalusia.

In terms of sporting achievements, "el Dean" lived his "golden years" in the first decade of the 21st century, achieving two promotions to the First Division, proclaiming himself in one of them (2005-06 season) as champion of the Second and reaching the final of an official championship for the first time in its history, proclaiming itself runner-up in 2003 in the Copa del Rey after being defeated 0-3 by RCD Mallorca. In terms of individual distinctions, Recreativo is the club that has won the most Zamora Trophies in the Second Division and the only one that has done so with three different goalkeepers: César Quesada, Toño Martínez and Vicente Guaita. In addition, Uche won the Second Division Pichichi Trophy in 2006 with 20 goals and Marcelino García Toral won the second edition of the First Division Miguel Muñoz Trophy awarded by the newspaper Marca, tied on points with Sevilla coach Juande Ramos. In turn, it is the only team whose goalkeeper wore a different shield from the rest of the players on their clothing.

History

The origin of Recreativo de Huelva (1878-1889)

In 1878 the English Club of Río Tinto, coinciding with the arrival in Huelva of Dr. Williams Alexander Mackay, a true promoter of football in the capital of Huelva, decided to create a "Ball Game Society" in the capital of Huelva that maintained activity in successive years (1885, 1886, 1887).^{[citation required]} This company dependent on the Club English from the mining area already practiced football among other typically English sports.

The development over time of this «football society» is corroborated by the manuscript found by the family of D. Ildefonso Martínez, a former Recreation Club player, in which he was a guest by W. A. Mackay himself to participate in "games of football and cricket" in front of some sailors from a cargo ship called Jane Cory. This manuscript was dated March 1, 1888 and is on display at the RFEF Spanish Football History Museum. What is relevant about this manuscript is that in 1888 the "Recreation Club" was already cited, a literal translation of Recreation Club. Everything indicates, then, that the "Ball Game Society" of 1884 is the origin of the "Recreation Club" or Recreation Club, which already in 1887 and 1888 had highly standardized the practice of football and which was finally made official in 1889.^{[citation needed]}

Foundation and early years (1889-1893)

One of the first snapshots of the club (First Andalusian team to participate in the Spanish Championship, 1906).

At the end of the 19th century, since at least the 1870s (1873 in the city), foot-ball began to be practiced in the province of Huelva (San Juan del Puerto). This sport, brought by immigrants of Anglo-Saxon origin who worked in mining companies in the area and initially practiced by them, quickly established itself among the local population. Its practice did not then come from the north through the Pyrenees, but from the south, from there the practice of this sport became common in other regions of the Iberian Peninsula.

The initially called Huelva Recreation Club was founded in the city by Charles Adams and Dr. Alexander Mackay a Scottish doctor and gentleman with a great personality who knew how to attract and unite apart from Huelva society around this new company. Some personalities and workers from British companies based in the mining town of Minas de Riotinto collaborated with them. Years before, in 1873, the purchase of the mines in the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin by English businessmen had allowed the arrival and establishment of a small English community in the city. These businessmen and workers transferred part of their culture and hobbies to the area, but trying to integrate it into the Huelva society of the time. Thus, part of these businessmen and with the help of some locals, decided to create a society in the city with the intention of being able to practice their traditional sports. Prior to this foundation, various football matches had already been held against English sailors who stopped at the busy port of the city.

Diario "La Provincia", March 30, 1890, reviewing the meeting between the Recreative Club and the Sevilla Football Club.

The first official meeting of the club was held on December 18 (published two days later in the newspaper La Provincia) and alluded to the promotion of different sports, among they the foot-ball. On Monday, December 23, 1889 at 10:00 p.m., in the fireplace room of the old Hotel Colón, its founding act was signed. This meeting had been convened by Doctor Mackay and the German businessman living in the city Guillermo Sundheim but important personalities also attended, such as Charles Adams -who was named honorary president- J. Crofto, Hugo Lindemann, A. Lawson, G.M. Speirs, Gout, E. W. Palin and the only two Spaniards: Pedro Soto and José Muñoz. For this reason the recently created Huelva Recreation Club became the first football club to be founded in Spain, being both the dean club of Spanish football. A few days after this meeting it was received from London, on the English ship D. Hugo a shipment of materials and kits for playing soccer and cricket. Since it became official, the Recreation Club organized cricket and football matches against teams made up of the crews of the English ships that arrived at the Port of Huelva. But the Huelva Recreation also played against teams from the provinces and areas close to Huelva, including the English Club of Riotinto and Sevilla Football Club. On February 28, 1890, a press release appeared in the newspaper "La Provincia" in which Isaías White invited the Recreation Club to play a match soccer match in the Seville city, at the Tablada Hippodrome, against an English team that they had recently created.

«The following letter has been received from the secretary of the Seville football Club. »

If the headline is translated into Spanish, what the chronicler means is that a letter has been received from “the Seville football club”, without referring to any specific company name. In contrast to this, in the text of the letter itself, “Huelva Recreation Club” appears between quotation marks, thus making reference to the club's corporate name. In addition, Isaías White never indicates in the text of his letter that his club is called “ Sevilla Football Club” , so it cannot be said that this English team from Seville had a name social. This is reinforced by reviewing the last part of that press release dated February 28, 1890, in which White's English letter is translated into Spanish, referring to the Sevillian team as "Sevilla Football Club":

«...the secretary of the Recreative Club of Huelva has received a letter from the English Club of Seville inviting the members...»

The following are all the press releases that appeared in the newspapers of the time in relation to the matches played by the Huelva Recreation Club against the Club de Riotinto, the English Club of Gibraltar and which were published between 1890 and 1893 in Huelva newspapers. However, as far as the Huelva club is concerned, they call it "Recreation Club" repeatedly.

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  News of the newspaper Province (20 December 1889) enlisting the first board of the «Huelva Recreation Club».

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  Letter of 28 February 1890, alluding to the "Club Recreativo de Huelva" and the "Club English de Sevilla".

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  Press news from 1890 alluding to the "Club Recreativo de Huelva" and the "Club English de Sevilla".

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  Journal Province on March 12, 1890, alluding to the "Club Recreativo de Huelva" and the "English Club of Seville".

In the reviews of the local press of Seville and Huelva from January 1889 to December 1890 in the Municipal Archive of the Seville Capital and the Municipal Archive of Huelva (Casa Colón) there is no news in reference to the foundation of There is no society in Seville dedicated to "football", nor does this end appear in the Provincial Historical Archive of Seville (it is complementary to the Municipal Archive of Seville) or in the Guide Gómez Zarzuela during the years 1890, 1891, 1892 and 1893 (Local guide dedicated to compiling data on existing and newly created companies in Seville. Municipal Archive of Seville. Newspaper library). Finally, in the revisions of the Municipal Historical Register of Seville (2nd floor of the Municipal Archive of Seville) there is no record that the secretary of any society or Club was located at Calle Bailén 41, as some historians affirm (see clippings that are shown below, specifically the census sheet of 1890/1 of C/Bailén nº41). At that time, Recreation played against an English club from Seville, but there is no record that it was against a “Sevilla Football Club”.

The first match that said club played was against the magnates of the mining company owned by the English, Rio Tinto Company Limited, who lived in Seville, with a result of 2:0 in favor of Huelva. The Recreation brought six Huelva natives and nineteen Britons to Seville, composing a curious "initial eleven" of only ten players: Alcok, Yates, Wakelin, Duclós, Coto, Kirk, Daniels, Curtis, Gibbon and Badley. In a second match, the local team won 2-1, with Recreativo claiming the victory in the rematch already on Huelva land. This match is considered by the Spanish Football Federation as the first match to be played on Spanish soil. The Recreational Club demonstrated an organizational capacity that was unusual for a Sports society of that time. The Recreation Club used to play many games of football and cricket against the Rio Tinto Club (notes dated May 6, 1892 and April 28, 1892). Although there is evidence of clashes with the Riotinto Club since the end of 1889.

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  Diario La Provincia. February 22, 1892, alluding to the "Club Recreativo de Huelva" and the Sevilla English Club.

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  Padronal de la Calle Bailén 41 (I. White Sunday). 1890.

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  Mention to the club by citing the sports that such an institution practises: foot-ball, cricket and lawn-tenis. (Hollowship of Huelva, 1890).

In this first historic stage before the Velodrome course was built, Recreativo played its games on the old grounds of the Gas Factory (The Huelva Gas Company Limited). The gas factory was Scottish and there were two in Huelva, one located where today is a Civil Guard barracks and the other practically where the Nuevo Colombino Stadium is now located. It is on the grounds of the latter that football was first played in the city. This first stage of the Club will have another high point in 1892, with the celebration of the IV Centenary of the Discovery of America, in whose acts it actively participated with institutions as important to the city as the Huelva Royal Columbian Society.

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  News in the newspaper "La Provincia" (4 October 1890) informing of different meetings of the Huelva Recreation Club with clubs of Gibraltar, Seville and Malaga.

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  News of May 6, 1892 invoking a party against the Riotinto.

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  Press news of April 28, 1892 on a meeting of the Club at the Gas Factory.

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  Announcer of Acts Relating to the Fourth Centennial of the Discovery of America (Fondo Díaz Hierro del Archivo municipal de Huelva, Casa Colón).

That high point of 1892 with the celebration of the IV Centenary has left us in the Municipal Archive of Huelva, in the Díaz Hierro fund of the Colón house, the oldest original document preserved from the Club. This document leaves some information, in its content, very important:

• The Club has a specific and established regulation for the games football, cricket and Lawn Tennis. No doubt this shows that they were undoubtedly the oldest regulations that had been created in Spain in relation to the practice of the foot-ball. Items football organized were the first for which the contenders should go dressed in differentiated clothing.
• Releases are made public football between Rio Tinto and Recreative Club and between Gibraltar and Andalusia. The curious thing is that it is unknown who were part of team Andalusia, although it is believed that they should be partners Recreative Club that for greater diversity of events and the request for massive participation of the people of Huelva and their colony in sporting events decided to create a team and parallel to the Recreative Club.

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  Page 6 of the program.

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  Board of Directors.

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  Pages 6 and 7 of the program.

1892: Construction of the Velodrome

Velódromo Stadium. Built in 1892, it was the first official stadium of the club until in the 1950s it was shot down and replaced by the Colombino Stadium.

Among the agreements reached the night the club was founded in 1889, one of them was the construction of a suitable soccer field for the team:

“Let a purposeful place for the Club be obtained as soon as possible. »

The "Rio Tinto Company Limited" He ceded the land (symbolically rented for one hundred pesetas per year) in December 1890, also counting on the support of the civil Governor and the mayor. These lands were located on the so-called San Cristóbal road, an area close to what today takes the name of Alameda Sundheim, in homage to the German who made possible the arrival of the English in the province and the creation of the Club. Thus, the Recreativo inaugurated on August 20, 1892 the Velodrome Stadium, suitable for playing Football and Cricket. Throughout the year work is done from Huelva with the help of the Rio Tinto Company Limited in the construction of the aforementioned stadium. In the press release of May 6, 1892 of the newspaper "La Provincia" you can read the appointment of the subcommittee in charge of attending to the construction works of the Velodrome field:

“...a subcommission composed of Mr. Mackay and Mr. D. Carlos Adam to attend to the preparation of the land for the construction of the Velódromo and another subcommission of the Srs. Reeves, Catlin, Crofts, and Muñoz for program preparation...»

And in the Program of Events organized by the Recreational Club in commemoration of the IV Centenary of the Discovery of America in 1892:

"...it has been built on the magnificent road of Seville in front of the Hotel Colon, owned by the Rio Tinto Company Limited and given to this society free of charge; this Velódromo.................. »

In the same program it is clearly demonstrated that the Velodrome was suitable for the game of football.

«... Football departure between Club Recreativo de Huelva against Rio Tinto after 1893»

Implementation in Huelva. English colony and young people from the city

About William J. Alcock (according to J. González Pérez).

With the construction of the new "El Velódromo" You can't stop playing football and other Anglo-Saxon sports such as lawn tennis, cycling, golf and cricket. Huelva in those years had a very important and numerous English and foreign colony in general, proof of this are the recurring references to it and its hobbies in local publications of the time.

«...Club Recreative: This Society is dedicated exclusively to providing distractions to its partners. Among them are great football players, cricket and lawn tennis..."

Regarding the period from 1893 to 1903, the contributions of the book published in 1930 by José González Pérez stand out, for which at that time he had the contribution of two former players from 1889, Alcock and B.T. Daniels who were then still living: and who demonstrate the "health" of football in that early period: The value of this book comes precisely from having the collaboration and testimonial contribution of Alcock and Daniels for its preparation. Alcock was the British consul in Huelva and Daniels lived in the town of Valverde del Camino where he founded the Valverdeña Olympic Club and was then its president.

«...of when they were held at the Velódromo football and Cricket matches in which Rio Tinto and Huelva and the sailors' teams were contested alternatively the victory...»

About the conversation with B.T. Daniel (according to J. González Pérez).

In those years mentions to the club from other institutions are also recurring. Thus between 1896 and 1897, in the Minutes Book of the "Seaman's Institute" and with dates of November 29, 1896 and January 23, 1897. Thus it is recorded that Dr. William Alexander Mackay, member also from the board of directors of the "Seaman's Institute" he became the board of directors of the Recreational Club, this being then under the tutelage of the Marine Institute, which, according to the aforementioned minutes, would be in charge of managing the Club and the facilities of the Velodrome. According to the book by J. González Pérez from 1929, W. Alexander Mackay continued to fight tenaciously and was the "alma mater" of the society, whose members included between 1896 and 1900 D. Juan Mcdonald, Guillermo Morrison, D.H. Layton and others. Thus, during these years the Seaman's Institute gave new energy to the Recreational Club, and between 1893 and 1896 football continued to be played just as that English colony also continued to practice cricket. It is due to these games that are still being played that the young natives of Huelva are also going to acquire a great fondness for football, as evidenced by the fact that in the local press of 1899 the organization by of "distinguished young people" from football matches in the El Velódromo field.

«... A few afternoons ago, the Recreative Club Racetrack is very busy, where some distinguished young people organize lively football games...»

Seamans Institute Cup, the oldest trophy preserved by the club (1904).

Those youngsters had to pay attention to someone so they could also become fond of Sport of Football. There was no television or radio, so it is more than likely that they regularly saw this sport practiced during the years prior to 1899 in the Velodrome of the Recreational Club or on the grounds of the Gas Factory, local teams of Club members and sailors English or employees of Río Tinto, as D. José González Pérez points out in his 1929 book.

Starting in 1900, references in the local press to football games organized by young people in the El Velódromo field of the Recreational Club were constant.

«... Yesterday afternoon there was football game at the Recreative Club Speed. For this reason it was said very lively place...»

From then on, the Club Recreativo generated a good amount of press releases in the local newspaper "La Provincia", showing the momentum that football definitely has in the city of Huelva.

In 1903, the club built another pavilion for playing football on the Velodrome grounds, with the permission of the Río Tinto mining company. In the RDB ("Report of Deborad Deputation"), internal documents of the Rio Tinto mining company, there was evidence in that year of the request of the Recreational Club for the necessary permit from the mining company for the construction of new football and cricket pavilions, which are still its main departments. Obviously the Sport of Football had grown so much in the Club since 1900 that it became necessary to build other fields, to facilitate the practice of football to its members.

«Huelva Recreation Club: This Club having received permission to erect on the company's ground a pavillion for cricket and football... »

Shortly after, the Recreational Club wins a tournament organized by the Seaman's Institute. This Cup is preserved in the showcases of the Nuevo Colombino, whose inscription reads the year 1904, the date on which a competition was played that was won by the Club Recreativo de Huelva. And in 1906 it became the first Andalusian team to participate in a Spanish championship: thus on April 9, and in response to repeated invitations from the Madrid Football Club, Recreativo played against the Madrid team, losing 3-1 and against Athletic Club, also losing 2-1.

Spanish Championships, Royal Spanish Football Federation and the era of the big clubs

Announcement of a match at the Velódromo in the late 1920s. At that time the old stadium had already reached 36 years since its construction.

The first Spanish Championship had been held at the Campo del Hipódromo in Madrid in 1902, organized by Carlos Padrós. Four years later, after declining invitations in previous years due to financial problems, the Huelva Club decided to participate in the 1906 edition. That year a squad made up of players from the Riotinto team was sent, but with the name of Recreativo. The matches were played at the Hipódromo de la Castellana against Athletic Club and Madrid F.C. On April 9, he played against the Madrid team. His lineup was made up of Carse, Spalding, Millet, Vargas, Balbuena, Guzmán, Geoghegan, Cunnighan, Waterston and Tellechea, the Huelva team losing 3-0:

«The team of Huelva was strongly handicapée for having arrived that morning after twenty-four hours of travel. »

Meeting in front of the Spanish F. C. de Cádiz in 1917.

Two days later, they faced the Basque team, losing again 3-0 on a rainy and stormy day. That year Madrid F.C. was champion. The following year the Club participated in the championship again, this time with a team from the city, in an edition that was already attended by seven Spanish clubs. In their matches they drew (3-3) with Vigo F.C., lost (4-2) with Madrid C.F and also lost (2-0) with H.F.C. of Salamanca. In that edition, which ended as fifth place, Recreativo lined up Balbuena, Cano, Calvente, Bustamante, Wintrope, Padilla, Guzmán, Estrada, Jurado, Corte and Tellechea.

Two years later, in 1909, various personalities (E. Coll, E. Muga, Hans Gamper, N. Masferrer) sent a letter to the club requesting their opinion on the possibility of creating a Spanish Foot-ball and inviting you to send your own delegate to meetings for its creation. That same year, through the mediation of the Moguereño minister Burgos y Mazo, Alfonso XIII agreed to be the honorary president of the club and authorized the team to add the name of "Real" to its title, a few months before the Royal Spanish Football Federation was finally established.

Between 1903 and 1916 the club won several Andalusian championships and in 1920 became the first Spanish club to beat a Portuguese team: Sporting Lisbon. These are years of participation in the Spanish Championship while continuing in the Andalusian Federation. In 1940, a time when the current great Spanish football clubs were already beginning to impose their sporting power, they achieved their first promotion to the Second Division, a category that they maintained for only one year and did not recover until 1957.

Recreativo and Onuba FC: two names, the same entity

Recreativo Onuba was a name used by Recreativo de Huelva from 1940 to 1945, the year in which the Club finally recovered its historic name of "Real Club Recreativo de Huelva". Before "Recreativo Onuba" the Club used the name "Onuba FC", federatively forced to do so and after an open conflict took place with the Southern Regional Federation itself.

On October 25, 1931, Recreativo de Huelva played a regional division match against Betis, both risking the possibility of participating again in the Spanish Championship. The match was lost by the Huelva club by one to two, which, added to the poor refereeing performance according to local fans, caused disorders in the old El Velódromo stadium. After the game, the Civil Governor of Huelva blamed the referee and the technical team of the Sevillian club for the altercations, arresting and imprisoning them. After these events, and the Club tired of all the humiliation that it had been suffering from the South Regional, the Huelva Board of Directors decided to abandon the South Federation as a form of protest against the arbitration and the repeated abuses. This voluntary withdrawal from the Club appears in a press release dated October 27, 1931 in the newspaper "La Provincia". Days later, the Federation in turn fined the Club for the disorders with an economic amount much higher than that legally established in the regulations established by the federation itself, 17,000 pesetas against the 2,600 pesetas that should have been imposed. The loss of the South Federation Club is reflected in the Minutes of the Executive Committee of the FEF of November 16, 1931. Therefore, for all purposes, Recreativo lost its federative seniority, but never its foundational seniority.

On dates after the Club de la Federación Sur was resigned, it continued to play friendly matches against Balompédica Linense, Deportivo de Sevilla and other Clubs, while the board decided what to do to continue participating in official competitions.

During a period of almost three weeks, Huelva society in general knew nothing of the negotiations that were taking place between Recreativo, the Regional Sur and the Nacional and, with more confusion than anything else, the local press did not report about the matter until December 12, when "La Provincia" reported that the "Onuba FC" would soon be created from "former elements of the Recreational Club" and that it would use the same field, El Velódromo, and almost the entire of the player squad. The pertinent clarifications, however, would not be found in the local press because since Huelva is a small town, the soccer groups would have been in charge of clarifying the situation.

However, these clarifications would be found in the national press. Thus, the newspaper Mundo Deportivo of Barcelona reported on January 2, 1932 regarding a first match of the Club that "...The former Recreativo, in plan of reorganization, played a great match..." and that "...Onuba FC, a descendant of Recreativo, it was superior to Catalunya…”. In addition, in 1933, on the occasion of the Spanish championship tie played by Onuba F.C. against Murcia, the newspaper Sport de Madrid refers in a press release dated April 18, 1933, to Onuba F.C. as "legal heir of that Club of pleasant memory (Recreational) ”. In addition, in the same Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo in a press release dated April 16, 1933, and in reference to the aforementioned tie, it literally says that "...Onuba FC is the old Recreativo de Huelva...".

Some historians have defended, without any documentation, that the reins of local soccer are assumed by a team called Onuba FC that existed since 1910. This is an erroneous fact as demonstrated by historian A. Balmont. After investigating the local newspaper La Provincia from 1910 to 1931, it can be shown that the Onuba Football Club of 1910 disappeared in 1912 and was never heard from again. Therefore, the Onuba FC named in 1932 has nothing to do with that of 1910, and is a direct consequence of the Club's desire to change its name to avoid the sanction imposed by the South Federation.

Going back to 1932 and the description of the facts, in reality, various difficulties delayed the federative registration of Onuba FC until the following season when it finally did, but in the Western Football Federation. In the first place, as extracted from the press release of December 12, 1931 in the newspaper "La Provincia", the Club, now called Onuba FC, was going to register in the Southern Federation in the preferred group B, but the Southern Federation realized that Onuba FC was Recreativo de Huelva itself, and therefore denied its registration. From here the Club looks for a new Federation and finds it in Extremadura, which in 1932 is renamed the Western Football Federation. In 1936, as can be extracted from multiple press releases in the newspaper La Provincia, the Club recovered its name, with such bad luck that the Civil War made an appearance. In 1939 the new FEF issued a statement in August in which it annulled any agreement reached by the previous National Federation and returned the Clubs to the situation prior to July 18, 1936 (Vicente Martínez Calatrava). In 1940, however, he managed to get the Club accepted as Recreativo Onuba and finally in 1945 it recovered its historical name.

Therefore, the de facto link between Recreativo and Onuba FC was obvious, but the legal documents were missing to support it. Some national historians have insisted that Recreativo and Onuba FC were not the same entity and therefore questioned the Deanship of Recreativo. This is not sustained first with the data briefly pointed out above and secondly with what is exposed below:

According to "Article 5 of the Organic Regulation of the FEF" from 1931 and following, "any Club that wanted to be registered in a Federation had to be legally constituted in accordance with the Associations Law of 1887", and therefore they had to be registered in the Civil Government. Therefore, Onuba FC had to be registered in some way in the Registry of Associations of the Civil Government of Huelva, otherwise it could not have been registered in the Western Football Federation in 1932. The historian Antonio Bálmont scrutinized the documents of the Civil Government and found the definitive proof: the Recreativo de Huelva file, which also reflected a change of name to "Onuba FC". Therefore, it is obvious that if Onuba FC had been an independent company, then said denomination would appear in a different and new file, something that does not happen and does not exist.

All of this finally shows that Recreativo de Huelva and Onuba FC were actually two names used for the same entity officially founded in 1889: The dean of Spanish Soccer, Recreativo de Huelva. .

First promotion to First Division and relegation to Second Division B

On the road, at the beginning of the province of Huelva, in Manzanilla, because from there to Huelva that was one hand, apotheosic. So to go through the meters that separate the Plaza del Punto del Ayuntamiento took the coach more than two hours.

Víctor Esparaago, in 1978, recalling in the press the return to the city after the promotion to Primera.

In 1978, under the presidency of Mr. José Martínez Oliva, the Club achieved what would be its first promotion to the First Division. Led by Eusebio Ríos and commanded by players like Víctor Espárrago, Enrique Lora, Isabelo Ramírez, Poli Rincón or the great promise of Huelva football Joaquín Pichardo, the Club certifies a promotion on a Pentecost Sunday, curiously the date on which it will achieve the next two promotions a First decades later. The following season they made their debut in the division of honor and although they were relegated that same year, curiously, they became the leader of the competition on the first day. After that season, it remained in the Second Division until 1990, when it was relegated to the Second Division B, a category in which it would remain for a few years of crisis results and economic hardships. During this time in Segunda, important players such as Julio Alberto, Juan José Enríquez, Macizo, the Hungarian international Torok, the goalkeeper Humbert Baumgartner, or the Uruguayans Arsenio Luzardo and Jesús Noel Alzugaray were active; although quite a few players from the youth academy emerged, such as Cepeda, Manolo Zambrano, his brother Antonio Zambrano or Melo, thanks to the youth academy policy maintained by President Muñoz Lozano at the beginning of the 80s.

Crisis and administrative promotion

The great crisis of Recreativo dates back to the 1989/90 season, the centenary. The Club promised them a happy year since, apart from the centenary, it was considered that there was a good team capable of achieving the feat of promotion after ten consecutive years in the Second Division. But the year ended with an unexpected relegation to 2nd B (it was the team's first year in that category) and with a debt of more than 1,000 million pesetas. Over the years the debt would increase and due to non-payments on June 4, 1991 the players locked themselves up in protest, the economic suffocation was unusual in the Club until then and the crisis seemed increasingly uncontrollable. In those years, players such as Oliveira, Juan Maraver, Romo, Manolo Pedraza, Salva, César Bernal, Oscar Arias, Vicente Fuensalida, Quico, Perico Medina and Paquito among others stood out.

But luck would change in 1995 with the arrival of Pedro Rodríguez as mayor of Huelva, when the city council decided to subsidize the Columbian Trophy, which would give the club relative peace of mind. In April 1999, Rodríguez convened an extraordinary plenary session with the sole objective of saving Recreativo. In that plenary session it was decided to sell the Colombino Stadium to the company Odeinsa for 16,227,000 euros, in order to pay off a large part of the club's debt. The next step was to transform it into SAD (Sociedad Anónima Deportiva) and thus the club would be definitively saved. After having recovered the club financially, the next objectives were to provide it with a new and modern stadium and make a good team to, in the future, return to the First Division.

The 1999/2000 season began without Joaquín Caparrós and was faced as a transition season between “The crisis” and “the theoretical rise”. But this year things did not go as expected and Recre was relegated to 2nd B again. The following summer, with Lucas Alcaraz on the bench and with a squad formed to promote to Segunda, the new campaign was expected to begin. It was the night of July 31, in the middle of the Colombian Festivities, when after the administrative descents of the C.P. Merida and the C.D. Logroñés announces that the Club would occupy one of the vacancies in second left by the previous ones. From then on, the best sporting years in the Club's history will begin.

21st century

Lucas Alcaraz managed to classify the Recreational for the Cup final for the first time in his story.

The 2000/01 season began as a transition season with new players and coach, Lucas Alcaraz, who was initially hired for the team's stay in Segunda B. The Club finished in sixth position, with César Quesada as the Zamora Trophy. The following year the objective was again permanence despite the success of the previous year. This time a team was presented with men like Loren or Espínola in defense, Óscar, Soriano and Benítez in midfield and the great star of the team at the time, Raúl Molina. Throughout the first and second rounds, he was scoring points until he reached his closest rival, Xerez. He reached matchday 41, on Pentecost Sunday, in a match at the Nuevo Colombino that faced Recre and Xerez, with promotion at stake. Xerez scored early in the scoring minutes and in the 9th minute Calle made it 0-1. But Recre managed to react and minutes before the end of the first part, Soriano got the tie. In the second, a penalty by Jerezista Ramón was awarded against David Fernández. Soriano was in charge of launching it, scoring the winning goal and promotion to first division.

The 2002/03 season saw the return of Recreativo de Huelva to the First Division. He started the season with several consecutive defeats, so he was on his way to being the worst bottom player in history and with the coach highly questioned. But the failure in the League was offset by success in the Cup as they reached the quarterfinals for the first time in their history after leaving behind Villanueva de Córdoba, Unión Deportiva Almería and Real Betis Balompié. The second round began with a more balanced team and the arrival of players like Joaozinho, Zelaya and Mariano Pernía. In the second he showed European numbers and considerably improved the scoring section (3-0 against Atlético de Madrid, 2-3 against Athletic Club in San Mamés or 5-0 against Villareal). He reached the month of April out of the relegation zone and in the final of the Copa del Rey but he could not face the final stretch of the League well, so after falling at the Sánchez Pizjuán against Sevilla, he was relegated as runner-up in Spain, after being defeated in the Cup final, with a resounding 3-0, against Samuel Eto'o's Mallorca.

Marcelino García Toral.

The following year, a completely new team was formed with players like Mariano Toedtli, Toño (who finished Zamora in Segunda) or Ikechukwu Uche and with a new coach, Paco Herrera, who was later dismissed and replaced by Sergio Kresic. The following seasons outlined a radical change in the squad, first under the direction of Quique Hernández and with veterans like Calle, Rosu and youngsters like Xavi Jiménez or Cheli and, in 2005/06, with young promises (Iago Bouzón, Rafa Barber and Dani Bautista) and with a new and young coach, Marcelino García Toral. On June 4, 2006, again Pentecost Sunday, on matchday 40 against CD Numancia, the team won with a resounding 0-3 with goals from Mateo, Viqueira and Casas that left the albiazules, for the second time in five years., in First.

The new year in the First Division, 2006/07, began with the departure of players like Benítez or Luque and new reinforcements, such as Jesús Vázquez, Javi Guerrero, Florent Sinama-Pongolle or Santi Cazorla, who was declared the best player in Spain in 2007, by the magazine Don Balón. Recreativo began its third season in the First Division and after drawing at home against Real Mallorca, it achieved three consecutive victories. It was remarkable that on December 19 the team was preparing to play its last game of the year the following day at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium against Real Madrid. That morning, one of the fans' buses traveling to Madrid suffered an accident due to a broken down truck on the A-49 motorway, killing four people from the same family (four months later there was a fifth victim). The Club tried postpone the game but it ended up being played. With Uche and Sinama up front, the team gained speed and pressure, achieving a final result of 0-3 (Sinama, Uche and Viqueira) which became the best tribute to the victims. Throughout the second round he was constantly looking for the European qualification but the bad run away from home (only one win in the entire second round) and the terrible final sprint (5 points out of 21 possible) prevented it, although he finished in an excellent eighth position.

Picture before a match of the 2008/2009 League season.

Ikechukwu Uche, Recre player between 2003 and 2007. Pichichichi of Second Division 2005/06 was proclaimed to score 20 goals.

In the 06/07 season, Uche, third top scorer in the history of Recre in the First Division and first Pichichi in the Second Division, left the Club after a match against Real Zaragoza, where he was applauded by the Albiazul fans,^{[citation needed]} left for Getafe. Merino left his last game at the Colombino in front of his fans while another great banner of the Golden Generation,^{[citation needed]} Viqueira, wore the shirt for the last time del Recreativo on March 11, 2007 against Getafe. In addition, Cazorla was recalled by Villarreal.

The following table shows the club's achievements in its golden years, mainly between 2001 (first promotion) and 2007, the last season of coach Marcelino García Toral:

If in the 2007/08 season they were saved from relegation on the last day after having struggled for a large part of the competition, the following one developed with more problems. Despite having come out of the relegation places thanks to a good run and players like Camuñas or Adrián Colunga, in the final third of the season he only managed 4 points out of the last 39 in play, so on May 23, 2009 he was relegated. mathematically to the Second Division after losing at the Nuevo Colombino (0-1) against Racing Santander. The 2009/10 season was the worst, in terms of results, of the last 11 years, finishing the competition in ninth place.

The season began with Javi López as the new coach, who came from Deportivo Alavés, after being relegated to Second B the previous season. After a hesitant start to the 2009-10 season, with many draws, they went on a losing streak. Javi López was fired on November 28 after losing 2-0 against UD Salamanca at the Nuevo Colombino. Raül Agné was hired as the new coach, with whom he achieved better results, especially in the League final, and the Huelva team was saved.

On September 20, 2010, unable to pay the payroll of the staff, he requested to take advantage of the Bankruptcy Law with the intention of clearing up accounts, which determined that on October 22 the full council presented its resignation.

In the 2010-11 season, after Carlos Ríos arrived to replace Pablo Alfaro, the team overcame the situation and again managed to save themselves comfortably.

Return to Second Division B

In the 2014-15 season, Recreativo returned to Segunda B after finishing in twentieth position and completing a very bad season both in terms of sport and money, with the players not paid and after relegation with the possibility of disappearing as club.

At the end of June, the supposed sale of the club became known, with the aim of enrolling in Segunda B and saving the club financially. In mid-October and after a rather poor start in the league, José Domínguez was dismissed despite having the confidence of the squad. His replacement was Alejandro Ceballos.

At the end of the 2016-17 season, the team was on the verge of disappearing due to a debt of 603,000 euros, but it paid off that debt on the last day of the term.

In the 2018/19 season, the Dean came first (group IV champion) having the most important streak in the team's history: 22 consecutive games without losing, which made it the best First Division team in Spain, Second and Second B of the 2018/19 season, finding themselves in a good moment for their long-awaited promotion to the Spanish Second Division. By being first, he had the advantage of being able to play a single tie; his rival was Fuenlabrada. The result of the first leg (Fernando Torres) was 3-0 and the second leg (Nuevo Colombino) was 1-1. Therefore, Fuenlabrada promoted automatically, the Dean was eliminated from the first round and went to the second of the Play-offs (second chance for being first). In this second round, his rival was Mirandés. The result of the first leg (in Anduva) was 1-0 and the second leg (in Nuevo Colombino) was 1-1. In this last match, Recreativo scored as soon as the second half began (which is why they were leading 1-0), and they were going to go into extra time; However, a goal from Mirandés in the last minute of discount expelled the Dean of Spanish Football from the dream of promotion after 4 seasons in Second B.

On May 9, 2021, they confirmed their relegation to Tercera RFEF, which would become the fifth category after the restructuring of the Spanish promotion, after the victory of the subsidiary team of U.D. Las Palmas 4-2 over Yeclano Deportivo.

In the 2021-2022 season, the team achieved direct promotion to the second RFEF, after being champion of group X with three days to go in the regular season.

Shield

Silver (white) shield, in the center the initials of the Club in azur (blue) intertwined and surrounded by a gold (yellow) circle, all stamped with the royal crown. The shape of the shield is similar to the typical mouth of a chasuble, but with straighter lines at the bottom with an azur (blue) border. This replaced the original of the Huelva Recreation Club of 1889. During In the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 seasons they used the original 1889 shield again for the celebration of its 125th founding anniversary.

Clothing

• Local uniform: White t-shirt with blue stripes, white trousers and white stockings.
• Alternative uniform: Red t-shirt, trousers and red stockings.

Evolution

1889

2010-11

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2020-21

2021-22

2022-23

Infrastructure

Recreativo de Huelva has run three stadiums throughout its history:

New Colombino. Main Tribune.

• Campo del Velódromo. The club had its first official enclosure from August 20, 1892, which hosted the team until the 1960s. His inauguration was presided by Queen Maria Cristina and her son Alfonso XIII. The land was ceded by the Rio Tinto Company Limited by 100 pesetas per year on condition that they were dedicated to sports practice. At present, in its Alameda Sundheim lands occupied by buildings, a square and a club rock, you can see a monument that refers to the decathage of the team. (See the old weather situation here)

• Colombino Stadium, called in its origin as Municipal Stadium. The second house of the club was located in the populous neighborhood of Isla Chica. It was a collision, inaugurated in 1957, which was surrounded by a track of athletics and with capacity for 17,000 viewers standing or 13,000 sitting. It stopped being the official stadium of the team in 2001, although it was not ruined until 2007 for the construction of various facilities (see the old stadium situation here)

• Estadio Nuevo Colombino. Opened informally on 8 November 2001 in a friendly match in front of the Newcastle United Football Club in which the Onubenses won, its official inauguration occurred with a match that faced the selections of Spain and Mexico, this being the first time that the Spanish selection came to Huelva; the result was 1-0 for the Spaniards and the stadium was filled to the maximum of its people. On the other hand, the building is also used as the headquarters of the club, composed of different offices that organize all the different elements of it. The trainings are also carried out in the Dean Sports City of the Spanish Football, on the outskirts of the city (See the current situation of the stadium here).

Club details

Since 2001, most of the Club's facilities have been located in the Nuevo Colombino Stadium itself. It has clubs spread throughout the city and different Spanish provinces.

• Direction: Avenida del Decano del Football Spanish s/n. 21001 Huelva (Spain)
• Number of partners: 10000 (in 2022)
• Number of peñas:142 (in 2010)

• Seasons in 1.a5
• Seasons in 2.a: 38
• Seasons in 2.aB: 14

• Seasons in 3.a: 23
• Seasons in Third RFEF: 1 (Temporada 2021-22)
• Best place in the league: 8th (1st season: 2006-07)
• Best temporary position in the league: 1.o (1st season: 1978-79)
• Worse placed in the league: 20.a (1.a (2008-09)
• Historical position in First Division: 42.
• Greatest goal:
  • Recreation 14-2 Puerto Real CF (Third Division 1960-61)
• Greatest goleada got out of the house:
  • Atletic of Linares 1-9 Recreative (Third Division 1946-47)
• Major goleada fits:
  • Real Murcia Club Soccer 7-0 Recreative (3 times; Cup 1932-33, Second Division 1957-58 and 1982-83)
  • Sports Club Mestalla 7-0 Recreative (Second Division 1959-60)
  • C. D. E. Sabadell F. C. 7-0 Recreative (Copa de la Liga 2.a 1984-85)
• Greatest goleada in the house:
  • Recreation 1-5 Burgos Football Club (First Division 1978-79)

Honours of Prizes

National competition (10 titles)	Titles	Subcamponatos
Spanish Cup (0)		2002-03. (1)
Second Division of Spain (1)	2005-06	1977-78 (1)
Second "B" Division of Spain (0)	2018-19 (Group IV Champion)	1990-91, 1997-98 (group IV camps)
Third Division of Spain (9)	1929-30, 1930-31, 1946-47, 1950-51, 1956-57, 1958-59, 1960-61, 1968-69 and 1973-74	1940-41, 1947-48. (2)

Regional competition (4 titles)	Titles	Subcamponatos
Southern Regional Championship (1)	1917-18	1916-17 and 1918-19. (2)
Regional Championship (3)	1932-33, 1933-34 and 1934-35

Friendly tournaments and other awards

• Trophy Colombino (14): 1965, 1967, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2016 and 2017.
• Trophy City of Motril (3): 1970, 1971 and 2008.
• Seamen's Institute Cup (1): 1915.
• Trofeo Hotel Urbano (1): 1928.
• Rainbow Cup (1): 1928.
• Trophy City of Torcal (Antequera) (1): 1985.
• Trophy City of Cáceres (1): 1988.
• Trophy Conception Arenal (1): 2006.
• Trophy City of Palma (1): 2013.
• Salt Trophy (1): 2017.
• Memorial Manuel González Rodríguez (2): 2016 and 2021.
• Trophy Antonio Concepción Reboura (1): 2021.
• Silver Trophy (1): 2021.
• Gold Medal of the City of Huelva, granted in 1978 and 2007.
• Distinction of the RFEF by the centennial of the Club in 1989.
• Gold Medal of Andalusia in 1990.
• Silver Plate of the Royal Order to the Sports Merit in 2006.
• Prize Player number 12 a la afición del Recreativo en 2008.
• Good cultural interest (since August 2016).

Trophies organized by the club

Every year, during the month of August, Recreativo organizes the Columbian Soccer Trophy. It is a classic summer soccer tournament that began in 1965, under the presidency of Mr. José Luis Martín Berrocal, founder of this tournament, with a triangular one in which the oldest clubs in Italy participated, Genoa, from France, the Racing of this and Spain, the Recre and in which the dean was awarded this first trophy. The champion is awarded a silver caravel, being Recreativo the one that has won the most trophies (a total of 14), the last of which was in the summer of 2017.

Before the start of the 2012-13 season, the club organized a new trophy called the Dean's Trophy, in commemoration of its nickname as the oldest club in Spain. In said first edition, they faced Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol, who, after a two-goal draw at the end of regulation time, won 4-3 on penalty kicks.

Sponsorships

In September 2012, Recreativo de Huelva reached a sponsorship agreement with two leading clubs in Huelva sports, CB Conquero for women's basketball and CB IES La Orden for badminton, both in the highest category of their corresponding sports, becoming Toyota Recreativo Conquero and R.C. Recreativo de Huelva-IES La Orden respectively.

Sports organization chart

Squad 2022-2023

Players			Technical equipment
N.o Nac. Pos. Name Age Ult team. End contract Porteros 1 Spain! 0BY Ruben Gálvez 29 years UD Melilla 2023 13 Spain! 0BY Adrian Victores 21 years CD Leganés B 2023 Defense 2 Spain! 1DEF Juanjo Mateo 27 years San Roque de Lepe 2023 24 Spain! 1DEF Rubén Serrano 22 years quarry 2023 17 Nigeria! 1DEF Israel 24 years Cadiz CF "B" 2023 Spain! 1DEF Fran Ávila 30 years CD San Roque de Lepe 2023 14 Spain! 1DEF Miguel Cancelo 21 years Xerez CD 2023 Spain! 1DEF Bernardo Cruz 29 years Córdoba C. F. 2023 Spain! 1DEF Josema Gallego 22 years AD Ceuta 2023 Spain! 1DEF Alberto Trapero 23 years CD Guijuelo 2023 Campers 4 Spain! 2MED Manu Galán 24 years Huesca B 2023 8 Spain! 2MED Jordi Ortega 28 years Club de Fútbol Talavera de la Reina 2023 8 Spain! 2MED Mohamed Mbaye 22 years US Tataouine 2023 8 Spain! 2MED Enric Martínez 23 years RCD Mallorca B 2023 4 Panama! 2MED Josiel Núñez 30 years CF Intercity 2023 5 Spain! 2MED Victor Morillo 26 years Club Deportivo San Roque de Lepe 2023 6 Spain! 2MED Pedro Pata 23 years Bollullos CF 2023 7 Spain! 2MED Buttti 21 years Sevilla FC "C" 2023 8 Spain! 2MED Iago Díaz 30 years Real Avilés 2023 12 Senegal! 2MED Arona Diawara 22 years Cadiz CF "B" 2023 23 Guinea-Bissau! 2MED Edmilson dos Santos 22 years CF Talavera 2023 Delanteros 10 Spain! 3OF THE Dopi 27 years CE Sabadell 2023 18 Spain! 3OF THE Adrià Arjona 27 years SD Huesca 2023 22 Spain! 3OF THE Juanito Sánchez 29 years Xerez CD 2023 9 Spain! 3OF THE Juan Delgado 28 years CD City of Lucena 2023 ARG! 3OF THE Paul Knight 36 years Club Deportivo Tudelano 2023 22 Spain! 3OF THE Sergio Chinchilla 26 years Club Deportivo Calahorra 2023 Spain! 3OF THE Antonio Salinas 24 years Deportivo yeclano 2023 Spain! 3OF THE Nacho Heras 25 years Real Balompédica Linense 2024			Coach(s) Abel Gómez Moreno Assistant coach(s) Pablo Herrero Fernández Physical Preparer(s) Marcos Chena Sinovas and David Torrejón Coach(s) of porters Miguel Rosa Delegate Manuel Pedraza Legend Pos.: Position Nac.: Nationality of sport Captain Mission BY / ARQ: Guardameta DEF: Defense MED / VOL: Camper OF THE: Delantero Official web template

Coaches

Throughout its history, Recreativo has had coaches such as Franz Platko, Eusebio Ríos, Víctor Espárrago, Joaquín Caparrós, Lucas Alcaraz or Marcelino García Toral. Although during the first years it was the directors-founders of the institution who were in charge of sports management, with the introduction of sport throughout the country, professionals began to be hired to take care of this position. Throughout the years of history they were the top technical managers of the first team, achieving successes such as the Andalusian championships and the different promotions to the third and second division as failures in which the team was relegated to lower divisions. But the Basque Eusebio Ríos was the first coach to get promoted to the First Division, a success matched more than two decades later by both the Granada coach Lucas Alcaraz González (who even led the team to the Copa del Rey final) and by the Asturian Marcelino García Toral.

President and board of directors

Monument to Scottish Charles Adams, the first president of the Club, at the door of the Columbus House. I'm looking for Elías Rodríguez Picón.

• Chairman: José Antonio Sotomayor Díaz
• Counsellors: Ivan Morón Pendás and Miguel Ángel López-Tarrulla Martín.
• Secretary: Nicolás Morón Pendás.
• Director General Deportivo: Daniel Alejo
• Technical Secretariat: Vicente Fuensalida.
• Coordinator: Juan Antonio Zamora.
• Associate Coordinator: Raúl Molina
• Department of fertilizers: Manuel Pedraza.
• Department of Marketing and Advertising: Fernando Cárdenas.
• Department of Press and Communication: Nardy Lafuente.
• Chief of Administration: Montserrat Cañizares.
• Administration: María José Sánchez, María de la Cinta Hilazo and María del Mar Indiano Ramos.

Being founded by British citizens, the first presidents of the Club were foreign citizens. The first president, Charles Adams, was succeeded by surnames such as Sutherland or Rickets, and it was not until after the first quarter of the following century that José Ochoa de Mora would become the first leader of the institution born on Huelva land. Since then, men like José Luis Martín Berrocal, José Martínez Oliva, De la Villa or Francisco Mendoza Taboada have attended the best sporting moments of the Club.