Real Sociedad

Historia

Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad or La Real, is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909. It plays its home matches at the 32,000-capacity Anoeta Stadium. Real Sociedad won the Liga title in 1980–81 and 1981–82, and last finished runners-up in 2002–03. The club has also won the Copa del Rey twice, in 1909 and 1987. It contests the Basque derby against rivals Athletic Bilbao. Real Sociedad were founder members of La Liga in 1928, and its longest spell in the top flight was for 40 seasons, from 1967 to 2007.The club has competed in the UEFA Champions League twice. In the 2003–04 season, the club progressed to the round of 16 before losing to Lyon.Real Sociedad also has several sports sections: women's football, track and field, field hockey and basque pelota.Name and coloursThe club's name means "Royal Society of Football" in Spanish. During the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), it was renamed "'Donostia Club de Fútbol'". The club is nicknamed in Basque as Erreala or the txuri-urdin ("white-blue" due to the colours of their kit). The colours stem from the flag of San Sebastián: a blue canton on a white field.