Real Unión Club, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Irun, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the province of Gipuzkoa, near the border with France. Founded on 15 May 1915 it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home matches at the 5,000-seater Stadium Gal.[2] Real Unión was one of the founding members of La Liga in 1929. The club spent four seasons in the Spanish elite, suffering relegation in 1932. Real is yet to return to the top tier, spending the rest of its history bouncing between the second and fourth tiers of Spanish football.
Real Unión were among the early pioneering Spanish football teams and, along with fellow Basque clubs Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Arenas Club de Getxo were founding members of La Liga, in 1928.
The club was formed in 1915 following the merger of Irún Sporting Club and Racing Club de Irún. The former was founded in 1902 as Irún Foot-Ball Club, changing its name in 1907. The latter, formed in 1908, had already won the 1913 Copa del Rey, beating Athletic Bilbao 1–0 in a replayed final. The club was briefly known as Unión Club Irún before Alfonso XIII gave the club royal approval. During the Second Spanish Republic the club reverted to this name. Real Unión subsequently won the Copa del Rey a further three times, beating Real Madrid in 1918[3] and again in 1924 (with former Derby County and England striker Steve Bloomer acting as their coach). In 1927 they defeated Arenas Getxo in the first all-Basque final. In 1922 they were runners-up, losing 5–1 to FC Barcelona. The club were relegated from La Liga in 1932.
In 1920, when Spain made their international debut at the Olympic Games, the club provided the squad with three players—Egiazabal, Vázquez and Arabolaza. Another Real Unión player, René Petit, took part in the same Olympic Games with France. In the 70s and 80s, Spanish internationals Javier Irureta and Roberto López Ufarte began their career with the club.
On 11 November 2008, in the 2008–09 Copa del Rey against Real Madrid, Real Unión lost 3–4 at the Santiago Bernabéu, but secured a famous aggregate victory following a 3–2 home victory in the first leg (away goals rule). It was the first time in history that Real Madrid were eliminated by a Segunda División B team at home.[4]
^Félix Martialay (2000). ¡¡¡Amberes!!! Allí nació la furia española [Antwerp!!! There the Spanish fury was born] (in Spanish). [es]. p. 168. ISBN9788492109777. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
Steve Bloomer
Javier Zubillaga
