Erreala of Donostia

Out of all the teams playing in la Segunda Division this year, the one that has arguably the greatest pedigree of success is Real Sociedad. Located in the Basque Country, this team plays in the beautiful coastal city of San Sebastian ("Donostia"), which you've probably heard of. Its stadium, Anoeta, is one of the largest in La Segunda Division and this is where its followers go to cheer on "Erreala" as they are known in Basque.

The team traces its roots all the way back to the start of the 1900s when supposedly some Brits made their way south and introduced the beautiful game there. Starting at that time, along with their fellow Basques, Atletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad only chose players of Basque origin to play on their side. This was a tradition that was upheld until 1989 when Sociedad abandoned it and started bringing in players from other parts of Spain and Europe. Coincidentally, Atletic Bilbao still keeps that tradition today of maintaining only Basque players. Needless to say, that led to some sniping between the two clubs and no doubt that players have been stolen from each other's 'cantera' during the years.

The most significant period for Real Sociedad was in the late 70s and early 80s. The same could be said for Basque futbol in general. Upon Franco's death in 1975, autonomy was brought back to Spain's different regions and no region was thirtsting for it more than the Basque Country. It was a region that was utterly annihilated by Franco's Republican troops during the Spanish Civil War (with help from Hitler's Nazi German artillery) and all throughout Franco's dictatorship, pockets of resistance were always present. Once Franco passed, Basque futbol thrived and this included Real Sociedad's two La Liga championships in 1981 and 1982.

The first championship will always be remembered by Real Sociedad fans. They did not become 'lider' of La Liga until the next to last week of the season. All that was required of them to win La Liga was to at least draw against Sporting in Gijon. Sociedad took an early 0-1 lead but the Asturians pulled ahead as the 90th minute neared. In the final seconds, as Real Madrid were celebrating what they thought was their La Liga title in Valladolid, Jesus Maria Zamora found a ball on his boot and skirted through traffic and into the Sporting net to earn Sociedad the 2-2 draw and La Liga title. To this day, you can walk in any bar or 'cafeteria' in San Sebastian and there's a good chance you'll find a picture of Zamora's shot striking the back of the net.
Real Sociedad now sits in the second spot and have the look of a team that is fixed on becoming a La Liga presence again.

Zaragoza - Elche 2-0
MurciaLas - Palmas 0-0
Hércules - R.Sociedad 1-1
Alavés - Levante 2-2
Sevilla At - Rayo 0-0
Xerez - Córdoba 0-1
Girona - Salamanca 0-1
Castellón - Albacete 1-0
Gimnástic - Alicante 1-1
EibarCelta - 0-0
Tenerife - Huesca 1-1


1. Hércules - 8
2. Real Sociedad - 8
3. Castellon - 8
4. Ray Vallecano - 8
5. Salamanca - 8
6. Girona - 7
7. Tenerife - 7
8. Levante - 7
9. Eibar - 7
10. Huesca - 6
11. Xerex - 6
12. Zaragoza- 5
13. Gimnastic - 5
14. Las Palmas - 5
15. Alavés - 5
16. Albacete - 4
17. Cordoba - 4
18. Sevilla At. - 3
19. Alicante - 2
20. Murcia - 1
21. Celta - 1
22. Elche - 0