Racing de Santander Tryouts & Club Guide: History, Stadium, Players, and More!

Real Racing Club de Santander, commonly referred to as Racing de Santander, is a Spanish professional football club in Santander, Cantabria, Spain. The club competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football.

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Racing de Santander Youth Development System

The Racing de Santander Academy is composed of numerous teams that make up the Club’s grassroots football. The lower categories include Juvenil A, Juvenil B, Cadete A, Cadete B, Infantil A, Infantil B, Infantil Femenino, Alevín A, and Alevín B, in which the young footballers grow as players and people, with the support of the group of coaches who prioritize the development of the player, without obviating the competitive aspect.

Racing de Santander Foundation Academy

The Real Racing Club Academy is hosted at the Nando Yosu facilities. With the usual technicians from the lower sections of the club, the students will be able to continue learning from their teachings. Children between the ages of 5 and 13 may be enrolled as outfield players, and as goalkeepers from 6 years of age. As in the previous course, each enrollee will be able to choose from 1 to 3 days a week between Monday, Tuesday and Friday, always respecting the holiday periods within the school calendar.

“LEARN TO PLAY FOOTBALL WITH RACING”

• Aimed at children from 5 to 13 years old. From 6 years onwards in the Goalkeeper Academy.
• Training sessions led by the Racing Base Soccer technicians and based on the same methodology used at the club.
• Work by stations: Psychomotricity, tactical game, technique and playful game. 
• Small groups and organized by age.
• Internal league training on Saturdays (1 per month)
• On days with adverse weather it will be possible to go to the pavilions of centers collaborating with the Real Racing Club Foundation.

 “SPORT UNITES US”

• The Academy was created to be a link between Racing and the children of Cantabria, with the idea of ​​participating in their sports, academic and human training.
• We promote values ​​such as respect, camaraderie and teamwork through sports practice.
• We promote women’s football by making groups of girls and mixed to enhance their conditions.
• Visits from technicians and other athletes that will give us an integrated vision of the sport.

“TRAIN PEOPLE, NOT JUST ATHLETES”

• Bilingualism: Part of the training is given in English by qualified club technicians (B2).
• Guidelines and fundamental eating habits for our students through information and talks aimed at families by experts in the field.
• We will continue with our chess classes, with their schedule being Friday from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.

To learn more about the academy please click here.

Racing de Santander Recruitment Trials

At the time of this writing, there are no official publications on Racing de Santander trials. Please come back at a later date while we monitor this club or click here to visit their official youth academy news page for the latest updates.

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Racing de Santander History

On February 23, 1913, Racing de Santander played their inaugural game and suffered a loss to neighboring Strong by a score of 1-2. It was formally established on June 14, and given the name Santander Racing Club at the time. It competed in the Luis Redonet Trophy during the summer of its founding, and it was accepted into the Northern Federation on November 14. Santander Racing Club eventually merged with Santander Football Club.

The Spanish League competition was first played during the 1928–1929 season. After a difficult process of elimination to choose the tenth and last team into the new First Division, Racing emerged victorious, claiming victories against Valencia, Betis, and Sevilla in quick succession. The club’s match versus Athletic Bilbao was the first match in the league to end without a goal being scored.

During the time of the Second Republic, Santander was placed in a number of different categories. During the 1930–1931 season, it finished in second place in the Spanish League, tied for 22nd place with Athletic Bilbao, the league winner, and Real Sociedad, who finished in third place. This is the best overall result that the club has ever achieved during its whole existence, and it was led by Fernando Pombo and taught by the Englishman Robert Firth.

They also competed in the International Tournament of Paris but were eliminated by Slavia of Prague in the semifinals of that competition (2–1). In the 1930s, when the academic José Mara de Cosso was serving as president of the organization, it had a variety of positions, ranging from third place in (1933–34) to low table ranks. During the 1934–1935 and 1935–1936 academic years, Racing participated in the Commonwealth Championship of Castilla-Aragón. In the first year of the competition, the team finished in second place. While all was going on in Cantabria, a championship that did not qualify for the Spanish Cup was being contested, and Santoa emerged victorious. During the 1935–36 season, Racing was the first club in the Spanish league to defeat Barcelona and Real Madrid in all four league matches (two at home and two on the road) in the same season. Their victories came as follows: on December 8, 1935, they defeated Barcelona 4–0 at the Campos de Sport de El Sardinero; on December 15, 1935, they won in Madrid 2–4; on March 8, 1936, they defeated Barcelona 2-3; and on March 15, 1936, they defeated Madrid 4–3 at El Sar Milucho was the only player to score in every game, scoring once in every game and twice in Madrid.

After being absent from the top division for ten years, the Cantabrians made their comeback in 1950, scoring 99 goals in only 30 games during their time there.

In order to comply with the law that forbade non-Spanish names, the club had to change its name in 1941 to Real Santander while Spain was under Franco’s rule. The team nearly dropped down to the second division the previous season, but José Mara Maguregui, the team’s youthful manager, led them back up to the first division in 1973, and the name was brought back at that time. Racing was promptly demoted, and during the course of the subsequent seasons, they spent their time bouncing between divisions one and two. Additionally, in 1991, they were declared champions of Segunda División B, which was the new third level that was founded in 1977. Quique Setién, a veteran player, returned to his primary club the next year, assisting it in its promotion back to the premier division, and scored during the club’s famous 5–0 victory at home over FC Barcelona in the 1994–1995 season.

Racing was the first Spanish team to wear a sponsor’s name on their shirt. The name of German electronics company Teka appeared on the shirt for the first time on December 27, 1981, while Racing was playing away from Real Madrid. Teka later became a sponsor of Real Madrid early in the following decade.

On March 25, 2000, Racing competed in their 1,000th game for the La Liga championship.

During the 2000s, Racing only competed in the second tier for a single season, but they were able to achieve promotion with Setién at the helm. Racing finished the 2005–06 season in the 16th position, just one point away from relegation back to Segunda división. The following season was much better, as the club finished 10th, easily retaining its place in the top flight. In 2007–08, under Marcelino Garca Toral, it finished in the sixth position, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup for the first time ever; additionally, the club reached the semifinals of the Copa del Rey twice during this decade.

After purchasing Racing de Santander on January 22, 2011, Indian business tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed, founder and chairman of Western Gulf Advisory, an investment company, immediately fired coach Miguel ngel Portugal. The 2011–12 season brought with it three different managers, and the side returned to the second level after spending the previous decade in the top division.

After the conclusion of the next season, Racing once again ended in 20th place and was demoted. In addition, the club was mired in a major institutional and economic crisis, which brought an end to their 22-year run in a professional league. In spite of this predicament, the team was able to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2013–14 edition of the domestic cup by defeating top-division clubs Sevilla FC and UD Almera; in the first leg of the match against the latter, club fans stormed the presidential tribune at Estadio El Sardinero and assaulted chairman Angel Lavin; in the second leg, the team was able to advance to.

On January 27, 2014, the players of Racing indicated that they would not participate in the forthcoming Cup match unless the club’s president and board resigned. They cited several months of unpaid salaries as the reason for their decision. Three days later, prior to the second leg against Real Sociedad and following a loss of 1–3 in the first match, Racing players gathered inside the center circle immediately after kick-off and refused to play. This occurred before the second match against Real Sociedad. The game was called off after one minute by the referee, Jesu Gil Manzano, and the home team was penalized with a loss because of a forfeit; as a result of the protest, the club was fined and banned from the following edition of the tournament; and on January 31st, Lavin was fired, and former player Juan Antonio Saudo was appointed his successor by practically all of the shareholders.

In the 2013–14 season of the Segunda División B, Racing won their group and advanced to the playoffs, where they defeated Llagostera to win promotion back to the second tier. However, in the 2014–15 season, Racing was promptly demoted to the third tier. In the 2015–16 season, they once again finished in first position in the Segunda B level, although they were ousted in the promotion playoffs after failing to score a single goal over four matches in the ties that they lost to Reus and Cádiz.

After four years in the third tier, Racing was promoted back to the second division in the 2018–19 season by winning their regional group and beating Atlético Baleares in the promotion playoff on the away goals rule. However, Racing was immediately relegated in the 2019–20 season after winning only five games out of 42 and finishing in last place. They finished fourth and than second in the unusual small two-phase group set up during the 2020–21 Segunda División B season, but they were still placed in the newly formed Primera División RFEF and remained at the third level for the 2021–22 season. This was due to the fact that they were unable to immediately bounce back to the second tier after falling to the third level. After spending the previous two seasons in the third tier and vying with Deportivo La Corua for the top position, Racing was able to declare that they finished the season in first place and were promoted to the Segunda División. After defeating Andorra by a score of 3-0 on June 3, 2022, Racing was awarded the first-ever Primera División RFEF championship.

Racing de Santander Stadium

Campos de Sport de El Sardinero or simply El Sardinero is a multi-purpose stadium in Santander, Spain. Since its opening in 1988, when it took the place of the previous Estadio El Sardinero, it has been the primary venue for football matches, and Racing de Santander, a team that once competed in La Liga, has called it their home field since its opening. It is the largest stadium in Cantabria, with a total capacity of 22,222 seats, making it the 28th largest stadium in Spain overall.