page_title: Racing de Santander
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Racing de Santander / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Racing de Santander first crest
context_page_description: Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D., also known as Racing de Santander or simply Racing, is a Spanish football club based in Santander, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1913, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at Estadio El Sardinero, with a capacity for 22,222 spectators. It is one of the ten founding clubs of La Liga.
context_section_description: Racing de Santander played its first match on 23 February 1913, losing 1–2 to neighbouring Strong. It was officially founded on 14 June, as Santander Racing Club, appearing in its first tournament during that summer (Luis Redonet Trophy) and being admitted to the Northern Federation on 14 November, eventually merging with Santander Football Club.
  In the 1928–29 season, the Spanish League competition began. After a complicated elimination process to determine the tenth and final team for the new First Division, Racing successively beat Valencia, Betis and Sevilla. The club was part of the first goalless game in the league, against Athletic Bilbao.
  During the Second Republic, the classifications of Santander varied. In the 1930–31, It achieved the runner-up position in the Spanish League, tied at 22 points with champion Athletic Bilbao, and third-place Real Sociedad. This is the highest finish achieved by the club in all its history, trained by the English Robert Firth and chaired by Fernando Pombo.
  They also participated in the International Tournament of Paris, falling in the semifinal to Slavia of Prague (2–1). In the 1930s, under the presidency of the academic José María de Cossío, it had varied positions, from third place in (1933–34) to low table rankings. In seasons 1934-35 and 1935-36, Racing played in the Commonwealth Championship of Castilla-Aragón, in which it finished second in the first season.  Meanwhile, in Cantabria a lesser championship was disputed, not qualifying for the Spanish Cup; Santoña won it. During the 1935–36 season, Racing was the first club in the Spanish league to beat Barcelona and Real Madrid in the four league matches (both home and two as a visitor) in the same season: on 8 December 1935 they won 4-0 against Barcelona in the Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, on 15 December they won in Madrid 2-4, on 8 March 1936 they beat Barcelona 2-3 and on 15 March they defeated Madrid 4-3 at El Sardinero. The only player to score in all matches (one goal in each match, and two in Madrid) was Milucho.
  In 1950, the Cantabrians returned to the top flight after a ten-year absence, scoring 99 goals in only 30 games.
  During the period of Francoist Spain, the club was renamed Real Santander in 1941, because of the prohibition on non-Spanish names. The name was restored in 1973 as the team returned to the first division one year after nearly relegating, under young manager José María Maguregui. Racing was immediately relegated, And spent the ensuing seasons bouncing between divisions one and two, also being crowned champions in Segunda División B (the new third level, created in 1977) in 1991. Veteran Quique Setién returned to his main club the following year, helping it return to the top flight and scoring in the 1994–95 campaign against FC Barcelona, in a historic 5–0 home win.
  Racing was the first Spanish team to wear a sponsor's name on their shirt: German electronics company Teka on 27 December 1981 away to Real Madrid (the corporation then sponsored the opponents early in the following decade).
  On 25 March 2000, Racing played its 1,000th game in La Liga.
  In the 2000s, Racing only played one season in the second division, winning promotion with Setién as manager. Racing finished the 2005-06 season in the 16th position, just 1 point away from relegation back to Segunda división. The next season was much better, as the club finished 10th, easily retaining its place in the top flight. In 2007–08, under Marcelino García Toral, it finished in 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, being ousted by eventual runners-up Getafe CF and Atlético Madrid in 2008 and 2010, respectively.
  On 22 January 2011, Indian business tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed, founder and chairman of Western Gulf Advisory, an investment company, purchased Racing de Santander, immediately firing coach Miguel Ángel Portugal. The 2011–12 season brought with it three different managers, and the side returned to the second level after
caption: RC Racing de Santander first crest, 1913
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