The club based in Vigo was born a century ago and there are a few facts you may not know about the team.
One of the most historic clubs in Spanish football is RC Celta, a team based in the city of Vigo in Galicia. In the 2023/24 season, the Galician club will celebrate its centenary and here are five things you might not know about the team, from why RC Celta wear sky blue to their stadium move to the legends who have worn the badge in all these years of history.
The move that took the team to Balaídos
RC Celta was born in 1923, following the merger of two big clubs of the city, Real Fortuna and Vigo Sporting, and until 1928 RC Celta played home matches in the sports facilities at Coia. However, the creation of a new stretch of tramway forced the club to move to a new stadium. It was then that a group of members set themselves the goal of providing the team with a home that matched the importance the club was striving for, so they acquired the land on which Balaídos would eventually be built. It is currently one of the oldest LALIGA EA SPORTS stadiums, nowadays known as Abanca-Balaídos for sponsorship reasons.
The reason for the sky blue kits
RC Celta didn't always play in sky blue, the colour that now defines the Vigo team. When starting out, after the merger of Real Fortuna and Vigo Sporting, the club's first kit was red. They decided to wear the same colours as the Spanish national team, but director Juan Baliño Ledo, one of the most important people in the history of the club, suggested the team could represent the colours of the Galician flag. This led the club to change design and start wearing the characteristic light blue with which we know and identify RC Celta today.
The club legends
Throughout the history of RC Celta, there are many important figures, such as Hugo Mallo, Aleksandr Mostovoi, Valeri Karpin, Gustavo López or Javier Maté Berzal. But, there can only be one player with the record number of games played in the sky blue shirt and that is Manolo, a defender from Pontevedra who played for the club from 1966/67 to 1981/82, sticking with the club long enough to play for them in the first division, the second division and Segunda B, playing 533 games. In second place, with 457 games played, is the club's all-time top scorer, Iago Aspas. The player from Moaña has scored 195 goals, meaning he is ahead of the Bosnian Vladimir Gudelj on the scoring charts.
One Pichichi and three Zamora trophies
Although RC Celta have never won the Spanish championship, their players have been on the season's honours list more than once, with one Pichichi Trophy and three Zamora Trophies to the club's name. In the 1947/48 season, Pahíño was the top scorer in the competition with 23 goals in 22 games, leading his team to a historic fourth place in the standings. As for goalkeeping and the Zamora Trophy, there have been three RC Celta goalkeepers who have been the season's shot-stopper with the best record. Santi Cañizares achieved it in 1992/93, Pablo Cavallero did so in 2002/03 and José Manuel Pinto also won this prize in 2005/06.
RC Celta were champions in Europe
While the club's trophy cabinet boasts mostly regional titles, as they have never won LALIGA EA SPORTS or the Copa del Rey, RC Celta do have a European trophy in their history. The Vigo side won the Intertoto Cup in 2000, a tournament that brought a place in the UEFA Cup. The Galicians beat Macedonian team Pelister, before conquering English side Aston Villa in the semi-finals and Russian side Zenit St Petersburg in the final, with South African Benni McCarthy as top scorer.
