Welcome to…Guadalajara

Spain’s best purple team lies in Castile

Guadalajara is a big city east of Madrid, and its football team belongs to the select group of teams from Castile-La Mancha who have once reached professional football. However, the story of this club is also about hitting rock bottom, and it can be considered a miracle that the club is still alive. Welcome to…Guadalajara.

From 2015 until 2017, Guadalajara used a shirt which included the rainbow to show support for the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate equality, inclusion, and unity. The presentation of the shirt coincided with the Pride celebrations in Madrid in 2015. © Jamer Fotografía.

A castilian city

Guadalajara belongs to the inland autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, of which it’s the second biggest city. However, many inhabitants are not happy with their membership of this community because they argue that the province of Guadalajara has many social, cultural, and historical differences from the other provinces of Castile-La Mancha. Still, the city remains belonging to this region, and its principal football club is inscribed in the football federation of Castile-La Mancha.

The panorama of Guadalajara. The city lies on a hill and is flanked by two valleys, while there is also the river of Henares also flows through the west of the city. © Iberian Escapes.

The beginnigs of Deportivo Guadalajara

Football arrived early in Guadalajara due to its proximity to Madrid, but the club that we know today was only created in 1947, becoming the city’s first stable football club: Club Deportivo Guadalajara. The team would not only be called by the last part of the full club name, Guadalajara, but also by the middle part, Deportivo. However, these are long words, and in Spain, people like to use shorter versions: Guada and Dépor, or even Dépor Guada. In short, many words are used to talk about this club.

This was the logo of Guadalajara from 1947 to 2022, only changed slightly in these 75 years. The upper part includes the coat of arms of the city of Guadalajara, depicting the conquering of the city by the Castilians in 1085. In the latter part, the club’s initials are displayed in purple because this is the color of the city’s flag, as purple is the symbolic color of Castile. © lafutbolteca.com

Guadalajara debuted in the Tercera in 1951 and played here for many years consecutively. From 1965 to 1967, Deportivo was not active anymore because they had no stadium anymore, but after inaugurating the Pedro Escartín, the club resumed all activity. In the rest of the 20th century, the morados played many seasons in the Tercera but without ever reaching a higher division.

The Estadio Pedro Escartín, named after a former referee, journalist, two-time manager of the Spanish national team, and the person who established the rules of Spanish football. In short, a crucial person in the world of Spanish football. Escartín has no apparent link with Guadalajara, but it was the Spanish government that decided to bring a tribute to Escartín in 1970. Pedro Escartín himself was the referee in the inaugurational match (for the first five minutes, he was already 68 at the time). © España Estadios.

New century, new luck

In the new century, a lot would change in Guadalajara. The purple team were very close to promotion to the Segunda División B and achieved this in 2007, a historic moment in the club’s history. Against all expectations, the alcarreños performed very well in the third tier and even were very close to going up to the Segunda División in 2010.

The celebration of the promotion to the Segunda B in 2007. However, the people from Guadalajara could not have seen coming what would happen four years later. © Nueva Alcarria.

In 2011, Dépor Guada was close to promotion to the Segunda División again. In the playoffs, Guadalajara beat Orihuela, Sevilla Atlético, and Mirandés, after which they miraculously managed to conquer a ticket in professional football in the next season. This was probably the most-celebrated moment in the club’s history.

The players of Guadalajara celebrate an epic comeback in the Anduva Stadium. From losing by 1-0 to winning by 1-2. From being virtually knocked out of the playoffs to claiming a place in the second tier. © Marca.

Guadalajara would play two seasons in the Segunda, ending above the relegation zone twice. However, due to alleged financial irregularities, La Liga decided to put Guadalajara back to the Segunda B in 2013. The alcarreños would not recover from this and returned to the Tercera three years later. To summarize, Guadalajara played in the Tercera in both 2006 and 2016, but a lot of terrific and terrible moments occurred in between.

A player of Guadalajara celebrating a goal in 2015. © Luis Polo.

The relegation to the Tercera was a tough blow for Dépor, even though this competition used to feel like home. Only in 2022 did Guada manage to return to the Segunda Federación, in which they comfortably stayed up during the 2022-23 season. 2022 was celebrated for another reason: it was the club’s 75th anniversary, enough reason for the club to create a commemorative crest.

The fans were welcomed on the field of the Pedro Escartín after the final whistle of the last match in 2021-22. After six long years, including the aftermath of the financial issues, their team was back in the Segunda Federación. Moreover, this was the club’s first-ever championship. © CD Guadalajara.

The future

The future of Deportivo looks quite good, especially since a vital message reached the fanbase in 2022: the club had paid off all debts, which accumulated to around €3,500,000. Moreover, the stadium will be renovated in the upcoming years, and, of course, the team has finally escaped the Tercera División again. It seems like Dépor Guada is ready for the Primera Federación, but only time will tell if the team will fulfill this dream. This was…Guadalajara.

The fans of Guadalajara will never give up on their team. © Nueva Alcarria.

Sources

• http://lafutbolteca.com/club-deportivo-guadalajara-s-a-d/
• https://www.deportivoguadalajara.es/historia/
• https://espanaestadios.com/2021/02/12/guadalajara-estadio-pedro-escartin/
• Borchers, L. (2021). GOLAZO. Self-published.
• Borchers, L. (2022). CARA O CRUZ. Self-published.