A Quarter Century of Success in Spain
By Tyler Fisher
Stability in LaLiga
Villarreal CF is one of the smallest football markets in Spain, the host city of Vila-real has a population of just 50,000. Despite this, the Yellow Submarine has been able to maintain stability since Fernando Roig Alfonso took reign of presidency in 1997. This past year, Roig completed his 25th season as the president of Villarreal CF. Roig took a leap of faith when he took over the club in 1997, but since then he and the club have never looked back. When Roig first took over Villarreal, there was only the top team that had never gotten a taste of LaLiga. However, once Roig took over the first team has since been competing in LaLiga for the past 25 years. Additionally, a women’s team was established in 2000 and a farm system of multiple teams like Villarreal B, under-23s, and under-19s has all been established during Roig’s tenure. On 11th June 2022, Villarreal B defeated Gimnàstic de Tarragona to achieve promotion into the second division of Spanish football, known as LaLiga 2 or LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship purposes, for the first time in 10 years.
Now, Villarreal CF is the only team in Spain to have its men’s and women’s first teams in Spain’s top flights and the reserve team in Segunda División. Due to this promotion, Villarreal B will be playing in the main stadium along with the first team. However, there is more to the club than just these few teams.
Villarreal has academies worldwide and most recently announced the opening of Villarreal Chicago Academy and Villarreal Malaysia Academy. From a small, agricultural town in Vila-real to a worldwide brand is what Roig has been able to build. Additionally, when Roig bought the club in 1997, there was just one small practice field and a stadium. Now, there are offices for all the club’s employees and a residence for the academy’s players who train year-round, multiple practice fields, and even a second stadium, the Mini Estadi, that holds just under 10,000 fans.
And it doesn’t end there, the reconstruction of the main stadium into a more modern look has just begun. Fernando Roig has built a club to be reckoned with and throughout all of this success has never lost sight of the local community and giving back to the town that Villarreal CF calls home. Through the club’s Endavant community project the club has a huge impact in the community and entire province of Castellon. Endavant is a program much bigger than Villarreal, with the focus being on the entire Valencian community and the province of Castellon. Endavant consists of 5 different subsidiaries: Esports, Solidaritat, Igualtat, Cultura, and Formació.
Esports is the promotion of all sports outside of football for athletes in the Valencian region. These could be tennis or volleyball players, among many other sports. Next is solidaritat, which is the collaboration with multiple non-government organizations, institutions, foundations, and associations and provides support resources, and visibility. Next up on Endavant is Igualtat. Igualtat is the sponsor of special centers in Castellon. The players will carry out a host of activities at this center and bond with members of this special center and provide enriching experiences for them. Following Igualtat is Cultura. Cultura is centered around the groguet club and their support of culture, activities, and sports in the Valencian region. They promote works and carry out festivals in this region. Lastly, is Formacio whic is an agreement Villarreal has with the main university centers in Castellon. University Jaume I and Cardenal Herrera are the two universities that receive funding and grants from Villarreal CF.
A Football Family
As it stands today, Roig is the longest tenured president of any team in LaLiga, with no signs of slowing down. Villarreal CF has embodied a family-like atmosphere as his son, Fernando Roig Neguerloes, is the CEO of Villarreal. All members of the administrative board grew up in the Valencian community. Also, in the other major clubs across Europe, we see owners and presidents coming from all over the world to hold a stake in their respective teams. Many of the staff we see at these huge clubs is very differentiated and not as connected. Villarreal, on the other hand, is a homegrown organization that not only has an administrative board hailing from the Valencian community but many of their players come from Spain also. The staff is a tight knit group as there is a bond between the group all being on the same page with the goal of growing Villarreal CF. Having this homegrown feel to the club has allowed the club to be able to branch out of just Spain and find players from the U.S., Australia, Korea, Africa, Etc.
America’s Investment Into European Football
As aforementioned, many of the other big clubs in Europe have ownership and stakeholders from other countries. One of the main countries that has grown interest in European football and has invested into European football has been the Unites States. Even famous athletes like Lebron James are joining the party as he purchased a 2% stake in Liverpool about 10 years ago which is now worth close to £44 million. Outside of Lebron James, there are other American companies that are looking across the Atlantic into investment in European soccer. Kyle Krause, owner of the midwestern franchise convenient store Kum & Go, took control of Italy’s football team, Parma. Before that move took place, we saw Toyota dealerships buy Parma’s football team, Roma. Also, the famous English Premier team, Liverpool is owned by Fenway Sports Group another American company. Today, American companies are invested in 1/5 of the 60 major football teams in Europe with most of the teams being in Italy, France, and England. It’s interesting to see the contradiction between Villarreal CF and these other clubs. Villarreal CF is a very homegrown organization with the majority of the staff, players, and coaches being from Spain and the Valencian community. On the other hand, many of these other European teams hold rich stakeholders from not only the U.S. but Asia, Russia, and Dubai. With the increasing of popularity within European football across the world, everyone wants to be a apart of the action and get a piece of any football club.
Only time will tell to see which method works best but with Villarreal’s recent success winning the 2021 UEFA Europa League and reaching the 2022 UEFA Champions League semi-finals with the longest-standing LaLiga president at the helm, it looks like the stability and sound management Villarreal has as its foundation is reaping rewards.
