Proud of its past but looking to its future. If one sentence could sum up Real Zaragoza there it is in words.
Winner of two European trophies (UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1995 and the Fairs Cup in 1964) it was the victory in Paris that gave rise to another famous line:
“Nayim from the half way line.”
The 1994-95 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup was won by Real Zaragoza in a final where they defeated Arsenal.
It was a win that came thanks to a last-minute goal from midfielder Nayim who fired an unstoppable if unorthodox shot from 40 yards past David Seaman at the Parc de Princes.
Real Zarazoga and its history goes further back than that fateful day in May 1995.
On 18th March 1932 the club were founded; formed from two rival teams Iberia SC and Real Zaragoza CD.
Spain in 1932 was one in turmoil and on the road to civil war.
Elections in June 1931 had returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists. Class struggle was intensifying in several areas of the country and the road to conflict was being laid. Ultimately, the reforms of the Republican-Socialist government alienated as many people as they pleased.
Soon fascist ideology became a reactive threat facilitated by controversial reforms in society including changes to the Spanish constitution and growing opposition to the influence of the Catholic church.
Home rule was granted to Catalonia, with a local parliament and a president of its own.
The Spanish Civil War that raged impacted Real Zaragoza greatly.
By 1939, the club had been three years without football – the occupation of Zaragoza impacting football operations enormously. The 1939–40 La Liga was the first one after the Spanish Civil War, which had forced the suspension of the competition for three years.
The season started on December 3, 1939, and finished on April 28, 1940. A reorganized Real Zaragoza team ended the season in 7th position.
If war took its toll on Real Zaragoza so the present day La Romareda has seen better days.
But hope of redevelopment is in the air and has now become a reality.
On 17 July 2024, La Nueva Romareda was selected as one of Spain’s ten stadia to host matches at the 2030 FIFA World Cup and a complete rebuild of the La Romareda is currently at its first if very early stages. Somehow the constraints on public spend have been shelved and deeper pockets found thanks in no small part to the arrival of the World Cup in six years time.
For lovers of nostalgia its demolition will be a bitter pill to swallow rather like the disappearance of the Estadio Vicente Calderon in Madrid. The shallow lower tiers and a lack of a roof that offered little protection from the elements will go. But come the summer of 2030 this would have been unlikely to have been a hindrance to the ordinary supporter.
The original football venue in Zaragoza had been that of Iberia SC one of the forerunners of Real Zaragoza.
It was called El Campo de Torrero and the last match took place on 28th April 1957 just 5 months before La Romareda opened on 8th September 1957.
With rather non descript exteriors one notable feature of the current La Romareda is that the goal nets go back nearly 4 meters behind the goal making them the deepest in Spain. It is thought this feature was due to the semi circular ends of the stadium.
Future Zaragoza squads may wish that any future redevelopments has within its plans the aim of making the nets just that little bit deeper and less shallow. Particularly so given the lack of success at Real Zaragoza since they were relegated to the Segunda Division at the end of the 2012-2013 campaign.
You can see images from Real Zaragoza here.