Real Sporting de Gijon Preview

Coach: Manuel Preciado, ex-Racing, Murcia and Levante coach in that order.
Stadium: El Molinon, the oldest ground in Spain (25,885).
Region: Asturias
Nickname: Los Rojiblancos (The Red-whites),
Derby: Real Oviedo
Sponsor: Ayuntamiento de Gijon, the City Council of Gijon
Kit Description: Home: A nice red and white striped Astore kit with blue shorts and socks. Away: An all red kit with a blog sponsor logo and white trim and striping throughout. Third: An all dark-blue kit with red trim on the shirt.
History: The club began in 1905 under the name Sporting Gijones. It was given royal patronage in 1912 and were promoted for the first time to the Spanish first division in 1944. They were highly successful during the late 70's and early 1980's spending 21 straight season in the Spanish first division and competing for titles and cups throughout that stretch and qualifying for UEFA Cups 6 times, advancing to thr round of 16 twice, most recently in 1991. In 1998 they were relegate and spent the next 10 years struggling in the lower divisions.
Trophy Room:
* Primera Runners Up: 1979
* Copa del Rey runner's up: 1981 and 1982

Famous Former Players: Marcelino Garcia Toral, Laurie Cunningham, Luis Enrique (ex-Real Madrid and FC Barcelona) and David Villa
Main Story from last year: Escaping relegation after being recently promoted. Most people accepted that Malaga were quality enough to stay in the Primera, but no one who saw Sporting de Gijon play last year could have assured themselves that the Asturian club had the mettle to stay up. They had a fairly exciting attack but leaked in the goals. The most memorable match of the season came when they played Valencia at El Molinon (The Large Windmill as it is called in Castilian because the stadium was built on the site of an Old Windmill) and David Villa, who came up through the youth team system at Sporting and is clearly still a supporter of the Asturians. The Gijon faithful welcomed him back with open arms and gave him a truly memorable experience.

Transfers: Signing Rivera (Betis), Juan Pablo (Numancia), Arnolin (Vitoria Guimaraes), Miguel (Atlético Madrid), Alberto Botía (Barcelona B - one year loan). Losing Lafuente (Athletic Bilbao - loan period ended), Raúl Cámara (Recreativo), Omar Hernández (Málaga B), Jorge (Nàstic - one year loan), Colin, Neru, Sergio Sánchez (contracts ended)

Squad Overview: It is a young squad with little flair. They've signed Alberto Botia, a highly promising central defender from La Masia in Barcelona and are getting some interest from Birgingham City for highly rate MF Michel, but they lack depth and will be found out this year.

Prediction: One year finishing in the top flight after 10 years in the wastelands does not make for an easily predictable trend, but Sporting de Gijon are a small club, with few resources and the other clubs at their level have gotten stronger while they continue to struggle. Relegation spot for them: 18th.