Pontevedra CF - History

History

Pontevedra Club de Fútbol was founded in 1941, following the merge of the two top teams in the city at the moment: Eiriña and Alfonso C.F. The first president of the new club was Fernando Ponte Conde.

Pontevedra promoted to La Liga in 1963, but was relegated a year after. Still, it managed to play again in the top flight between 1965 and 1970. During this time the fans coined the motto Hai que roelo, in reference to the difficulties rival teams had when playing a strong Pontevedra side. In those years Pontevedra achieved a famous seventh place in 1966, adding an eighth two seasons later. Midfielder Ignacio Martín-Esperanza and forwards Neme and Roldán were among the stars of this era. The years after that saw Pontevedra relegated and struggling in lower categories, well into the 2000s.

On 23 January 2007, the club was transformed into a Sociedade Anónima Deportiva (sporting Joint stock company), as required by Spanish law. This was a general measure introduced in order to revitalise the financial situation of professional football clubs. Yet, some risked disappearance as they could not face the cost involved in this transformation from "private" to "stock company". In the case of Pontevedra this was made possible after then president, Nino Mirón, had purchased 52 per cent of the stock options. Since then the club added the letters "S.A.D." to its official name.

The subsequently stated main goal of the club was to promote back to the second division, with Pontevedra last appearing in the category in 2004–05. Qualified for the promotion playoffs for the following three seasons, the side always failed to go through.