Celta Vigo
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Real Club Celta de Vigo are a Spanish football team from Vigo in Galicia. Founded on March 28 1923, they will return to the Primera División for the 2005-06 season.
Nicknamed Celtiñas (little celts), they play in light blue shirts and white shorts. Home stadium is the Balaídos that seats 31,800 spectators.
Celta de Vigo have played for many years in the Spanish first division, but have never been champions of the league or cup, despite having come close. Their best season was 1970-71, when they were not beaten at home and were known as the "giant-killers." They finished the season in sixth place (with the same number of points as Athletic Bilbao in fifth). This meant that the team qualified for the UEFA Cup for the next season. Unfortunately for them, they were knocked out by Aberdeen in the first round, not being able to recover from a 2-0 loss at home.
In recent years (1997-2001), the fortunes of the team had improved greatly and Celta de Vigo became real challengers for the Primera División title, culminating in 2000-01 when they did not go below sixth place the whole season.
Celta had a dramatic reversal of fortune in the 2003-04 season. The previous season, they finished fourth in La Liga, putting them in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Celta entered the group phase, and eventually reached the round of 16 before being knocked out by Arsenal. However, their domestic form was disastrous, and they finished next-to-last in La Liga, consigning them to the Segunda División. Celta earned a return to La Liga at the first opportunity, finishing second in the Segunda in 2004-05.
Honours
- Copa del Rey runner-up 1947-48, 1993-94, and 2000-01.
Famous Players
- Hermedita
- Alexander Mostovoi
- Pahiño
- Luboslav Penev
- Haim Revivo
- Claude Makelele
Template:Primera División de Españaes:Celta de Vigo he:סלטה ויגו gl:Celta de Vigo ja:セルタ・デ・ビーゴ