Fernando Roig and 30 years that transformed Villarreal | OneFootball

Thirty seasons after taking charge, Fernando Roig’s stewardship has turned Villarreal from a second-tier outfit into European silverware winners, remarkable for a club from a town of just over 53,000 residents.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, Roig arrived pledging promotion to the top flight within two years, but the club went up in his first season, setting in motion a rise few foresaw.

In 2005, on their Champions League debut, he maintained the team would compete rather than merely take part. Villarreal reached the semi-finals and were a Riquelme penalty away from forcing extra time against Arsenal.

Roig became majority shareholder in May 1997 and embedded a model built on financial balance, stability, hard work, trust in the academy and sustained investment in infrastructure, with the much-missed José Manuel Llaneza as his right-hand.

The progress accelerated. In 2006 Villarreal were among Europe’s last four at the first attempt, then finished La Liga runners-up in 2008. Gdansk 2021 finally delivered a first major trophy, the Europa League, after 22 penalties against Manchester United.

A year later, they eliminated Juventus and Bayern Munich to reach a second Champions League semi-final. The club marked its centenary in 2023 and has since achieved another landmark, competing in the continent’s elite tournament in consecutive seasons.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”