Villarreal CF

Villarreal

Full name	Villarreal Club de Fútbol S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine)
Founded	10 March 1923 (1923-03-10) as Club Deportivo Villarreal
Ground	Estadio de la Cerámica
Capacity	23,008
President	Fernando Roig
Head coach	Marcelino
League	La Liga
2023–24	La Liga, 8th of 20
Website	villarrealcf.es
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, that plays in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.

Founded in 1923, the club spent much time of its history in the lower divisions of Spanish football and began in La Liga in 1998. In the 21st century, Villarreal gained some league stability, although they sustained relegation in 2012, rebounding the next year and then remaining in the top division to date. The club made its first appearance in the UEFA Champions League in 2005, with its best result being the semi-finals in 2006 and 2022. Villarreal also appeared in the UEFA Europa League during this time, and won the competition in 2021 by defeating Manchester United in the final, clinching their first major trophy.

The club is nicknamed El Submarí Groguet or El Submarino Amarillo (Yellow Submarine) due to its yellow home kit, and due to being a low-profile team compared to Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, and regional rivals Valencia. They play their home games at the Estadio de la Cerámica, and have been touted as an example of a small but successful club.

History

1923–29: early years

Villarreal CF was founded as Club Deportivo Villarreal on 10 March 1923 "to promote all sports especially Football." The stadium was rented for 60 pesetas a month and ticket prices were set at half a peseta for men and a quarter of a peseta for children. Women were granted free admission. On 17 June 1923, Castellón, a modern rival of the club, played the first match against a club named after Miguel de Cervantes. On 21 October of that year, Villarreal played their first game ever, playing against Castellón. Villarreal started off with a kit of white shirts and black shorts, reflected in their first badge.

1929–98: time in lower divisions

Villarreal entered regional competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929 to 1930 onwards. The 1934–35 season saw the team lose to Cartagena when a win would have seen them promoted to the nationwide Second Division. The following season saw Villarreal win the First Division of the region before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

When the war finished in 1939, the club played again in the Second Division of the region. However, CD Villarreal was dissolved in the early 1940s, and in 1942, CA Foghetecaz, an acronym for the club's founders (Font, Gil, Herrero, Teuler, Catalá and Zaragoza), was one of several clubs established in its place. On 25 August 1947, the new club joined the Valencian Football Federation and in 1950 renamed itself as CAF Villarreal, where the F stood for Foghetecaz.

The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in June 1954, with a badge similar to the present one. They finished seventh and then fourth twice in the First regional league before being promoted to the Tercera Liga (Third Nationwide) as champions in 1956. They were relegated in 1960–61 after finishing 14th.

The club adopted their present badge in the middle of 1966. In 1966–67, Villarreal returned to the Tercera as champions. In 1970, they reached the national Segunda for the first time. After narrowly avoiding relegation in their first season, they were relegated the following season. In 1975–76, they were relegated from the Tercera to the Regionals, but were promoted back again the next season. In 1986–87, Villarreal were promoted to the Segunda Liga B. In 1990, they finished 18th and were relegated back to the Tercera.

There were back-to-back promotions as the club returned to Segunda B and finished second, earning promotion to Segunda A for the first time. From 1992 to 1997, Villarreal were often in low or mid-table positions, but reached the play-offs in 1997–98 by finishing fourth. The two-legged play-off was against Compostela. Villarreal hosted the first leg which was a 0–0 draw, but the second leg at the home of the Galician team was a 1–1 draw, thus Villarreal were promoted on the away goals rule.

1998–2012: La Liga and European debuts

Villarreal's La Liga debut started with a match against reigning European champions Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 31 August 1998 where they lost 4-1 despite taking the lead after 3 minutes. The first home game was against Celta de Vigo the week after. Because of a difficult season, Villarreal were relegated to the Segunda División for the 1999–2000 season, but by finishing third, they were then promoted back to the Primera División.

Arsenal FC vs Villarreal CF 2008–09 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals

After finishing seventh on their return to the Primera, Villarreal finished in 15th place for two-straight seasons. Villarreal competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2002, defeating FH of Iceland, Torino of Italy, and Troyes of France. They lost in the final to compatriots Málaga, 2–1 on aggregate.

In the middle of 2003, they defeated the Dutch team Heerenveen in the final of the Intertoto Cup, thereby qualifying for the UEFA Cup. In their major European debut, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, losing to neighbours and eventual champions Valencia. In the league, Villarreal finished in eighth place. In the middle of 2004, Villarreal retained the Intertoto Cup, beating compatriots Atlético Madrid on penalties after the final finished 2–2 on aggregate. This qualified them to the UEFA Cup. They lost in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup to Dutch side AZ, losing 3–2 on aggregate. During the same season, Villarreal finished in third place in La Liga, earning the club their first direct qualification to a European tournament, the Champions League. The club's centre-forward Diego Forlán won the Pichichi Trophy for top scorer in the league, with 25 goals.

Villarreal defeated the English Premier League's Everton in a play-off for the Champions League group stages. The group saw Villarreal go undefeated, drawing both games against Manchester United and achieving a draw and a win each against Lille of France and Benfica of Portugal. The win over Benfica was away and both teams advanced to the last 16.

The club then drew 3–3 against Rangers of Scotland in the Last 16, advancing on away goals due to a 2–2 draw at Ibrox. In the quarter-finals, Villarreal beat Internazionale on away goals after finishing 2–2 on aggregate. The club bowed out in the semi-finals against Arsenal, losing 1–0 away at Highbury. Juan Román Riquelme had a penalty saved by Jens Lehmann in the home game, which finished 0–0. Arsenal went on to lose in the final in Paris to another Spanish club, Barcelona. Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga, which only earned an Intertoto Cup position.

Chart of Villarreal CF league performance 1929–present

Villarreal contested the Intertoto Cup in the middle of 2006 and was knocked out in its first game, to Maribor of Slovenia. The first leg was lost 2–1 at home and the away game was a 1–1 draw. The team finished 5th in La Liga and qualified for the UEFA Cup. Villarreal gained their best-ever league position in 2008, finishing second to Real Madrid by eight points, and also reached the last 32 in that season's UEFA Cup. After defeating BATE Borisov of Belarus in a play-off, the team won Group C unbeaten. Their group opponents were Fiorentina of Italy, Mladá Boleslav of Czech Republic, IF Elfsborg of Sweden, and AEK Athens of Greece.

In the last 32, Villarreal were defeated by eventual champions Zenit Saint Petersburg, losing the first leg 1–0 in Russia to a Pavel Pogrebnyak goal. The second leg was won 2–1 by Villarreal at El Madrigal, but Zenit advanced on away goals.

The club automatically qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League by finishing second in La Liga the previous season. They drew Manchester United, for the second consecutive campaign, Celtic, and Aalborg BK. They made a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goal-less draw at Old Trafford, a third 0–0 draw in a row against the English giants. A first win was sealed on 30 September by beating Gordon Strachan's Celtic 1–0 at El Madrigal, courtesy of a Marcos Senna free-kick. On 21 October, during a Champions League match against Aalborg, they scored six goals to three. The Spaniards went through to the knock-out stage after drawing 2–2 with Aalborg in Denmark and drawing goalless once again against Manchester United. In the last group stage match, they lost to an already-eliminated Celtic.

In the knock-out stage, they faced Panathinaikos, who left Villarreal with a 1–1 away advantage, but lost 1–2 in Athens. Villarreal reached the quarter-finals for the second time in two attempts, and were once again paired with Arsenal. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw by a Marcos Senna free kick, equalised by an Emmanuel Adebayor volley. Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Robin van Persie secured a 3–0 win for Arsenal on the return, knocking Villarreal out of the tournament.

Real Madrid vs. Villarreal in 2011

Despite finishing outside of a European qualifying spot in the domestic league, Villarreal was given a place in the qualifying round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after UEFA determined that Mallorca's financial irregularities precluded them from taking part in the tournament.

A 5–0 home win and a 2–1 away win against Dnepr Mogilev qualified them for the group stage. Villarreal suffered an early setback following a shock 2–0 loss in their away fixture against Dinamo Zagreb. Despite this, however, later wins against Dinamo, Club Brugge and PAOK saw them top their group.

After beating Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and Twente in the knockout phases, Villarreal qualified for the semi-finals to face tournament favourites Porto. After Villarreal took a 0–1 lead at the Estádio do Dragão, Porto made a remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 defeat for Villarreal. Although Villarreal won the second leg 3–2, Porto's first leg goal total saw them advance to the final on aggregate, where they beat Braga to be crowned champions. Giuseppe Rossi finished as the tournament's second top goalscorer with 11 goals, behind Porto's Radamel Falcao.

2012–present: relegation and European glory

Last match of the 2012–13 season game against UD Almería. Finally, Villarreal won and were promoted to La Liga.

Deportivo de La Coruña vs. Villarreal C. F.

On 13 May 2012, Villarreal were relegated from La Liga after defeat to Atlético Madrid. Following a horrendous season, the club suffered a shattering tragedy when Manolo Preciado, appointed as Villarreal's new manager on 6 June 2012, died of a heart attack later that day. Following their relegation, there was a mass exodus of players at the club, with star players such as Borja Valero, Diego López, Giuseppe Rossi and Nilmar leaving the side.

After one year in the Segunda División, Villarreal were promoted back to La Liga on the final day of the season after finishing the year second after champions Elche. The team began its new tenure in the top flight by winning its first three games; the winning streak ended with a tie against Real Madrid at El Madrigal, though the team was undefeated until falling to Real Betis 1–0 on the seventh matchday of the season. The Yellow Submarine finished the 2013–14 campaign in sixth, thus qualifying them for next season's Europa League.

In 2014–15, Villarreal again finished the year in sixth, enough to secure direct qualification to the Europa League group stage. In the 2015–16 season, Villarreal led La Liga for the first time during the sixth and seventh weeks, before falling to fifth place the following week. The club ended the season in 4th place and thus advanced to the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League playoff round. The club progressed to the semi-finals of the 2015–16 Europa League, but were knocked out by Liverpool. Villarreal won the first leg 1–0, but lost 3–0 in Liverpool and 3–1 on aggregate.

In 2019–20, Villarreal finished fifth, earning a place in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League. The team went on a memorable run, advancing to the final after knocking out Arsenal 2–1 on aggregate. Facing favoured Manchester United, Villarreal held them to a 1–1 draw after extra time and then won 11–10 in a penalty shoot-out, winning the club's first ever major trophy. Domestically, they finished seventh, supposedly qualifying for the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. However, courtesy of their triumph, Villarreal switched their next year's participation in the inaugural Conference League to the 2021–22 Champions League.

At the start of the 2021–22 season, Villarreal competed in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea in Belfast, which ended a 1–1 draw after extra time, but Chelsea managed to win 6–5 in the penalty shootout as captain Raúl Albiol saw his penalty saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. That same season, Villarreal progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League after knocking out Juventus in the round of 16 and Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, before losing 5–2 on aggregate to Liverpool.

Rivalries

Villarreal has supported a long rivalry with Castellón for geographical reasons, since both are from the province of Castellón. They also rival Valencia, since the two had been the most competitive teams of the Valencian Community; this clash is called the "Derbi de la Comunitat".

Records

• Villarreal's biggest league win at home was by a five-goal margin, achieved on four occasions. The club recorded 5–0 home victories against Salamanca (1998–99 La Liga), Celta Vigo (2002–03 and 2016–17 La Liga), and Tenerife (2009–10 La Liga). The most goals Villarreal scored in a league game was six, in a 6–3 home win against Racing Santander during the 2003–04 La Liga season.
• The club's largest away league wins were a 5–1 victory at Las Palmas during the 2000–01 La Liga season, a 4–0 victory at Real Sociedad in the same division during the 2004–05 season, and 4–0 and 5–1 victories at Celta Vigo and Levante, respectively, both during the 2020–21 La Liga season.
• The club's first major trophy was won in 2021 with a penalty shoot-out victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final.

Club colours

El Madrigal, now renamed Estadio de la Cerámica

The club's famous yellow kit dates back to 1947. With the new season fast approaching, the son of the then Villarreal president travelled to Valencia to purchase replacements of the club's official kit of white shirts and black shorts. Discovering that the shop had neither in stock, he instead bought the only color that they did have, which happened to be yellow. The players agreed that the shirts were suitable, although they weren't keen on the black shorts, so the president's son travelled to Castellón and purchased a batch of white shorts. The players voted that they should be dyed blue. After remaining as the club's official kit for some time, the yellow shirts and blue shorts combination was last worn in the 2002–03 season, and the club has since sported all-yellow kits. Away colours have been navy blue.

From 2005 to 30 June 2011, the shirt sponsor was "Aeroport Castello", an airport. The current shirt sponsor is Pamesa, a ceramics company. From the 2016–17 season, the kit has been made by the Spanish company Joma, having previously been produced by the Chinese company Xtep and Puma of Germany, among others.

Honours

Domestic

• Tercera División
  • Winners: 1969–70

European

• UEFA Europa League
  • Winners: 2020–21
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners: 2003, 2004

Season to season

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1947–48 5 2ª Reg. 6th 1948–49 5 2ª Reg. 4th 1949–50 5 2ª Reg. 1st 1950–51 5 2ª Reg. 1st 1951–52 4 1ª Reg. 7th 1952–53 4 1ª Reg. 4th 1953–54 4 1ª Reg. 2nd 1954–55 4 1ª Reg. 2nd 1955–56 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1956–57 3 3ª 8th 1957–58 3 3ª 5th 1958–59 3 3ª 6th 1959–60 3 3ª 12th 1960–61 3 3ª 14th 1961–62 4 1ª Reg. 14th 1962–63 4 1ª Reg. 15th 1963–64 4 1ª Reg. 6th 1964–65 4 1ª Reg. 3rd 1965–66 4 1ª Reg. 3rd 1966–67 4 1ª Reg. 1st

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1967–68 3 3ª 3rd 1968–69 3 3ª 9th 1969–70 3 3ª 1st Third round 1970–71 2 2ª 16th Round of 32 1971–72 2 2ª 17th Fourth round 1972–73 3 3ª 12th Third round 1973–74 3 3ª 12th Third round 1974–75 3 3ª 8th Third round 1975–76 3 3ª 13th Second round 1976–77 4 Reg. Pref. 2nd 1977–78 4 3ª 15th First round 1978–79 4 3ª 13th Second round 1979–80 4 3ª 9th Third round 1980–81 4 3ª 16th First round 1981–82 4 3ª 7th 1982–83 4 3ª 14th 1983–84 4 3ª 13th 1984–85 4 3ª 14th 1985–86 4 3ª 6th 1986–87 4 3ª 3rd Fourth round

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1987–88 3 2ª B 2nd Second round 1988–89 3 2ª B 4th First round 1989–90 3 2ª B 18th 1990–91 4 3ª 2nd Second round 1991–92 3 2ª B 2nd Second round 1992–93 2 2ª 13th Quarter-finals 1993–94 2 2ª 16th Fifth round 1994–95 2 2ª 10th Fourth round 1995–96 2 2ª 15th First round 1996–97 2 2ª 10th Third round 1997–98 2 2ª 4th First round 1998–99 1 1ª 18th Round of 16 1999–2000 2 2ª 3rd Round of 16 2000–01 1 1ª 7th Round of 32 2001–02 1 1ª 15th Quarter-finals 2002–03 1 1ª 15th First round 2003–04 1 1ª 8th Round of 16 2004–05 1 1ª 3rd Second round 2005–06 1 1ª 7th Round of 16 2006–07 1 1ª 5th Round of 16

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 2007–08 1 1ª 2nd Quarter-finals 2008–09 1 1ª 5th Round of 32 2009–10 1 1ª 7th Round of 16 2010–11 1 1ª 4th Quarter-finals 2011–12 1 1ª 18th Round of 32 2012–13 2 2ª 2nd Second round 2013–14 1 1ª 6th Round of 16 2014–15 1 1ª 6th Semi-finals 2015–16 1 1ª 4th Round of 16 2016–17 1 1ª 5th Round of 16 2017–18 1 1ª 5th Round of 16 2018–19 1 1ª 14th Round of 16 2019–20 1 1ª 5th Quarter-finals 2020–21 1 1ª 7th Quarter-finals 2021–22 1 1ª 7th Round of 32 2022–23 1 1ª 5th Round of 16 2023–24 1 1ª 8th Round of 32 2024–25 1 1ª Second round

• 25 seasons in La Liga
• 10 seasons in Segunda División
• 4 seasons in Segunda División B
• 23 seasons in Tercera División

In Europe

Main article: Villarreal CF in European football

The team bus

Accurate as of 14 March 2024

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W%
UEFA Champions League	46	14	15	17	51	56	−5	030.43
UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	134	77	31	26	237	137	+100	057.46
UEFA Europa Conference League	10	6	2	2	21	13	+8	060.00
UEFA Intertoto Cup	24	12	8	4	32	16	+16	050.00
UEFA Super Cup	1	0	1	0	1	1	+0	000.00
Total	215	109	57	49	342	223	+119	050.70

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 13 July 2024

Rank	Team	Points
5	Roma	90.000
6	Paris Saint-Germain	85.000
7	Villarreal	82.000
8	Borussia Dortmund	79.000
9	Chelsea	79.000

Nickname and mascot

The team is nicknamed El Submarino Amarillo (the Yellow Submarine) because of their yellow strip. The mascot (named Groguet, "Little Yellow") is characterised as an anthropomorphic submarine. He made his debut on 26 October 2001 and was named on 13 December that year by a local 12-year-old, Javier Fuster Almela, following a province-wide competition open to under-15s.

Players

Current squad

As of 30 August 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	BRA	Luiz Júnior
2	DF	CPV	Logan Costa
3	DF	ESP	Raúl Albiol (captain)
4	DF	CIV	Eric Bailly
5	DF	FRA	Willy Kambwala
6	MF	ESP	Denis Suárez
7	FW	ESP	Gerard Moreno (3rd captain)
8	DF	ARG	Juan Foyth
10	MF	ESP	Dani Parejo
11	FW	MAR	Ilias Akhomach
12	DF	ESP	Juan Bernat (on loan from Paris Saint-Germain)
13	GK	ESP	Diego Conde

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	ESP	Santi Comesaña
15	FW	FRA	Thierno Barry
16	MF	ESP	Álex Baena (vice-captain)
17	DF	ESP	Kiko Femenía
18	MF	SEN	Pape Gueye
19	FW	CIV	Nicolas Pépé
20	MF	ESP	Ramón Terrats
21	FW	ESP	Yéremy Pino
22	FW	ESP	Ayoze Pérez
23	DF	ESP	Sergi Cardona
24	DF	ESP	Alfonso Pedraza
31	GK	AND	Iker Álvarez

Reserve team

Main articles: Villarreal CF B, Villarreal CF C, and Villarreal CF (youth)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
26	DF	ESP	Pau Navarro
27	DF	ESP	Arnau Solà (on loan from Almería)
28	DF	ESP	Antonio Espigares
30	MF	ESP	Dani Requena
32	MF	SEN	Alassane Diatta

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
33	FW	ESP	Pau Cabanes
36	FW	CMR	Etta Eyong
37	DF	CIV	Jean Ives Valou
38	MF	ARG	Thiago Ojeda
55	GK	ESP	Rubén Gómez

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ESP	Adrià Altimira (at Leganés until 30 June 2025)
—	DF	ESP	Carlos Romero (at Espanyol until 30 June 2025)
—	MF	ESP	Gerard Hernández (at Elche until 30 June 2025)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	FW	ESP	Jorge Pascual (at Eibar until 30 June 2025)
—	FW	URU	Andrés Ferrari (at Sint-Truiden until 30 June 2025)
—	FW	NED	Arnaut Danjuma (at Girona until 30 June 2025)

Player records

Most Appearances

Competitive, professional matches only. Bold indicates player is still active at club level.

As of 26 August 2024.

Rank	Player	Apps	League apps	Period	Nationality
1	Manu Trigueros	477	366	2012–2024	Spain
2	Bruno Soriano	425	324	2006–2020	Spain
3	Mario Gaspar	424	337	2009–2022	Spain
4	Marcos Senna	363	292	2002–2013	Spain
5	Santi Cazorla	334	251	2003–2006 2007–2011 2018–2020	Spain
6	Cani	327	259	2006–2014	Spain
7	Rodolfo Arruabarrena	284	219	2000–2007	Argentina
8	Gerard Moreno	281	213	2012–2013 2014–2015 2018–present	Spain
9	Pascual Donat	267	237	1992–2000	Spain
10	Jaume Costa	267	211	2012–2019 2020–2021	Spain

Goalscorers

Competitive, professional matches only. Bold indicates player is still active at club level.

As of 26 August 2024.

Rank	Player	Goals	League goals	Period	Nationality
1	Gerard Moreno	118	86	2012–2013 2014–2015 2018–present	Spain
2	Adriano García	106	98	1986 1988–1991 1991–1993	Spain
3	Giuseppe Rossi	82	54	2007–2013	Italy
4	José Forment	72	65	1974–1979	Spain
5	Diego Herrero	62	55	1971–1973 1974–1977 1980–1981	Spain
6	Diego Forlán	59	54	2004–2007	Uruguay
7	Santi Cazorla	57	40	2003–2006 2007–2011 2018–2020	Spain
8	Cédric Bakambu	48	32	2015–2018	Democratic Republic of the Congo
9	Juan Román Riquelme	45	36	2003–2007	Argentina
10	Víctor	44	39	2000–2004	Spain

Current technical staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Marcelino
Assistant coach	Rubén Uría
Technical assistant	Sergio García
Goalkeeping coach	Borja Fernández Marc Ramírez
Fitness coach	Ismael Fernández Mario Segarra
Analyst	Bruno Uría Pablo Manzanet Pepe Alcaide Pier Luis Miguel Ángel Muñoz
Delegate	Xisco Nadal
Director of Medical Services	Héctor Usó
Doctor/Medical Services	Enrique Soriano
Nurse/Medical Services	Sergio Broceño
Physiotherapist	Axel Tirado Josep Rochera Nacho Fornás Salva Bartomeu Ferran Romero Josep Caballero
Rehab fitness coach	Alberto Torres José Luis Villarroya Adrián Beltrán
Massage therapist	Juan Hernández
Field delegate	Luis Jiménez
Equipment manager	Adrián Ortells Jorge Garrido
Sporting director	Jorge Rodríguez

Last updated: September 2022
Source: Primer Equipo

Coaches

• Osman Bendezu (1 July 1992 – 15 March 1993)
• Carlos Simón Server (18 March 1993 – 26 February 1995)
• Fidel Uriarte (27 February 1995 – 29 October 1995)
• David Vidal (5 November 1995 – 30 June 1996)
• Javier Subirats (1 July 1996 – 27 January 1997)
• José Antonio Irulegui (2 February 1997 – 30 June 1999)
• Joaquín Caparrós (1 July 1999 – 4 October 1999)
• Paquito (5 October 1999 – 30 June 2000)
• Víctor Muñoz (1 July 2000 – 11 September 2002)
• Benito Floro (17 September 2002 – 23 February 2004)
• Paquito (24 February 2004 – 30 June 2004)
• Manuel Pellegrini (1 July 2004 – 30 June 2009)
• Ernesto Valverde (1 July 2009 – 31 January 2010)
• Juan Carlos Garrido (1 February 2010 – 21 December 2011)
• José Francisco Molina (22 December 2011 – 18 March 2012)
• Miguel Ángel Lotina (19 March 2012 – 30 June 2012)
• Julio Velázquez (1 July 2012 – 13 January 2013)
• Marcelino (15 January 2013 – 10 August 2016)
• Fran Escribá (11 August 2016 – 25 September 2017)
• Javier Calleja (25 September 2017 – 10 December 2018)
• Luis García (10 December 2018 – 29 January 2019)
• Javier Calleja (29 January 2019 – 20 July 2020)
• Unai Emery (23 July 2020 – 24 October 2022)
• Quique Setién (25 October 2022 – 5 September 2023)
• Pacheta (9 September 2023 – 10 November 2023)
• Marcelino (13 November 2023 – present)

Women's football

Further information: Villarreal CF (women)

See also

• Villarreal CF B – Second team currently in the Primera Federación
• Villarreal CF C – Third team currently in the Tercera Federación
• Category:Villarreal CF players

External links

• Official website (in Spanish, Catalan, and English)
• Villarreal CF at La Liga (in English and Spanish)
• Villarreal CF at UEFA (in English and Spanish)