1.
Andalusia
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Andalusia is an autonomous community in southern Spain. It is the most populated and the second largest in area of the communities in the country. The Andalusian autonomous community is recognised as historical nationality. The territory is divided into eight provinces, Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and its capital is the city of Seville. Andalusia is the only European region with both Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines, the small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar. The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, in the north, the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spains Meseta Central. To the south the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies mostly within the Baetic System, the name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus. Including an intense relationship with Naples, Italy, Andalusia has been a traditionally agricultural region, compared to the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe. However, the growth of the community especially in the sectors of industry and services was above average in Spain, the region has, however, a rich culture and a strong cultural identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin and these include flamenco and, to a lesser extent, bullfighting and Hispano-Moorish architectural styles. Andalusias hinterland is the hottest area of Europe, with cities like Córdoba, Late evening temperatures can sometimes stay around 35 °C until close to midnight, with daytime highs of over 40 °C common. Seville also has the highest average temperature in mainland Spain and mainland Europe. Its present form is derived from the Arabic name for Muslim Iberia. However, the etymology of the name Al-Andalus is disputed, the Spanish place name Andalucía was introduced into the Spanish languages in the 13th century under the form el Andalucía. This was a Castilianization of Al-Andalusiya, the form of the Arabic language al-Andalus. The etymology of al-Andalus is itself somewhat debated, but in fact it entered the Arabic language before this came under Muslim rule. Like the Arabic term al-Andalus, in historical contexts the Spanish term Andalucía or the English term Andalusia do not necessarily refer to the territory designated by these terms today. To designate the territories the Christians had regained by that time in the Guadalquivir valley and in the Kingdoms of Granada, in a document from 1253, Alfonso X styled himself Rey de Castilla, León y de toda Andalucía
2.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
3.
Villarreal CF
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Usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or just Villarreal, is a Spanish football club based in Vila-real, a city in the province of Castellón within the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, it plays in La Liga, holding home games at Estadio de la Cerámica, Villarreal has often been touted as an example of a small but successful club. Villarreal CF was founded as Villarreal CD on 10 March 1923 to promote all sports especially Soccer, 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. On 17 June 1923, Castellón, a rival of the club. On 21 October of that year, Villarreal played their first game ever, Villarreal started off with a kit of white shirts and black shorts, reflected in their first badge. Villarreal entered regional competitions within the Spanish football pyramid from 1929–30 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, before promotion in 1950–51 to the first. In 1942, the changed their name to CAF Villarreal. The F stood for Foghetcaz, a club and supporter of the team. The name changed again to the current Villarreal CF in 1954 and they finished seventh and then fourth twice in the First regional league before being promoted to the Tercera Liga 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 returned to Segunda B and finished second. From 1992–93, Villarreal were often in low or mid-table positions, the two-legged play-off was against Compostela. Villarreal hosted the first leg which was a 0–0 draw, but the leg at the home of the Galician team was a 1–1 draw. Villarreals Primera Liga debut started with a match against reigning European champions Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 31 August 1998, the first home game was against Celta de Vigo the week after
4.
Valencian Community
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The Valencian Community, or the Valencian Country, is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populousautonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and it is often homonymously identified with its capital Valencia, which is Spains third largest city. It is located along the Mediterranean coast to the east of the Iberian peninsula and it borders with Catalonia to the north, Aragon and Castile–La Mancha to the west, and Murcia to the south. The Valencian Community consists of three provinces which are Castellón, Valencia and Alicante, according to its Statute of Autonomy, the Valencian people are a nationality. Their origins date back to the Catalan-Aragonese colonization of the Moorish Taifa of Valencia, the newly founded Kingdom of Valencia was granted wide self-government under the Crown of Aragon with the promulgation of its Furs in 1261. Valencia experienced its golden age in the 15th century, becoming the economic and cultural capital of the Crown, self-government continued after the unification of the Spanish Kingdom, but was eventually suspended in 1707 by Phillip V of Spain as a result of the Spanish War of Succession. Valencian nationalism resurged towards the end of the 19th century, which led to the conception of the Valencian Country. Self-government under the Generalitat Valenciana was finally reestablished in 1982 after Spanish transition to democracy, the Valencian people speak a variety of Catalan called Valencian, accounting for a third of all Catalan speakers. Valencian is a language that has been historically repressed in favour of Spanish. Since it regained status in 1982, Valencian has been implemented in public administration. However, its use continues to be threatened by Spanish due to migration from other parts of Spain, especially in the cities of València. Furthermore, the conflict continues to be pressing, with some groups opposing the official standard based on Catalan orthography. Valencia was founded by the Romans under the name of Valentia Edetanorum, with the establishment of the Taifa of Valencia, the name developed to بلنسية, which eventually became Valencia after the expulsion of the Moors. Valencian Community is the translation of the official name in Valencian recognized by the Statute of Autonomy of 1982. This is the name most used in administration, tourism. On one hand, Valencian Country represented the modern conception of nationality that resurged in the 19th century and it became well-established during the Second Spanish Republic and later on with the works of Joan Fuster in the 1960s, implying the existence of the Catalan Countries. This nationalist subtext was opposed by anti-Catalan blaverists, who proposed Former Kingdom of Valencia instead in order to emphasize Valencian independence from Catalonia, currently, blaverists have accepted the official denomination. The autonomous community can be identified with its capital Valencia
5.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
6.
La Liga
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The Primera División, commonly known as La Liga and as La Liga Santander for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. A total of 60 teams have competed in La Liga since its inception, nine teams have been crowned champions, with Real Madrid winning the title a record 32 times and Barcelona 24 times. Real Madrid dominated the championship from the 1950s through the 1980s, from the 1990s onwards, Barcelona and Real Madrid both dominated, though La Liga also saw other champions, including Atlético Madrid, Valencia, and Deportivo de La Coruña. In more recent years, Atlético Madrid has joined a coalition of now three teams dominating La Liga alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. Its clubs have won the most UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup titles, and its players have accumulated the highest number of Ballon dOr awards. La Liga is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. The competition format follows the usual double round-robin format, during the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 38 matchdays. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss, teams are ranked by total points, with the highest-ranked club at the end of the season crowned champion. A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Primera División and the Segunda División, the top teams in La Liga qualify for the UEFA Champions League. The first, second, and third placed teams enter the group stage. Teams placed fifth and sixth play in the UEFA Europa League, if both teams in the cup final finish in the top six, an additional berth in the Europa League is given to the team that finishes in seventh. In April 1927, José María Acha, a director at Arenas Club de Getxo, first proposed the idea of a national league in Spain. After much debate about the size of the league and who would take part, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club de Getxo and Real Unión were all selected as previous winners of the Copa del Rey. Atlético Madrid, Espanyol and Europa qualified as Copa del Rey runners-up, only three of the founding clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, have never been relegated from the Primera División. They were also runners-up in 1932 and 1933, in 1935, Real Betis, then known as Betis Balompié, won their only title to date. Primera División was suspended during the Spanish Civil War, in 1937, the teams in the Republican area of Spain, with the notable exception of the two Madrid clubs, competed in the Mediterranean League and Barcelona emerged as champions. Seventy years later, on 28 September 2007, Barcelona requested the RFEF to recognise that title as a Liga title and this action was taken after RFEF was asked to recognise Levante FCs Copa de la España Libre win as equivalent to Copa del Rey trophy. Nevertheless, the body of Spanish football has not made an outright decision yet
