World Football Club Crests

At the start of the new millennium, the impossible happened: this little Galician club landed its first – and so far only – title, finishing ahead of such giants as FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. A few years earlier, in 1996, the league win of Atlético Madrid had also been unexpected – but that was nothing compared to this extraordinary turn of events. Apart from the year of Atlético’s triumph, Barcelona and Real Madrid had monopolised the league title since 1985. Deportivo’s glorious achievement didn’t simply reverberate across European football, it actually cracked open the Spanish league, albeit temporarily: two of the upcoming possible four titles were won by teams other than Barcelona and Real Madrid. For Deportivo the victory of 2000 ushered in a golden age that brought two second places in the league, two triumphs in the Copa del Rey and two titles in the Supercopa de España.

While Barcelona and Real Madrid could buy global stars for millions, Deportivo started by buying cheaply. They built a squad around such players as Roy Makaay, Djalminha and Nourredine Naybet, a team that nevertheless got to the Champions League semi-final in 2004. But every season the transfer fees paid by the club grew larger. Then, like most Spanish clubs, Deportivo was hit by the global financial crisis. With that, the golden era was over and the club dropped out of La Liga in 2011. Since then Deportivo has been performing some kind of precarious balancing act and has been playing in the Primera and Segunda División, far removed from the glories of their recent past.

CLUB: RC Deportivo de La Coruña

NICKNAMES: Super Depor, Los Branquiazuis (the Blue and Whites) and Turcos (the Turks)

FOUNDED: 1906

STADIUM: Estadio Riazor, La Coruña (32,912 capacity)

HISTORIC PLAYERS: Fran, Mauro Silva, Manuel Pablo, Rivaldo, Roy Makaay, Diego Tristán and Bebeto

1912–present. Deportivo La Coruña’s crest has been relatively unchanged since the first in 1912, six years after the club’s founding. By itself, that is very unusual, as is the fact that the emblem featured on the players’ kit even in those early years. A knight’s belt frames the pennant of the Sala Calvet gymnasium, where the club was founded. The diagonal blue stripe comes from the flag of the Spanish region of Galicia and, as with many Spanish clubs, the crown symbolises royal support and recognition. Even if this has been Deportivo’s official badge for over 100 years, it has not appeared continuously on the kit. Furthermore it appeared all in red during the 1980s.

One of the earlier versions, the intertwined letters C and D featuring neither pennant nor crown, can be glimpsed in this team photo from 1908.

Roy Makaay made 133 appearances for Super Depor and scored 79 times wearing the fanous blue and white. His 29 goals in the 2002–03 season made him the top scorer in Europe.