The Rise of Girona FC

At the time of writing this it’s Christmas 2023, almost half way through the 2023/24 season in Europe, and in La Liga something strange is occurring. The usual Spanish duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid, (with Atleti always close by) has been interrupted by a small Catalonian team who’s most popular sport up until 2015 was basketball. Girona’s appearance at the top of the league by Christmas is no accident though, for some a long time coming, and increasingly appearing as if it could become a common occurrence in seasons to come. We'll try to explain how.

Girona spent much of the 90’s and early 00’s bouncing between the third and fourth tiers of Spanish football, a few times even dropping into the fifth tier which is a regional Catalan teams only league. A club that had severe financial constraints, and a following in the hundreds. It’s exactly the kind of situation that builds a club’s character and narrative. One of Girona’s most unique stories is the table football set that has lived in the centre of Monilivi’s  home dressing room since 2007, paint cracked and peeling, with ashtrays on each corner. To this day, amongst the luxuries of a modern top tier dressing room— the table continues to be used by the players and staff before matches. The club owes a lot of its most heroic feats on the pitch to that tight-knit dressing room culture it created through that era, something that persists today.

Success however is rarely an overnight occurrence, and while it may seem that way to outsiders, the club has been on a long and slow climb to the top of Spanish football, with plenty of crucial people involved. 

One key of which is Pere Guardiola, lesser known, but equally as successful and influential within the game as his older brother Pep. Pere was, and still is, a big name football agent, running his own agency and notably managing the careers of names including Luis Suarez, William Carvalho, Brahim Diaz, and his own brother among a host of others.  

With the club's rocky past, Girona was in a receptive position for a sense of stability. So in 2017 Guardiola made a deal with the CFG group president to acquire a combined  88% stake in the Catalan club, there wasn’t too much of a stir caused by fans or those inside the club. The football first approach, of the management combined with an extensive resource in CFG  to say the least, began to turn the club around and amazingly lead to what would look like sustained growth both on and off the pitch. 

To help get them there—When Pere Guardiola was introduced as the Chairman he made a few instrumental talent acquisitions particularly in the director roles. Club president; Delfi Geli, and the sporting director pair of Michel and Quique Carcel chief among them.

Straight away Guardiola and CFG’s strategy had been to use the profile of the CFG deal to attract more experienced players who may be seeing a decrease in their playing time to help bolster the teams quality. And this was effective for some time as the team reached the promotion play-offs twice but lost on both occasions. In 2021 this led to the appointment of Michel as head coach. 

Michel came into the club as something of a promotion specialist, managing both Rayo Vallecano and Huesca to promotion from the second division, however was sacked both times in the following seasons before Christmas. Upon his arrival both he and Quique realised that the team's recruitment strategy wouldn’t last them much longer with budget constraints tightening. So the pair turned their previous strategy on its head—utilising the combined pull of their talent agency connection and the attraction of the CFG network of clubs to lure and develop younger players. This strategy is now seeing its return. A lot of the signings made under this policy have built the revelation that is Girona this season. 

Some of the best examples of this are—
Viktor Tsygnakov, the 26 year old winger signed for €5 million  from Dynamo Kyiv against heavy interest from PSV Eindhoven. One of the main reasons he chose the Spanish side over Eindhoven was because he’s represented by Pere’s SEG agency. He has 3 goals and 3 assists in 14 games this season so far.

Artem Dobvyk: Another ukrainian international, and the clubs record signing at €7.5 million, Dobvyk scored 24 goals in 30 games last season for Ukrainian club Dnipro and is the current top scorer for Girona— scoring 8 in his 15 matches this season, putting him just behind Antoine Griezmann and equal 4th in the league overall. 

A more under-the-radar signing, showing the reach and sharp eye of the CFG scouting network was the signing of 19 year old Brazilian winger Savio or Savinho as he’s often called. Purchased from French Ligue 2 side Troyes for a fee of €7 million but he never made it to the pitch in France, getting sent on to PSV straight away. An early injury there led to him only playing nine times for the Dutch club, but seeing him excel at the Under 20 World Cup for Brazil the management were convinced. 16 games into the season and Savinho has 4 goals and 5 assists topping the charts for the latter. 

All of this quality in personnel has combined under a fluid and attacking style of play that has resulted in some huge high scoring wins against clubs with multiples of their financial ability. Their only loss so far this season coming against the star studded Real Madrid, Girona have managed 38 goals in their first 16 games, have the most points away from home, and have won 6 of those 16 coming from behind. The numbers don’t lie, and to add more weight to the claim— this morning's 4-2 win away at Barcelona could be symbolic of a larger changing of the guard in La Liga where another contender could be fighting for the league each season. 

One of the most unique football stories of the decade. 10 Years ago Girona’s population were Espanyol or Barcelona fans. Now they have their own team in the top division and by the end of it they might have the trophy in their cabinet too.

In any case we’ll all be glued to our tv screens waiting to see if football can work it’s magic, and give us another story we’ll be telling for years, the trophy going to the Costa Brava. That would be a truly unforgettable season. Maybe it already is?