Derby County’s Under-23 side face Real Union tonight in the inaugural Steve Bloomer Trophy match – a game to celebrate the history that the football legend made for both clubs.
The forward scored 331 goals for the Rams over two spells, between 1891 and 1914, before heading to Spain for a two-year coaching stint, where he guided Union to their third Copa del Rey triumph in 1924.
As the Derby youngsters prepare for a tough test in Northern Spain, we took an in-depth look into the history of ‘Txuri-Beltz’…
History
The club were one of the founding members of LaLiga in 1929, along with the illustrious names of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Real Sociedad.
By that point, they had already won three major honours – including the Spanish Cup won under the management of Bloomer in the late 1920s – with a further win coming in 1927.
However, Union haven’t played in the top tier of Spanish football since 1931, but that doesn’t mean to say that they haven’t had their moments of glory.
In 2008, whilst playing in Segunda División B (third tier), they knocked the famous Los Blancos out of the Copa del Rey at the round of 32 stage.
Midfielder Eneko Romo stunned the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg with a 90th minute header to level the aggregate score at 6-6, which saw Bernd Schuster’s side eliminated on the away goals rule.
Real Madrid’s starting eleven on the night of the second leg was full of superstars, including Fabio Cannavaro, Marcelo and club captain Raul – who scored a hat-trick - with the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Javier Saviola also on the scoresheet during the tie.
The club were promoted to the Spanish second tier later that season, but they spent only one season at that level as they were relegated a year later.
Stadium
The Rams will step out at the Estadio Gal on Tuesday night – a stadium with a capacity of 6,344 based in Irun.
Irun lies just within Basque Country – a region that also includes LaLiga sides Real Sociedad, Athletic Club, Alaves and Eibar.
Famous Faces
Current midfielder Mikel Alonso – brother of World Cup winner Xabi – played seven times for Bolton Wanderers after joining on loan from Real Sociedad in 2007, before a spell at Charlton Athletic four years later, but he left after failing to make a league appearance.
Former Spurs left-back Yuri Berchiche spent two years at Unión after joining in 2010, and he now plays alongside Neymar – the most expensive footballer of all-time – after joining PSG this summer for a reported fee of £14 million.
Former Spain internationals to play for the club include: Roberto López Ufarte, Javier Irureta and Francisco Gamborena.
