La Liga: The History Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1928

The Spanish Football Federation agreed to a ten-team competition to begin in 1928. FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Arenas Club de Getxo, Real Union were all chosen as former winners of the Copa del Rey (the Spanish version of the FA Cup). Atletico Madrid, RCD Espanyol and CE Europa qualified as runners-up and Racing Santander qualified for the league through a knockout competition.

Answer: FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona, with an already established track record in the Copa del Ray, won the first Primera Liga title, holding off bitter rivals Real Madrid to their first title.

Answer: Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao were the form team during the early years of the competition, winning the Primera title four times in 1929-30, 1930-31, 1933-34 and 1935-36. They were also runners-up in 1931-32 and 1932-33. Athletic are well known for the policy of 'cantera', where they only sign players from the local Basque region.

Answer: Ovideo's ground was damaged

The war had caused substantial damage to the country as a whole, and football was just one of the many industries hit. Unfortunately for Oviedo, their little stadium was damaged, and without a home, Atletico were awarded their place. It was good news for Atletico Madrid, who subsequently won their first La Liga title in 1939-40, and quickly added a second the following season.

Answer: Real Madrid

The war had hit Real Madrid hard, with the loss of many young players and it took time for Real to rebuild their squad. FC Barcelona won three titles in 1944-45, 1947-48, and 1948-49. Sevilla FC won their only La Liga title to date in 1945-46 while Valencia won three titles in 1941-42, 1943-44, and 1946-47.

Answer: Ladislao Kubala

Ladislao Kubala, one of the many talented Hungarian players who joined the Spanish leagues in the 1950s, was the man who inspired FC Barcelona to two La Liga titles in 1951/52 and 1952/53. Puskas, regarded by many as one of the finest footballers of his generation, was part of the Real Madrid team that dominated European football in its early stages. Kopa was the first Frenchman to be part of a team that won the European Cup with Real Madrid.

Answer: 14

Real Madrid dominated Spanish football during the 1960s and 1970s, with their run of success only being halted by occassional titles for cross-city rival Athletico and and one each for Valencia CF and a Johann Cruyff inspired FC Barcelona in 1973-74. The Real side of these years were dominated by players such as Jose Antonio Camacho, Uli Stielke, Jose Martinez Sanchez, Manuel Sanchís Martínez and Juan Gomez.

Answer: Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad ended the Madrid golden years with their first title in 1980-81, and quickly followed that up with a second title the following season in what was a golden period for Basque football as Athletic Bilbao would go on to win the next two titles in 1982-83 and 1983-84. Like their Basque cousins at Bilbao, Sociedad operated under the 'cantera' policy, and their side's of the 1980s were full of young Basque players, fiercely loyal to the Basque 'nation' but would also play for Spain in the international arena.

Answer: Terry Venables

Venables became an instant hero with the Catalan crowd, earning the nickname 'El Tel'. He used the very English system of 4-4-2, based around the defence of Gerado and Julio Alberto and the superb German midfielder Bernd Schuster. Unfortunately for the Englishman, after losing the European Cup final to Steaua Bucharest in 1986, he was sacked in September 1987 after Real Madrid had resumed their dominance of La Liga.

Answer: 1992

FC Barcelona dominated La Liga during the early 1990s, winning the La Liga four times running from 1990/91 to 1993/94. Cruff established his 'Dream Team' around brilliant players such as Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov and Michael Laudrup. During this time, FC Barcleona also won their first European Cup in 1992.

Answer: Deportivo la Coruna

Under the guidance of Javiar Irureta, Deportivo won their first, and so far only, La Liga title in 1999-2000. This title made up for the heartbreak of 1993-94, when a missed penalty in the final game of the season, cost the club their first title. The team of that title season was made up of stars such as Jorge Andrade, Pauleta, Roy Makaay and Djalminha.

Answer: Rafael Benitez

Rafael Benitez steered the club to their first La Liga title in 2001/02, seeing off the challenged of Deportivo, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Further success came in 2003-04 with the La Liga and UEFA Cup titles. This was all after Valencia suffered heartbreak, losing two consecutive Champions League finals in 2001 (lost 3-0 to Real Madrid) and 2001 (further heartbreak, to Bayern Munich 5-4 penalties).

Answer: 29,029

La Liga has the third highest average attendance of the professional football leagues in Europe. The German Bundesliga has the highest average attendance, with 40,775 in 2005-06, with the English Premier League not far behind with 33,875. The sport with the highest average attendance is the American NFL, with an average of 67,593 in 2005-06.

Answer: Diego Forlan

After only scoring 17 goals in 95 appearances for Manchester United, Forlan's summer move to Villareal before the 2004-05 season revitalised his career. He scored 25 goals in his first season in La Liga, and shared the European Golden Boot with Arsenal player Thierry Henry.

Answer: Athletic Bilbao

Along with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao were not relegated from the Primera from the foundation even until 2006. At times, Bilbao have flirted with relegation, but over the past 80 or so years, Bilbao had usually been at or near enough to the top. They also had a fantastic record in the Copa del Rey, with 24 Cup wins, their last being in 1984.