“The young man could hardly process what had happened, and none of us would have been able to either after doing something like that,” said Álvaro Mantilla, Racing Santander’s captain on the day the club had dreamed about for years. That was why the 19-year-old, a local player who had spent half his life at Racing, was not the only person in tears. When Sergio Martínez made his senior debut, he climbed into the stands to embrace his grandfather. Before playing his first primera match at El Sardinero on Sunday, he struggled to remain upright as his legs trembled and tears filled his eyes. The same emotion swept through the 22,413 supporters around him.
What Sergio had achieved seemed to mean everything in that instant. His captain described the feeling as “euphoria”. On his first appearance in the top division and only his third senior start, Sergio produced far more than an ordinary goal. The ball rose invitingly and Bang! – he struck it on the bounce and sent it flying into the top corner. The shot travelled at 126km an hour, carrying with it 14 years of longing. Sergio raced towards the corner while gripping the badge he had worn since the age of 10. Then the significance of the moment overwhelmed him. This extraordinary scene was real.
Sergio was only five when Racing last competed in the first division, so he has no meaningful memory of it. This was also Mantilla’s first top-flight appearance, having grown up only 5km away, and the same was true for Jorge Salinas, another 19-year-old from Santander. Sergio Canales, another academy graduate from the city, had represented Racing at that level 16 years earlier as one of Spain’s most exciting teenagers. Now 35, he had finally returned home. For most of his absence, Racing had also been missing from the elite. On Sunday, one of the first division’s founding clubs played its first top-flight match since 2012 and found itself leading Villarreal 2-0, making the long-awaited recovery feel complete.
The advantage disappeared quickly, but the memory will endure. Andrés Martín converted a penalty to put Racing ahead before Sergio doubled the lead in the 34th minute. Their performance justified the score, with Villarreal coach Iñigo Pérez acknowledging that Racing’s energy had been impossible to contain. For 44 minutes, the hosts were close to flawless. Then, within 67 seconds, Pape Gueye and Nicholas Pépé brought Villarreal level. Racing coach José Alberto López said it demonstrated how ruthless the first division can be. Even so, the occasion could not be taken from them. A 2-2 draw against the previous season’s third-placed team delivered a potentially important point in the expected battle for survival, while preserving a day the club would never forget.
El Sardinero, built in the late 1980s and still distinguished by floodlights rising above its corners, was full once more. Supporters arrived along the waterfront, most dressed in Racing’s white shirts, while the green shirts were the only notable exception. An entire city and community appeared to be returning to its rightful place. Racing were home, and the first division also seemed restored by their presence. Even opposing coach Pérez said he loved witnessing the emotion, excitement and happiness inside the ground. Yet the occasion represented more than a historic club ending a top-flight absence dating back to 2012. It was also a celebration of Racing’s continued existence.
Racing were relegated in 2012 after spending a decade in the top division. Only three and a half years earlier, they had competed in Europe and defeated Manchester City, but their subsequent decline was severe and nearly irreversible.
The club came dangerously close to disappearing altogether.
Another relegation followed immediately, and Racing spent seven of the next 10 seasons in Segunda B, a sprawling competition nominally considered amateur and spread across multiple groups. Their struggle extended far beyond results on the field. A financial and institutional emergency had become unmanageable, with debts exceeding €40m. The club owed €14m to public authorities, while players and employees went without pay. Racing entered bankruptcy proceedings in July 2011. During this chaotic period, two presidents were eventually imprisoned for misappropriating club money, and that list did not include Ahsan Ali Syed.
Francisco Pernía and Ángel Lavín were the officials prosecuted. Between their spells came “Mr Ali”, who arrived in early 2011 and was presented as Racing’s rescuer. Pernía and Cantabrian government leader Miguel Ángel Revilla enthusiastically supported him, with Revilla claiming the new owner possessed enormous wealth. Ali paid €3.5m for the takeover and suggested Racing could establish itself alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. Instead, the club eventually found itself competing against teams such as Langreo, Durango and Calahorra. Ali vanished and became the subject of an international search before being arrested for fraud almost 10 years later.
Racing’s problems intensified after Lavín assumed control, increasing fears that the club was approaching its end. In January 2014, supporters entered the directors’ area and attempted to remove him. Two weeks later, Racing’s players walked on to the pitch for a Copa del Rey quarter-final against Real Sociedad. Although they were still in Segunda B and had already eliminated two first-division opponents, they refused to begin the game. Instead, they stood together with their arms around one another, displaying unity and dignity in protest.
Lavín was eventually removed, and the appointment of former player Manolo Higuera in 2015 marked the beginning of a recovery based on integrity, responsibility and an honest assessment of the club’s condition. Their time near collapse created a powerful bond, although the danger had not completely passed. When club icon Pedro Munitis became coach in 2015, he not only worked without receiving his salary but also used his own money to cover player wages and travel expenses. More than 50 legal disputes remained unresolved. Higuera later described Racing as effectively finished and said their survival amounted to a miracle. The team spent only one of the following three seasons in the second division. Even after earning promotion in 2022, relegation remained a possibility when José Alberto López became coach that December. He first kept Racing up, then guided them to seventh place, followed by a playoff position and finally the championship.
José Alberto recalled that Racing initially operated more like an amateur or neighbourhood team than a professional club. He sometimes questioned the challenge he had accepted, but ultimately helped lead them beyond it. Forced to stop playing at 20 because of rheumatism, he began his coaching career at the lowest levels while also working at Ikea in Asturias. His bold, attacking philosophy later drove Racing forward. His teams confronted opponents directly and treated entertaining football as essential. Even while winning the second division, Racing conceded 61 goals. Nevertheless, their momentum continued to grow until promotion was secured, restoring confidence both inside the club and throughout the city.
That summer, Higuera persuaded Sebastián Ceria to join the project. Ceria, an Argentinian social-democratic philanthropist with a mathematics doctorate from Carnegie and a professorship at Columbia, had recently sold his company for $850m. His wife, Alicia Zorrilla, comes from Cantabria and is a friend of Higuera’s wife. Ceria acquired a controlling interest for €30m and introduced a people-centred approach built above all on stability. Racing completed the final payments from their insolvency process in December 2024, clearing their debts 13 years after the crisis began. Previously lost assets were recovered, along with the club’s pride and sense of identity. Ceria has described football as a democratic force, and the growing number of Racing shirts seen throughout Santander reflects that renewed connection.
The partnership began over lunch in London. On Sunday, Higuera and Ceria sat together in the El Sardinero stands and watched Racing Santander compete in the first division again. They saw the team follow the fearless approach promised by the coach who had transformed them, playing without retreat and showing that they belonged in primera. Flags representing every first-division club lined the roof, with Racing among them, while supporters sang La Fuente de Cacho at the beginning of a day they had awaited for years. Fans gathered beside the Cantabrian Sea, Mantilla led the side from the tunnel wearing the captain’s armband, and Sergio marked both his arrival and Racing’s return with an unforgettable goal. Canales, who had left at the same age, stood before supporters singing about redemption and homecoming. He admitted the experience still felt difficult to comprehend, saying it gave him chills and left him feeling, above all else, deeply grateful.
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