Real Racing Club played their first football match on 23 February 1913, losing 1–2 to neighbouring
Strong. It was officially founded on 14 June, as
Santander Racing Club, appearing in its first tournament during that summer (Luis Redonet Trophy) and being admitted to the
Northern Federation on 14 November, eventually
merging with Santander Football Club. (first on the left) was the coach of the team this year. In the
1928–29 season, the
Spanish League competition began. After a complicated elimination process to determine the tenth and final team for the new First Division, Racing successively beat
Valencia,
Betis and
Sevilla. The club was part of the first goalless game in the league, against
Athletic Bilbao. During the
Second Republic, the classifications of Santander varied. In the
1930–31 season, they achieved the runner-up position in the Spanish League, tied at 22 points with champion Athletic Bilbao and third-place
Real Sociedad. This is the highest finish achieved by the club in all its history, trained by the English
Robert Firth and chaired by Fernando Pombo. They also participated in the International Tournament of Paris, falling in the semifinal to
Slavia of Prague (2–1). In the 1930s, under the presidency of the academic José María de Cossío, it had varied positions, from third place in
(1933–34) to low table rankings. In seasons 1934–35 and 1935–36, Racing played in the
Commonwealth Championship of Castilla-Aragón, in which it finished second in the first season. Meanwhile, in Cantabria a lesser championship was disputed, not qualifying for the
Spanish Cup;
Santoña won it. During the
1935–36 season, Racing was the first club in the Spanish league to beat
Barcelona and
Real Madrid in the four league matches (both home and two as a visitor) in the same season: on 8 December 1935 they won 4–0 against Barcelona in the
Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, on 15 December they won in Madrid 2–4, on 8 March 1936 they beat Barcelona 2-3 and on 15 March they defeated Madrid 4–3 at El Sardinero. The only player to score in all matches (one goal in each match, and two in Madrid) was Milucho. In
1950, the
Cantabrians returned to the top flight after a ten-year absence, scoring 99 goals in only 30 games. before 1910 During the period of
Francoist Spain, the club was renamed
Real Santander in 1941, because of the prohibition on non-Spanish names. The name was restored in 1973 as the team
returned to the first division one year after
nearly relegating, under young manager
José María Maguregui. Racing was
immediately relegated, and spent the ensuing seasons bouncing between divisions one and two, also
being crowned champions in
Segunda División B (the new third level, created in 1977) in 1991. Veteran
Quique Setién returned to his main club the following year, helping them
return to the top flight and scoring in the
1994–95 campaign against
Barcelona, in a historic 5–0 home win. Racing was the first Spanish team to wear a sponsor's name on their shirt: German electronics company
Teka on 27 December 1981 away to
Real Madrid (the corporation then sponsored the opponents early in the following decade). On 25 March 2000, Racing played its 1,000th game in La Liga. In the 2000s, Racing only played
one season in the second division, winning promotion with Setién as manager. Racing finished the 2005–06 season in the 16th position, just 1 point away from relegation back to Segunda división. The next season was much better, as the club finished 10th, easily retaining its place in the top flight. In
2007–08, under
Marcelino García Toral, it finished in sixth position, thus
qualifying to the
UEFA Cup for the first time ever; additionally the club reached the semifinals of the
Copa del Rey twice during this decade, being ousted by eventual runners-up
Getafe and
Atlético Madrid in 2008 and 2010, respectively. On 22 January 2011, Indian business tycoon
Ahsan Ali Syed, founder and chairman of investment company
Western Gulf Advisory, completed his takeover of Racing de Santander. Following his takeover, he immediately sacked
Miguel Ángel Portugal. A turbulent
2011–12 season saw the club go through three different managers, all of which were unable to prevent Racing from being relegated to the
Segunda División, bringing an end to their decade stay in the top flight of Spanish football. At the end of
the following campaign, Racing again finished at the bottom of the table, sealing their fate of a consecutive relegation. During the season, Racing had also been immersed in a severe institutional and financial crisis. The club's relegation brought an end to 22 years of playing in Spain's professional divisions. In spite of that plight, the team was able to reach the quarterfinals in the
2013–14 edition of the domestic cup after ousting top-divisioners
Sevilla and
Almería; in the first leg against the latter, club fans stormed the presidential tribune at
Estadio El Sardinero and assaulted chairman Ángel Lavín. On 27 January 2014, Racing's players, citing several months of unpaid wages, announced they would not play their upcoming cup match unless the club's president and board resigned. Three days later, in the club's second-leg fixture against
Real Sociedad, the players gathered at the centre circle following kick-off, refusing to play. Referee
Jesús Gil Manzano suspended the game after one minute, with Racing being given a loss due to forfeit. As a result of the protest the club was fined and banned from competing in
the following edition of the competition. On 31 January Lavín was sacked, with former player
Juan Antonio Sañudo being appointed his successor by practically all the shareholders. 2017 Racing won
their group in the
2013–14 Segunda División B, and won the
playoff against
Llagostera to be promoted back to the second tier, but they were immediately relegated in the
2014–15 season. They again took first place in the Segunda B section in
2015–16, but were eliminated in
the promotion playoffs, failing to score a goal across four matches in the ties lost to
Reus and
Cádiz. Racing was promoted back to the second division after four years in the third tier in
2018–19, by winning their regional group and defeating
Atlético Baleares in the
promotion playoff on the
away goals rule, but they were immediately relegated in the
2019–20 season after only winning five games out of 42 and finished in last place. They were unable to bounce back to the second tier immediately, finishing fourth then second in the unique small two-phase group setup during
2020–21 Segunda División B to find themselves remaining at the third level, in the newly formed
Primera División RFEF, for the 2021–22 season. Racing confirmed their finish the season in first place and promoted to
Segunda División, after two years in third division and fighting with
Deportivo La Coruña for the top spot. On 3 June 2022, Racing took the inaugural Primera División RFEF title with a 3–0 win over
Andorra. ==Rivalries==