Retro Villarreal Shirt – El Submarino Amarillo's Greatest Kits

Villarreal CF was founded on 10 March 1923, spending their formative decades in regional Valencian football and the lower rungs of the Spanish pyramid. Promotion to the top flight came and went in fits and starts throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, but the club's trajectory changed irrevocably when Fernando Roig, a successful businessman from the local ceramics industry, took over as president in 1997. Roig's investment and ambition coincided with a series of shrewd managerial appointments that turned a modest provincial club into one of La Liga's most watchable sides.

The early 2000s represented the first golden era. Under the stewardship of Víctor Muñoz and then Manuel Pellegrini, Villarreal finished third in La Liga in 2003 and again in 2004, qualifying for UEFA competition and signalling their arrival among Spain's elite. The signing of Argentine playmaker Juan Román Riquelme on loan from Barcelona in 2003 was transformative – his languid genius and pinpoint passing gave Villarreal a tactical identity that was both distinctive and devastating.

The 2005–06 season stands as the club's most famous campaign before 2021. Pellegrini guided Villarreal to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, defeating Rangers, Benfica, and Internazionale along the way before a heartbreaking exit against Arsenal. Shay Given's brilliance and a Diego Forlán miss on penalties ended the dream, but the football world had taken note. This was not a fluke – this was a serious club.

League stability followed, though Villarreal endured their first-ever relegation from La Liga in 2012 under difficult financial circumstances. The fans' reaction was defiant rather than despairing. The club bounced straight back and rebuilt with characteristic intelligence. By the late 2010s, under managers including Javi Calleja, they were once again a settled top-half La Liga side.

The pinnacle arrived in May 2021. Unai Emery, a manager with an unparalleled record in knockout European competition, led Villarreal to the UEFA Europa League title. They beat Arsenal in the semi-finals – poetic revenge for 2006 – before defeating Manchester United in a penalty shootout in Gdańsk. Goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli saved David de Gea's spot kick and then converted his own to seal one of the most dramatic European finals in memory. A town of 50,000 had conquered Europe. The yellow kit was everywhere.

Villarreal have attracted and developed a remarkable array of talent throughout their rise, with certain figures standing permanently in the club's folklore.

Juan Román Riquelme remains the totemic figure of the 2000s era. The Argentine maestro's two spells at the club (loan in 2003–04 and again in 2006–08) produced some of the most technically exquisite football seen in Spain. His ability to dictate tempo, his trademark free-kicks, and his utter composure on the ball made him a favourite among supporters who treasure the beautiful game above results alone.

Diego Forlán arrived in 2004 and quickly became one of La Liga's most lethal strikers. The Uruguayan won the Pichichi trophy in 2005 (shared with Samuel Eto'o) and the European Golden Shoe, with his thunderous shooting and intelligent movement proving irresistible. His 54 goals in 99 appearances made him a Villarreal legend, even as his miss in that 2006 Champions League semi-final penalty shootout became a painful memory.

Santi Cazorla spent two periods at the club and is perhaps the supporter favourite above all others. His technical brilliance, work rate, and infectious personality made him beloved long before his extraordinary comeback from a near-career-ending ankle injury between 2016 and 2018. He returned to Villarreal after Arsenal, defying medical probability to perform at the highest level into his mid-thirties.

Robert Pires, the World Cup and European Championship winner with France, brought glamour and guile during his 2010–12 spell. More recently, Gerard Moreno became the modern hero – his goals were central to the Europa League triumph, earning him a place in the Spanish national team.

Managers have also shaped the club profoundly. Manuel Pellegrini built the Champions League semi-finalists with elegant football, while Unai Emery delivered the European trophy that defined a generation.

The Villarreal shirt is one of European football's most immediately recognisable garments. That bold, unflinching yellow – sometimes drifting toward gold, sometimes a clean lemon – has been the constant across decades of change.

Through the 1990s and into the early 2000s, as the club climbed through the divisions, the kits were relatively simple affairs with the yellow dominating and navy blue trim providing contrast. The crests evolved gradually, but the colour identity was always non-negotiable. The Pamesa ceramics sponsorship that adorned the shirts during the early Roig era became synonymous with the club's first serious ambitions, and collectors now seek these editions as historical documents of a golden transition.

The Champions League era kits from 2005 and 2006 are the most coveted among serious collectors. These shirts carry the weight of those European nights – the Madrigal stadium rocking as Riquelme threaded passes and Forlán blasted goals. The Kelme-manufactured strips from this period have a period-authentic feel that modern reproductions cannot fully replicate.

Away kits have explored darker territory – navy blue and even red have featured – creating pleasing contrast with the home yellow. The third strips from the Europa League campaign of 2020–21, worn during some of the most dramatic nights in the club's history, have rapidly become collector items.

Sponsor changes across the decades tell the club's commercial story: local Valencian industry giving way to international partners as Villarreal's profile grew. Each retro Villarreal shirt in our collection of 39 captures a specific moment in that journey.