The Sporting de Gijón youth teams are integrated in the club's youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.
The final category within the youth structure is the Juvenil A under-18/19 team which represents the club in the top national competition. The successful graduates then usually move to the club's reserve team, Sporting de Gijón B which is also considered part of the cantera due to being a stage in progression towards the senior team, albeit competing in the adult league system.
The academy is based at the club training complex, Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo, which is often the name used informally to refer to the system itself.
Background The top football clubs in the Spanish leagues generally place great importance in developing their cantera to promote the players from within or sell to other clubs as a source of revenue, and Sporting de Gijón is no exception. Their youth recruitment network is focused around their home region of Asturias, and there are collaboration agreements in place with small clubs in the region.
Sporting de Gijón had many farm teams, like RD Oriamendi, until his official reserve team, Sporting de Gijón B, was established in 1960.
Sporting's academy, the Escuela de Fútbol de Mareo, built in 1974, is considered one of the most important football academies in Spain. International players such as Luis Enrique, Abelardo, Javier Manjarín and David Villa learned their skills at Mareo.
In 2010, Sporting youth graduate Míchel was sold to Birmingham City for £3 million, becoming the highest transfers in the history of the Asturian club, until the transfers of José Ángel to Roma, in 2011, by €4.5 million, and Jorge Meré to Köln, in 2017, for a fee between €8.5 million and €9 million.
Structure
Head coaches The coaches are often former Sporting Gijón players who themselves graduated from Mareo.
SquadAgeCoachTierLeagueJuvenil A16-18Ismael Piñera1División de Honor (Gr. I)Juvenil B16-17Sergio Sánchez2 Liga Nacional (Gr. II)Cadete A15-16Alejandro Morán1Primera CadeteCadete B14-15Diego Galeano2Segunda Cadete
Current squads
Juvenil A
Season to season (Juvenil A) Season Copa de Campeones Copa del Rey 1992–93 DH 1 1st First round 1993–94 DH 1 1st First round 1994–95 Liga de Honor 5th First round 1995–96 DH 13rd Round of 16 1996–97 DH 12nd Semifinals 1997–98 DH 1 7th 1998–99 DH 1 6th 1999–00 DH 12nd Round of 16 2000–01 DH 1 6th 2001–02 DH 1 6th 2002–03 DH 1 8th 2003–04 DH 11st Champion Round of 16 2004–05 DH 11st Runner-up Runner-up 2005–06 DH 1 5th 2006–07 DH 1 4th 2007–08 DH 1 8th 2008–09 DH 13rd 2009–10 DH 13rd 2010–11 DH 1 4th 2011–12 DH 11st Semifinals Round of 16 2012–13 DH 12nd Round of 16 2013–14 DH 1 5th 2014–15 DH 1 6th 2015–16 DH 13rd Quarterfinals 2016–17 DH 12nd Round of 16 2017–18 DH 11st Runner-up Round of 16 2018–19 DH 12nd Round of 16 2019–20 DH 1 2nd rowspan=2 2020–21 DH 1-B/C 1st/3rd 2021–22 DH 1 6th 2022–23 DH 1 3rd Quarterfinals 2023–24 DH 1 6th 2024–25 DH 1 3rd Round of 32
Honours National competitions
División de Honor (Group I): (first-tier inter-regional league) 4 2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12, 2017–18 Copa de Campeones: 1 2004 (runners-up: 2005, 2018) Copa del Rey: 0 (runners-up: 2005)
References
External links Official website