La Liga feature: Story behind the planes on Getafe badge

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April 24 2024, 07:30 PM

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Bengaluru, April 27: Getafe FC have been flying high in La Liga over the past few campaigns.

They have been particularly in the 2019-20 season which came to a temporary halt last month following the crisis created by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

When La Liga was stopped midway, Getafe were perched fifth in the table and are within striking distance of a UEFA Champions League spot.

La Liga Points Table

Fittingly, the club's players have been doing so with airplanes on their chests. If one looks closely at the club's badge, they will see that it proudly features a squadron of planes.

There is a very good reason for this, stemming from the aeronautical traditions of the municipality in which Getafe lies, just south of Madrid city centre. The Getafe Air Base was opened in 1911 as one of the country's first military air stations and has over the years come to be known as the 'cradle' of Spanish aviation.

It has long been a pillar of the city's economy, with thousands employed by the air force or in the factories based on the site.

With MSL Media inputs, myKhel.com looks at what makes Getafe's club badge so unique.

New crest

Previously the crest had highlighted the claim that Getafe, and specifically its Cerro de los Angeles hill, lay at the very centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and not the Puerta del Sol square in Madrid city centre from where all official distances are measured.

But the new crest designed by council member Jesus Martinez instead featured a crown, a cross with a sacred heart and, most intriguingly, a squadron of airplanes.

Blue band

While this crest has since been slightly tweaked and redesigned by Martinez's grandson Pablo in 2012, it has largely remained the same and has been the official crest of Getafe for over half a century.

When the current incarnation of Getafe was founded in 1983, the club's badge was designed using this crest of the municipality, adding a blue band with a football and keeping the airplanes along with the cross.

The Blues

Since then, there have been airplanes on Getafe shirts whenever Los Azulones (The Blues) have taken to the field.

It is unique in every sense and no other club in La Liga can say with authority they have anything similar featured on their badge.

Special one

Getafe, who are coached by Jose Bordalas, have a badge that is special, without doubt.

It is one that can trace its roots back to the birth of Spanish aviation, and specifically an Air Base which will soon celebrate its 110th anniversary.