Racing Santander Mark 113th Birthday With Tribute to Club Legend Nando Yosu
Racing Santander turn 113 on 23 February and are marking the occasion with a special kit, an open training session, and an emotional tribute to club icon Nando Yosu.
Racing Santander are turning 113 years old, and they’re doing it properly — with a special shirt, open doors at training, and a genuinely moving tribute to the bloke who defined the club.
A proper birthday, not just a cake and a tweet
The milestone falls on Monday 23 February, marking 113 years since Racing played their very first match against Strong in the El Sardinero area back in 1913. The club and the Asociación de Peñas have put together a full weekend of events around the occasion, which conveniently lines up with a home Segunda División fixture against Burgos CF on Sunday the 22nd.
What’s actually happening
There are three main events to get your head around:
- Special birthday kit — designed by Austral and Pompei, it’ll be worn for the Burgos clash. Always a nice touch, that.
- Open training session — on Saturday 21st at the Instalaciones Nando Yosu in La Albericia, gates open at 10:45 with training kicking off at 11:00. The club are particularly keen to get the younger fans down there to give José Alberto’s squad a proper send-off ahead of the game.
- Pre-match tribute to Nando Yosu — this is the one that’ll give you goosebumps. Just before Sunday’s kick-off, Racing will hold a minute’s silence in memory of Nando Yosu, widely regarded as the greatest figure in the club’s history.
Who was Nando Yosu?
If you don’t know the name, get educated. Nando Yosu wasn’t just a player — he wore basically every hat going at Racing over the years:
- Player for the club
- Manager, with five top-flight survival seasons to his name in Primera División
- Technical secretary after his dugout days
The tribute will see a floral wreath laid at the stand that bears his mural — placed there by the club captain and current boss José Moratón, who Yosu himself gave a first-team debut to back in the day. That’s a lovely bit of symmetry, that is.
The bigger picture
It’s easy to be cynical about clubs leaning into anniversary marketing, but this feels genuine. Racing are a club with serious history and a proper fanbase in Santander, and tying the birthday to a home game — with fan events in the Tetuán area beforehand — makes it a real community moment rather than just a PR exercise. The fact that the training ground itself is named after Yosu says everything about what he means to the place.
Hope the result goes their way on Sunday, too. Nothing ruins a birthday party quite like a loss at home.