The club's most important milestones came in the 1970s and 1980s, when it finished runners-up in the 1978–79 La Liga and played two Copa del Rey finals in 1981 and 1982.
Real Sporting are also one of nine Spanish teams that have never played below the second division.
Its local rivals are Real Oviedo from a nearby town slightly inland.
The club was founded in 1905 under the name Sporting Gijones, with Anselmo Lopez as its first president.
The club's first game dates back to August 18, 1907 against Sport Ovetense.
The decline of other local clubs such as Gijón Sport Club and Sportiva Gijonesa allowed Sporting Gijones to become the main team in the city.
In 1912, King Alfonso XIII accepted royal patronage of the club on behalf of the Spanish Crown, introducing the term "Real" into its name and becoming Real Sporting Club Gijones.
In 1914, Sporting Gijon won their first regional championship in Asturias.
Success was repeated two years later when the club began the first steps to purchase El Molinon, where Sporting began playing their games in 1915.
On April 2, 1916, a new change occurred.
Thanks to victory in the regional championship on April 24, 1917, the club made its debut in the Copa del Rey, but was eliminated in the first round by Arenas Club de Getxo.
Sporting lost both games, 0–1 in Gijon and 0–7 in the Basque Country.