Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, Alavés play in La Liga, being promoted back from the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

in the 2022–23 season after beating rivals Levante at the 120th minute in the promotion playoff final. It is recognized as the third most successful team in the Basque Country following Athletic Club of Bilbao and

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

. Its biggest success was in 2001 when, in the year of its debut in European competition, it reached the

2001 UEFA Cup Final The 2001 UEFA Cup Final was a football match between Liverpool of England and Alavés of Spain on 16 May 2001 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2000–01 edition of Europe's secondary ...

, where it played against Liverpool. It was defeated 5–4 by golden goal. In 2017, the club reached the final of the Copa del Rey, losing out 3–1 to Barcelona. The team's home kit is blue and white-striped shirt, blue shorts and white socks. It holds home matches at the 19,840-seater Mendizorrotza Stadium and uses other facilities located in Ibaia dedicated to training.

History

Founded in 1920 the initial name of the club was Sport Friends, but on 23 January 1921 the name was changed to the current one, and this is considered the official foundation date. Alavés was the first club to win promotion from the

to La Liga in 1929–30, a stint which would last three years. In its first season in Primera División Alavés finished 8th from 10 teams, just 1 point away from being relegated. In 1953–54 the club would reach the top league again for a two-year spell. With Roman Galarraga as a coach, the club reached long-awaited promotion to Segunda División in the 1973–74 season. In June 1983, after having avoided the relegation in the previous season, Alavés went down to Segunda División B, where remained until the 1985–86 campaign. After years of seriously facing disappearance which lasted well into the 1990s (playing in the fourth tier during the late 1980s), Alavés finally achieved a promotion back into the Segunda División in 1994–95 after two consecutive years of winning their group in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

– created as the new third level in 1977 – but failing in the promotion play-offs. After winning the Segunda División in 1997–98, Alavés returned to the top level after a 42-year hiatus. Following their return season in which they escaped relegation by a single point, they achieved two wins against Barcelona in the following campaign and would qualify for the UEFA Cup for the first time upon finishing sixth (to date, their highest-ever placing, coming just 12 years after their lowest-ever: eighth in their group in the fourth level). Liverpool vs Alaves 2001-05-16

As well as concluding the domestic campaign in tenth position, in 2000–01 the Basque club reached the final of the UEFA Cup after beating Internazionale, Rayo Vallecano and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, the latter in a crushing 9–2 aggregate victory. The final ended in a 4–5 loss against Liverpool, Alavés losing to an "own- golden goal" after taking the match to extra time. The match also featured two red cards and two disallowed goals in extra time in addition to the nine goals which did count, and has been described by some observers as one of the greatest showpiece games in the competition's history. Alavés ended 2001–02 in seventh position and qualified for the UEFA Cup for a second time, although the European campaign of 2002–03 was far less successful than two years earlier, with an opening win over Ankaragücü followed by a defeat to another Turkish Süper Lig side,

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

. On 26 January 2003, the club celebrated their 100th win in La Liga after defeating Real Valladolid 3–1. Although Alavés were relegated after 2002–03, they regained top flight status two years later. In this time, Alavés was bought by Ukrainian–American businessman

Dmitry Pietrman Dmitry Piterman ( ua, Дмитро Пітерман; born 18 December 1963) is a Ukrainian-American businessman. He owned Spanish La Liga football clubs Racing de Santander and Deportivo Alavés in the 2000s. Early years Piterman was born to a Jew ...

, and several clashes followed with the club's coaches, players and fans alike. The top-division return only lasted one season as the club went through three head coaches and finished in 18th position, one point from safety. Piterman departed in 2007, leaving the club deep in debt after his tenure. After two years of battling against relegation to the third level, Alavés eventually succumbed in 2008–09. A subsequent black period in ''Segunda B'' lasted four years until Alavés was bought by José Antonio Querejeta and were promoted again to the second division in 2013 as overall champions of the third tier, providing an opportunity to sort out its economic difficulties. Three years later, on 29 May 2016, Alavés was promoted to La Liga as second tier champions after beating Numancia 2–0 to overtake Leganés on the final day. Deporalaves2

On 10 September 2016, Alavés got their first win of their return season in La Liga by defeating defending La Liga champions Barcelona 2–1 at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

. On 7 February 2017, Alavés qualified for the

2017 Copa del Rey Final The 2017 Copa del Rey Final was a football match played on 27 May 2017 to decide the winner of the 2016–17 Copa del Rey, the 115th edition of Spain's primary football cup (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The match wa ...

after eliminating Celta de Vigo in the semi-finals of the competition. This was the first time in their history that the club had qualified for the final of the national cup, their previous best being the semi-finals in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Their opponents in the final would be Barcelona, and coincidentally the two clubs met in the league directly after their cup semi-finals; the Catalans inflicted a 6–0 defeat on Alavés in their own Mendizorrotza Stadium, exacting revenge for the result earlier in the season. Barcelona also won the final, held at the Estadio Vicente Calderón with a 3–1 scoreline, meaning there would be no return to European competition for Alavés. In the La Liga that season Alavés finished 9th with 14 wins, 13 draws and 11 losses. In the 2021–22 season, Alaves were relegated following defeat on the penultimate matchday by Levante (who also went down) to end their six-year stay in La Liga, the longest top-flight run in the club's history.

Seasons

Season to season

---- *18 seasons in La Liga *38 seasons in

*12 seasons in

*22 seasons in Tercera División *1 season in Categorías Regionales

Recent seasons

Seasons in Europe

Players

Current squad

Reserve team

Out on loan

Kits

The team wore kits from the

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

brand Hummel for several seasons. In the 2017-2018 season, they started wearing new kits from Kelme. They had an agreement with Kelme until 2022. That same year, the team signed a new agreement with the German company Puma for four seasons. For the launch of the new brand, they choose to bring back the traditional vertical stripes and keep the original black pants.

Symbols

Deportivo Alavés has changed its crest several times since it was founded in 1921. The first crest looked very similar to the official coat of arms of the Álava province. However, instead of a sword-wielding arm, the team's crest featured a blue and white pennant. At the top of the crest was a medallion with the initials "DA". In 1922, the crest was simplified to just a pennant. The pennant was white with a blue center stripe and had the team initials "DA" in a square at the top left corner. This design stayed until 1950, but the initials changed when the team was renamed Club Deportivo Alavés. In 1950, the team redesigned its crest to look more like the traditional Álava symbol. They brought back the castle and lion, and also added a sword. The "C.D.A." pennant was moved behind the castle, and the whole design was placed within a circle with a crown on top.

Honours

Domestic competitions

* Copa del Rey **''Runners-up'': 2016–17 *

**Winners (4): 1929–30, 1953–54, 1997–98, 2015–16 *Segunda División play-offs **Winners (1):

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

**Winners (4):

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, 1993–94, 1994–95,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* Copa Federación de España **Winners: 1945–46 * Tercera División **Winners (5): 1940–41, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1973–74 **Winners: 1989–90 *Regional Championship **

Biscay Championship The Biscay Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional de Vizcaya)'', also called the North Regional Championship ''(Campeonato Regional Norte)'' in its early editions, was an official football tournament in Spain organised by the North Football F ...

: 1929–30 **

Gipuzkoa Championship The Gipuzkoa Regional Championship (Spanish: ''Campeonato Regional de Guipúzcoa''; Basque: ''Gipuzkoako Herrialde Txapelketa'') was an official football tournament in Spain, organised by the Gipuzkoan Football Federation in which affiliated clubs ...

: 1938–39

European competitions

* UEFA Cup **''Runners-up:'' 2000–01

Notes

Stadium information

*Name – Mendizorrotza *City – Vitoria-Gasteiz *Capacity – 19,840 *Inauguration – 1924 *Pitch size – 105 m x 67 m *Other facilities – '' El Glorioso'' and '' José Luis Compañón''

Famous players

World Cup players

The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup Finals, while playing for Alavés. * John Aloisi (

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

) *

John Guidetti John Alberto Guidetti (, ; born 15 April 1992) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for AIK. Whilst growing up Guidetti played football in his native Sweden as well as Kenya. He returned to Sweden in 2008 and played with ...

(

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

)

Management staff

Coaches

Amadeo García Amadeo García de Salazar y Luco (31 March 1887 – 18 June 1947) was a Spanish football manager. He was the manager of the Spain national football team from 1934 to 1936, and coached the team during the 1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA ...

(1926–27) * Walter Harris (1928) * Ramón Encinas (1931–32) *

(1932–39) *

Baltasar Albéniz Baltasar Albéniz (6 January 1905 in Eibar – 29 November 1978 in Pamplona) was a Spanish football manager. He coached Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid twice (1946–1947 and 1950–1951), winning the Copa del Rey, 1950–51 Copa del Rey. He late ...

(1939) *

Francisco Gamborena Francisco "Patxi" Gamborena Hernandorena (14 March 1901 – 30 July 1982), was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent his entire club career from 1915 to 1934 with Real Unión in his hometown of Irún in the Basque Coun ...

(1940–41) *

(1947–48) *

Manuel Echezarreta Manuel "Manolo" Echezarreta Tellechea (4 October 1915 — 17 October 1980) was a Spanish football player and manager. External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Echezarreta, Manuel 1915 births 1980 deaths Footballers from Irun Spanish men's footb ...

(1954–56) *

Rafael Iriondo Rafael Iriondo Aurtenetxea (24 October 1918 – 24 February 2016) was a Spanish football forward and manager. He amassed La Liga totals of 285 matches and 89 goals over 15 seasons, with Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad. He subsequently became ...

(1958–59) *

(1959–60) * Ignacio Izagirre (1968–69) *

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(1968–70) *

García de Andoin José María García de Andoin Pérez (22 May 1933-4 February 2017) was a Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder, and later was a coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and ac ...

(1971-1972) * Koldo Aguirre (1972–73) *

Ignacio Eizaguirre Ignacio Eizaguirre Arregui (7 November 1920 – 1 September 2013) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played 381 La Liga games during 19 seasons, representing Real Sociedad, Valencia and Osasuna. He was a Spanish internatio ...

(1975) * Joseíto (1976–78) * Jesús Aranguren (1978–80) *

(1980–82) * Mané (1984–85) * Nando Yosu (1985–86) * Luis Costa (1992–93) *

José Antonio Irulegui José Antonio Irulegui Garmendia (born 1 April 1937) is a Spanish former football defender and manager. Playing career Born in Lasarte-Oria, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Irulegui played professional football with SD Eibar, Real Sociedad and Pont ...

(1993–94) * Jesús Aranguren (1994–97) * Mané (1997–03) * Jesús Aranguren (2003) * Pepe Mel (2003–04) *

Chuchi Cos Jesús Gómez Cos (born 26 October 1968) is a Spanish football manager and former player. Playing career Cos was born in Maliaño in the municipality of Camargo, Cantabria, and began his career with Cantabrian Tercera División side Gimnásti ...

(2004–06) *

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(2006) * Mario Luna (2006) *

Julio Bañuelos Julio Bañuelos (born 7 December 1970) is a Spaniards, Spanish retired Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender, He has managed clubs including Deportivo Alavés, Alavés and Burgos CF, Burgos. H ...

(2006) *

(2006–07) *

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(2007) * Mario Luna (2007) * Josu Uribe (2007–08) *

(2008) * José María Salmerón (2008) *

Manix Mandiola Javier 'Manix' Mandiola Alberdi (born 9 April 1958) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a forward, and is a current coach. His managerial career of over two decades was spent almost entirely in Segunda División B, though ...

(2008–09) * Javi López (2009) * Luis de la Fuente (2011) *

José Carlos Granero José Carlos Granero Granero (born 27 May 1963) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a right-back or a central defender, currently a manager. He was known as a promotion specialist, winning promotion four times each to Segu ...

(2011–12) *

Natxo González José Ignacio 'Natxo' González Sáenz (born 29 July 1966) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. After a brief playing career as an amateur, he began coaching and led Alavés to the Segunda División in 20 ...

(2012–13) *

Juan Carlos Mandiá Juan Carlos Mandiá Lorenzo (born 17 January 1967) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defender, currently a manager. Playing career Mandiá was born in Alfoz, Province of Lugo. Over a 16-year playing career he represented Real Ma ...

(2013–14) * Alberto López (2014–15) *

José Bordalás José "Pepe" Bordalás Jiménez (born 5 March 1964) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. His playing career ended due to injury without a first-team appearance for Hércules, and he made his professiona ...

(2015–16) *

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(2016–17) *

Luis Zubeldía Luis Francisco Zubeldía (born 13 January 1981) is an Argentine football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Ecuadorian club LDU Quito. A former midfielder, Zubeldía's career was mainly associated to Club Atlético Lanús, ...

(2017) *

Gianni De Biasi Giovanni "Gianni" De Biasi (, sq, Xhovani "Xhani" De Biazi), born 16 June 1956 is an Italian football coach and former player. He holds dual Italian and Albanian citizenship. De Biasi was the first coach of the Albania national team to lead th ...

(2017) *

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(2017–19) *

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(2019–20) *

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(2020–2021) *

(2021) *

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(2021) *

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(2021–2022) *

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(2022) *

Luis García Plaza Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

(2022–Present)

Affiliated clubs

Alavés B/C

The club's primary reserve team is

Deportivo Alavés B Deportivo Alavés B, S.A.D., usually known as Alavés B, is a Spanish football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1959 it is the reserve team of Deportivo Alavés, and currently plays in Seg ...

, founded in 1960 and currently playing at the amateur Tercera División level of the senior Spanish system. When that team gained promotion to

in 2000, a further reserve side Deportivo Alavés C was formed, later partnering with local team

Club San Ignacio Club San Ignacio is a List of football clubs in Spain, football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1964, the team plays in Tercera División RFEF – G ...

, but the C-team was discontinued in 2005 due to the poor financial situation at the club. San Ignacio and most other teams in the vicinity of Vitoria-Gasteiz continue to operate as partner clubs of Alavés.

California Victory

In 2007, Alavés operated a team in the USL First Division in the United States called the

California Victory The California Victory was a USL First Division professional soccer team based in San Francisco, California. It was an expansion team for the 2007 season, but ceased operation in September of that year after parent club Deportivo Alavés withdre ...

. The team played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, California, and wore the Alavés colors. However, Alavés, under new ownership, pulled its support for the club later that year, after which the Victory folded.

NK Rudeš

In May 2017, Alavés signed a ten-year partnership deal with

NK Rudeš Nogometni Klub Rudeš ( en, Football Club Rudeš), commonly referred to as NK Rudeš or simply Rudeš, is a Croatian football club founded in 1957 in Zagreb's neighbourhood of Rudeš. The club competes in Croatia's second division. History Be ...

, freshly promoted

Croatian First Football League The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football (soccer), football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, i ...

club, with Rudeš acting as a feeder club to Alavés. In June 2018, Deportivo Alavés and NK Rudeš ended its partnership agreement.

Sochaux

In April 2018, Alavés signed an agreement with French club

FC Sochaux-Montbéliard Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard (; commonly referred to as FCSM or simply Sochaux) is a French association football club based in the city of Montbéliard. The club was founded in 1928 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Frenc ...

; however the partnership lasted only a few months, ending abruptly in December of the same year.

NK Istra 1961

In June 2018 Alavés took a controlling interest in another Croatian top-tier club,

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 ( en, Istra 1961 Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra 1961, or simply Istra 1961 or Istra, is a Croatian professional football club from Pula, currently playing in the Croatian First League. It is a common ...

, a few weeks after ending their agreement with Rudeš.