Futbol Club Andorra is a professional football club based in

Andorra la Vella Andorra la Vella french: Andorre-la-Vieille is the capital of the Principality of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parish that surrounds the capital. , the city has a popu ...

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. The club was founded in 1942 and currently plays its home fixtures at

Estadi Nacional The Estadi Nacional is a stadium located in Andorra la Vella. It is the national stadium of Andorra, and is used for association football and rugby union. It has a capacity of 3,306, and the pitch is made of artificial turf. History The stadium ...

. In spite of being based in the microstate of Andorra, the club, voluntarily affiliated to the

Catalan Football Federation The Catalan Football Federation ( ca, Federació Catalana de Futbol, es, Federación Catalana de Fútbol; FCF) is the football association responsible for administering football in Catalonia. It was formed on 11 November 1900 as the Football Ass ...

, has been allowed to compete in Spanish leagues since 1948.

History

Futbol Club Andorra has historically been the biggest football club in the country. The club was founded on 15 October 1942 in the College of Our Lady of Meritxell and was the first football club to be founded in Andorra. The club joined the categories of the

, contesting the Spanish League and Spanish Cup. In the 1963–64 season FC Andorra debuted in the Segunda Regional, finishing in the 11th position. After several years in regional categories, the Andorran club climbed in 1981 to Segunda División B (third level of the Spanish league system), where they remained for 17 years, with a break in the 1986–87 season when the team played in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

. In the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons FC Andorra was close to promotion to Segunda División. The club's greatest success came in 1994 when FC Andorra won the

Copa Catalunya The Copa Catalunya (''Catalonia Cup'') is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. History Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the '' Champions ...

. The Andorran team eliminated

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

in the semi-finals (aggregate 2–1) and defeated

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

in the final played in the Municipal Stadium of Vilassar de Mar, winning 4–2 on penalties after no goals were scored during ordinary and extra time. At the end of the 1997–98 season the team was relegated to Tercera División (fourth tier). Their best performance to date in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

was in the 1995–96 edition, beating Palamós CF and Getafe CF before being eliminated by

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), ...

in Round 16. From 1986 to 2013 the club also had a futsal section ( FC Andorra Futsal) that played in División de Honor and División de Plata. The Andorran club was bought in December 2018 by Gerard Piqué's Kosmos Holding Group, and in April 2019 presented its main sponsor MoraBanc; known as a strong and a benchmark bank in

. Weeks later they achieved promotion to Tercera División, after a streak of 22 matches unbeaten. In July 2019, the club paid a €452,022 fee to replace CF Reus Deportiu in the Segunda División B after Reus were relegated to the Tercera División for failing to pay its players. On 20 February 2020, head coach Gabri Garcia was fired from the club. The reason was poor results with 3 consecutive losses and 7 matches without a single victory. On the same day Nacho Castro was appointed as the club's new head coach. On 27 February 2020, one of the biggest business groups in Andorra ''Pyrénées'' signed an agreement with the club, becoming its "premium partner". In 2021 the team qualified for the

promotion play-offs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to Segunda División for the first time, however, the club was eliminated in the first round by Real Sociedad B. Although, despite this result the team achieved a place in the

Primera División RFEF Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

, new league of the third level of Spanish football. On 21 May 2022, the team was promoted to the Segunda División after beating already relegated UCAM Murcia 1–0 at home, thus getting promoted to the second tier for the first time in their history.

Stadium

FC Andorra historically hosted their matches at the Camp d’Esports de les Valls in the capital city of

before relocating in 1983, to the Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall which, after a renovation in 1999, had a capacity of 1,000 spectators. Following the closure of Aixovall, the club relocated again in 2015 to the new, smaller Centre d'Entrenament de la FAF facility in Andorra la Vella. More recently the team have been based at the 500-seat Camp de Fútbol de Prada de Moles in

Encamp Encamp () is one of the parishes of Andorra, located on the Valira d'Orient river. It is also the name of the main town in the parish. Other settlements include Vila, El Pas de la Casa, Grau Roig, El Tremat, La Mosquera and Les Bons. As of 20 ...

however, since 2021, the club has utilised the 3,306-capacity

for all home games following an agreement made with the Government of Andorra. The stadium had previously hosted FC Andorra games on a temporary basis in 2015 prior to the opening of the Centre d'Entrenament de la FAF. On 8 May 2022, a record 3,631 fans attended the team's home match against visiting

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches ...

at Estadi Nacional. In August 2022, following their promotion to the Segunda División, the club announced future plans for a new 6,000-capacity stadium on the site of the existing Camp de Fútbol de Prada de Moles, with an estimated cost of €26 million.

Crest and shirt

FC Andorra's traditional crest, first used in 1948, used the colours and icons of the country of Andorra. It represented the

coat of arms of Andorra The coat of arms of Andorra (Catalan: ''Escut d'Andorra'') is the heraldic device consisting of a shield divided quarterly by the arms of the Bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix – who have historically been the two co-princes of Andorra – ...

with some minor variations, featuring the arms of both the

Bishop of Urgell The Diocese of Urgell is a diocese in Catalonia (Spain) and Andorra in the historical County of Urgell,

and Count of Foix - the two historical Co-Princes of Andorra - along with the arms of the

Viscounts of Béarn The viscounts of Béarn (Basque: ''Bearno'', Gascon: ''Bearn'' or ''Biarn'') were the rulers of the viscounty of Béarn, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Basque province ...

and

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

, two neighbouring territories that Andorra has historically been reliant upon. The traditional crest was updated and amended on several occasions though keeping a very similar and familiar appearance. On 7 July 2021, the club announced a change in its brand image, replacing the traditional crest with the current logo featuring a new round crest in blue with a white pattern representing the name of the club, the country and the mountains characterising the nation. In addition, these elements are encircled by the colours of the Andorran flag. The club first used red shirts and white shorts as its kit, however this was soon changed in 1948 when they adopted the blue, yellow and red colours of the national flag of Andorra. Historically, the club's kit has often featured the three distinctive colours in the design on the national flag, thus earning FC Andorra the nickname of ('The Tricolours'). From 2019, the club has partnered with the American sports brand

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

to supply the playing kits for the team.

Honours

* Primera Catalana **Champions (1): 2018–19 *

**Winners (1): 1993–94

Seasons

---- *1 season in '' Segunda División'' *1 season in ''

'' *19 seasons in '' Segunda División B'' *6 seasons in ''

'' TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ImageSize = width:750 height:104 PlotArea = width:600 height:54 bottom:30 left:134 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1965 till:2023 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1965 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1965 AlignBars = justify Colors = id:seg value:blue id:segb value:green id:ter value:orange id:pcat value:yellow id:pref value:purple id:preg value:red BarData = bar:segona text:" Segunda División" bar:segonab text:" Segunda B/Primera RFEF" bar:tercera text:"

" bar:primcat text:" Primera Catalana" bar:primreg text:" Segona Cat./Primera Ter." PlotData = # set defaults width:10 fontsize:s textcolor:white align:left anchor:from shift:(5,-5) bar:segona color:seg from:2022 till:2023 bar:segonab color:segb from:1980 till:1986 from:1987 till:1998 from:2019 till:2022 bar:tercera color:ter from:1977 till:1980 from:1986 till:1987 from:1998 till:1999 from:2001 till:2002 bar:primcat color:pcat from:1968 till:1970 from:1971 till:1977 from:1999 till:2001 from:2002 till:2004 from:2012 till:2014 from:2015 till:2019 bar:primreg color:preg from:1965 till:1968 from:1970 till:1971 from:2004 till:2012 from:2014 till:2015

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

Current technical staff

Manu Torres
Gilbert Morell

References

External links

Official websiteFCF team profile

Club & stadium history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andorra Association football clubs established in 1942 Expatriated football clubs 1942 establishments in Andorra Football clubs in Andorra Sport in Andorra la Vella Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol clubs Primera Federación clubs Segunda División clubs