Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches at ''

Estadio Carlos Belmonte Estadio Carlos Belmonte is a multi-purpose stadium in Albacete, Spain. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Albacete Balompié. History The stadium holds 17,524 and was built in 1960. It replaced the ageing Campo de ...

'', with a capacity of 17,524.

History

After years of amateur and regional development of football, it would not appear formally until the end of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, due to the merger of 'Club Deportivo Nacional' and 'Albacete Foot-Ball Club'. The club was founded in 1939 under the name Sociedad Deportiva Albacete Foot-ball Association, being later changed due to the forced castellanization of all football names imposed by

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

in 1941. Albacete debuted in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, being relegated due to economic problems, but returning ten years later. In 1989,

Benito Floro Benito Floro Sanz (born 2 June 1952) is a Spanish football manager. Football career Floro was born in Gijón, Asturias. During his professional career he managed Albacete (two spells, starting off in 1989 in Segunda División B and leading the ...

consecutively promoted the club from the third division to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, overachieving for a seventh place in the first season in the top level. Floro would later coach

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, returning to ''Alba'' two seasons later as the club was relegated in 1995–96. After years in the second division facing serious economic and sporting difficulties, Albacete returned to the top flight in the 2002–03 campaign, led by César Ferrando (later of

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

). However, Albacete dropped in 2004–05 after posting just 6 wins from 38 matches, going on to stabilize in the subsequent seasons in the second level. The 2010–11 season brought two coaching changes, with both

Antonio Calderón Antonio Calderón Burgos (born 2 June 1967) is a Spanish former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently manager of Tercera Federación club Juventud de Torremolinos CF. Over eight seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 213 ...

and

David Vidal David Vidal Tomé (born 2 August 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Football career Vidal was born in Porto do Son, A Coruña, Galicia. After an unassuming career (the central defender never pl ...

(who returned to the club only a few months after leaving) being fired, as Albacete returned to the third division after 21 years. That season the club finished last in Segunda División with only 32 points in 42 matches. On 6 December 2011,

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and spent most of his career at La Liga club Barcelona. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was known ...

– who played for the club in his youth before joining

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

– became the club's major shareholder, donating

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

420,000 to the cash-strapped club. The club managed to reach the round of 16 of the

2011–12 Copa del Rey The 2011–12 Copa del Rey was the 110th staging of the Copa del Rey (including two seasons where two rival editions were played). The competition began on 31 August 2011 and ended on 25 May 2012 with the final, which was held at the Vicente Cald ...

, notably beating Atlético Madrid 3–1 on aggregate. In March 2013, Agustín Lázaro, chief executive officer (CEO) of Andrés Iniesta's

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

enterprise, was appointed as Albacete's chairman. In June, Iniesta loaned the club a further €240,000 to cover unpaid wages, thus preventing its administrative relegation to the fourth tier. In 2014, Albacete returned to the Segunda División, but was relegated two seasons later after finishing the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

in the 21st position. The club again returned to the Segunda División in the 2016–17 season after winning against

Valencia Mestalla Valencia Club de Fútbol Mestalla, shortened to Valencia Mestalla, is the reserve team of Valencia CF, a Spanish football club based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1944, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' Ciud ...

in the last round of 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 ...

. Albacete finished the 2018–19 season in 4th position of the Segunda División, but then lost to

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

in the La Liga play-offs and remained in Segunda División for the 2019–20 season. On next season, Albacete finished last in second division and were relegated to the third division. Thus ending their four-years stay in the second division. Albacete were promoted to Segunda in the 2021–22 Primera RFEF season playoffs, after defeating

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

at the

Estadio Riazor Estadio Municipal de Riazor () is an all-seater stadium in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain which is the home stadium of Deportivo de La Coruña. Currently known as Estadio Abanca-Riazor for sponsorship reasons, its name derives from the nearby beach ...

. The team came back from a 1–0 deficit, winning 2-1 with a goal in extra time.

Seasons

Season to season

---- *7 seasons in

*28 seasons in

*1 season in

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 Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

*11 seasons in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

*29 seasons in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

*9 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Current squad

Reserve team

Out on loan

Current technical staff

Honours

: (1) 1990–91 *

: (2) 1989–90, 2013–14, 2016–17 *

: (8) 1945–46, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1981–82 *

promotion: (2) 1990–91, 2002–03 *

promotion: (2) 1984–85, 1989–90 *

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

winners: (2) 1982–83 Segunda División B – Group II, 1984–85 Segunda División B – Group II

Stadium

The club plays its home matches at the

, which has an all-seated capacity of 17,524. Originally built in 1960, the stadium underwent two major redevelopments, the last being in 1998.

International players

Óscar Dertycia Oscar Alberto Dertycia Álvarez (born 3 March 1965) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a striker and later worked as a coach. Club career Born in Córdoba, Córdoba Province, Dertycia started playing at professional level with ...

Carlos Roa Carlos Ángel Roa (born 15 August 1969) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeper coach of Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Most of his professional career was spent with Racing ...

Andy Bernal Andrew Bernal (born 16 May 1966) is a former professional soccer defender and football pioneer who played in Australia, England, and Spain. He was later a football agent and personal manager for David Beckham. In 2021, he wrote and released his ...

Vali Gasimov Vali Aydin oglu Gasimov (, also spelled Veli Aydin oglu Kasumov; ; born 4 October 1968) is an Azerbaijani football coach and a former player who played as a forward. Club career Born in Kirovabad, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet ...

* Ronny Gaspercic *

Marco Etcheverry Marco Antonio Etcheverry Vargas (born 26 September 1970) is a Bolivian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward or midfielder. A creative playmaker, he is considered one of the ...

* Zago *

Ivaylo Andonov Ivaylo Viktorov Andonov (; born 14 August 1967) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Football career After beginning professionally with hometown's PFC Pirin Blagoevgrad, Andonov made a name for himself at P ...

Albert Meyong Albert Meyong Zé (born 19 October 1980), known as Meyong, is a Cameroonian former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He spent most of his professional career in Portugal, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 231 matches and ...

Mark González Mark Dennis González Hoffmann (born 10 July 1984) is a Chileans, Chilean former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He played top flight football in Chile, Russia, Spain, Brazil and England. He was descr ...

* Danny Carvajal * Luis Conejo *

Keylor Navas Keilor Antonio "Keylor" Navas Gamboa (; born 15 December 1986) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Argentine Primera División club Newell's Old Boys and the Costa Rica national team. He is regarded as one o ...

Nenad Bjelica Nenad Bjelica (; born 20 August 1971) is a Croatian professional Association football, football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Croatian club GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb. Club career Born in Osijek, Bjelica st ...

Ivan Jurić Ivan Jurić (; born 25 August 1975) is a Croatian professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of Serie A, Italian Serie A club Atalanta BC, Atalanta. ...

Trésor Kandol Trésor Osmar Kandol (born 30 August 1981) is a Congolese former international footballer who played as a striker. He retired from full-time professional football in 2011, and over his career variously previously played for clubs including Ist ...

Javier Balboa Javier Ángel Balboa Osa (born 13 May 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a winger, most notably for Real Madrid and Benfica. After emerging at Real Madrid's youth system, he could never establish himself in its first ...

* Rachid Rokki *

Moussa Yahaya Moussa Yahaya (born 4 January 1975) is a Nigerien retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He represented the Niger national team on sixteen occasions. Football career Born in Agadez, Yahaya began playing with JS du Ténéré ...

* Abass Lawal *

Rommel Fernández Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez (15 January 1966 – 6 May 1993) was a Panamanian footballer who played as a striker. The second Panamanian to play in Europe, he spent almost his entire professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 104 ...

Nelson Cuevas Nelson Rafael Cuevas Amarilla (; born 10 January 1980) is a Paraguayan former footballer and current singer. He represented the Paraguay national football team at the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups and the 1999 and 2007 Copa América tour ...

Fernando Morientes Fernando Morientes Sánchez (; born 5 April 1976) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He played for a number of clubs during his career, including Real Madri ...

Cătălin Munteanu Cătălin Constantin Munteanu (born 26 January 1979) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently assistant coach at Liga I club Petrolul Ploiești. Club career Munteanu, nicknamed "Cap de Zmeu" ...

* Roman Zozulya * Joe Bizera * Darío Delgado *

Nicolás Olivera Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

* Antonio Pacheco * Horacio Peralta *

José Luis Zalazar José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''J ...

Coaches

* Dagoberto Moll (1960–61) * Enrique Orizaola (1976–78) * Máximo Hernández (1979–80) * Ignacio Bergara (1981–84) *

Julián Rubio Julián Rubio Sánchez (born 28 January 1952) is a Spanish former football midfielder and manager. He appeared in 134 La Liga matches over six seasons (14 goals), mainly in representation of Sevilla. His professional career was closely associat ...

(1984–85) *

Pachín Enrique Pérez Díaz (28 December 1938 – 10 February 2021), known as Pachín, was a Spanish football defender and manager. Club career Born in Torrelavega, Cantabria, Pachín signed with Real Madrid in 1959 from Segunda División club CA Os ...

(1985–86) *

Pepe Carcelén José Ródenas Carcelén (born 29 April 1955) is a Spanish retired Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who later worked as a manager. As a player, he represented his hometown club, Albacete Balompié, and later began his managerial care ...

(1988–89) *

(1989) *

(1989–92) *

(1992) *

Ginés Meléndez Ginés Meléndez Sotos (born 22 March 1950) is a retired Spanish association football, footballer and manager (football), football manager. Football career Ginés, stopped playing football with 21. He then studied as a coach, and began training ...

''(interim)'' (1992) *

Víctor Espárrago Víctor Rodolfo Espárrago Videla (born 6 October 1944 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan football coach and former midfielder. International career He was capped 67 times for the national team between 1966 and 1974. His playing career highlight ...

(1992–94) *

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

(1994) *

''(interim)'' (1994) *

(1994–96) *

Iñaki Sáez José Ignacio "Iñaki" Sáez Ruiz (born 23 April 1943) is a Spanish former football player and manager. A defender, he spent the vast majority of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao, which he later also coached in various levels, app ...

(1996) * Manolo Jiménez (1996) * Mariano García Remón (1996–97) * Luis Sánchez Duque (1997) *

(1998) *

Luigi Maifredi Luigi Maifredi (born 20 April 1947), commonly known as Gigi Maifredi, is an Italian association football, football manager. Career Born in Lograto (Province of Brescia), started out playing in Brescia Calcio, his hometown club's youth system, ...

(1998–99) *

(1999–01) *

Paco Herrera Francisco "Paco" Herrera Lorenzo (born 2 December 1953) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and is a manager. His managerial career spanning over a quarter of a century, was mostly spent in Segunda División, where he ...

(2001–02) *

César Ferrando César Ferrando Jiménez (born 25 July 1959) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently a manager. Playing career Born in Tavernes de la Valldigna, Valencian Community, Ferrando started his professional career with lo ...

(2002–04) * José González (2004–05) *

(2005–07) *

Quique Hernández Enrique "Quique" Hernández Martí (born 30 October 1958) is a Spanish football manager. Football career Born in Anna, Valencia, Hernández started managing in his early 20s. For the following twenty years, with the exception of the 1995–96 ...

(2007–08) * Máximo Hernández (2008) *

Juan Ignacio Martínez Juan Ignacio Martínez Jiménez (; born 23 June 1964), commonly known by his initials JIM, is a Spanish football coach and former player, who played as a left back. He last managed Foolad in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Having only played as h ...

(2008–09) * Máximo Hernández (2009) * José Murcia (2009) *

(2009–10) *

(2010) *

(2010–11) *

(2011) *

Mario Simón Mario Simón Matías (born 7 January 1981) is a Spanish football manager. Manager career Born in Madrid, Simón began his managerial career at Club San Vicente de Albacete in 1998, taking care of the youth setup. In 2006, he was promoted to the ...

(2011) * Antonio Gómez (2011–13) * Luis César (2013–16) *

(2016) *

José Manuel Aira José Manuel Aira Lindoso (born 14 March 1976) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a centre-back, currently a manager. Having made two La Liga appearances for Deportivo de La Coruña, he spent most of his playing career in the Segunda ...

(2016–17) *

Enrique Martín Monreal Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (Du ...

(2017–18) *

Luis Miguel Ramis Luis Miguel Ramis Monfort (born 25 July 1970) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a centre-back, currently manager of Segunda División club Burgos. He amassed La Liga totals of 165 matches and eight goals over nine ...

(2018–20) *

Lucas Alcaraz Luis Lucas Alcaraz González (born 21 June 1966) is a Spanish football manager. In a managerial career of over two decades, he competed in ten La Liga seasons at the helm of Recreativo (with whom he reached the 2003 Copa del Rey final), Racin ...

(2020) *

Aritz López Garai Aritz López Garai (born 6 November 1980) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently manager of the Mauritania national team. He amassed Segunda División totals of 325 matches and 13 goals over n ...

(2020–)

References

External links

*
Futbolme team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albacete Football clubs in Castilla–La Mancha Association football clubs established in 1939 1939 establishments in Spain Segunda División clubs Railway association football teams La Liga clubs Primera Federación clubs Sport in Albacete