Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches at Estadio Carlos Belmonte, with a capacity of 17,524.[2]
This team is from Albacete a city in Castilla-La Mancha. After years of amateur and regional development of football, it would not appear formally until the end of the Spanish Civil War. The club was founded in 1939 under the name Albacete Foot-ball Association, being later changed in an attempt to make it sound "more Spanish". At the [clarification needed] second division in 1985–86, repeating the feat five seasons later.
In 1989, Benito Floro consecutively promoted the club from the third division to La Liga, overachieving for a seventh place in the first season in the top level. Floro would later coach Real Madrid, 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). 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 and David Vidal (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.[3] On 6 December 2011, Andrés Iniesta – who played for the club in his youth before joining Barcelona – became the club's major shareholder, donating €420,000 to the cash-strapped club.[4] The club managed to reach the round of 16 of the 2011–12 Copa del Rey, notably beating Atlético Madrid 3–1 on aggregate.[5]
In March 2013, Agustín Lázaro, chief executive officer (CEO) of Andrés Iniesta's winery enterprise, was appointed as Albacete's chairman.[6] In June, Iniesta loaned the club a further €240,000 to cover unpaid wages, thus preventing its administrative relegation to the fourth tier.[7]
In 2014, Albacete returned to the Segunda División, but was relegated two seasons later after finishing the season in the 21st position. The club again returned to the Segunda División in the 2016–17 season after winning against Valencia Mestalla in the last round of the promotion play-offs. Albacete finished the 2018–19 season in 4th position of the Segunda División, but then lost to RCD Mallorca in the La Liga play-offs and remained in Segunda División for the 2019–20 season.[8] 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 at the Estadio Riazor. The team came back from a 1–0 deficit, winning 2-1 with a goal in extra time.[9]
The numbers are established according to the official website: [1] and www.lfp.es
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Last updated: May 2021
Source: Albacete Balompié
The club plays its home matches at the Estadio Carlos Belmonte, which has an all-seated capacity of 17,524. Originally built in 1960, the stadium underwent two major redevelopments, the last being in 1998.
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Andy Bernal
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Ronny Gaspercic
Marco Etcheverry
Zago
Ivaylo Andonov
Albert Meyong
Mark González
Danny Carvajal Luis Conejo Keylor Navas
Nenad Bjelica Ivan Jurić
Trésor Kandol
Javier Balboa
Rachid Rokki
Moussa Yahaya
Abass Lawal
Rommel Fernández
Nelson Cuevas
Andrés Iniesta Fernando Morientes
Cătălin Munteanu
Roman Zozulya
Joe Bizera Darío Delgado Nicolás Olivera Antonio Pacheco Horacio Peralta José Luis Zalazar Dagoberto Moll (1960–61) Enrique Orizaola (1976–78) Máximo Hernández (1979–80) Ignacio Bergara (1981–84) Julián Rubio (1984–85) Pachín (1985–86) Pepe Carcelén (1988–89) Julián Rubio (1989) Benito Floro (1989–92) Julián Rubio (1992) Ginés Meléndez (interim) (1992) Víctor Espárrago (1992–94) Luis Suárez (1994) Ginés Meléndez (interim) (1994) Benito Floro (1994–96) Iñaki Sáez (1996) Manolo Jiménez (1996) Mariano García Remón (1996–97) Luis Sánchez Duque (1997) Ginés Meléndez (1998)
Luigi Maifredi (1998–99) Julián Rubio (1999–01) Paco Herrera (2001–02) César Ferrando (2002–04) José González (2004–05) César Ferrando (2005–07) Quique Hernández (2007–08) Máximo Hernández (2008) Juan Ignacio Martínez (2008–09) Máximo Hernández (2009) José Murcia (2009) Julián Rubio (2009–10) David Vidal (2010) Antonio Calderón (2010–11) David Vidal (2011) Mario Simón (2011) Antonio Gómez (2011–13) Luis César (2013–16) César Ferrando (2016) José Manuel Aira (2016–17) Enrique Martín Monreal (2017–18) Luis Miguel Ramis (2018–20) Lucas Alcaraz (2020) Aritz López Garai (2020–)