Albacete Balompié

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.

History
This team is from Albacete a city in Castilla-La Mancha. It's been reported in at least four sources that football was first taught in Albacete by John Hulse, an English Engineer of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways Company, establishing the foundation of Locomotoras Albacete, after the same-named steam locomotive factory in the city, owned by the Goicoechea family, owners of Talgo. Thus, like in Swindon, football in Albacete is originally linked to the railway industry. Hulse introduced the Sheffield Rules in Albacete, and some of the first matches to be reported are against recreational clubs from Murcia (1897), Alcázar de San Juan (1899), and Villarrobledo (1899).

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 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. 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. The club managed to reach the round of 16 of the 2011–12 Copa del Rey, notably beating Atlético Madrid 3–1 on aggregate.

In March 2013, Agustín Lázaro, chief executive officer (CEO) of Andrés Iniesta's winery 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 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. 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.

Season to season

 * 7 seasons in La Liga
 * 27 seasons in Segunda División
 * 1 season in Primera División RFEF
 * 11 seasons in Segunda División B
 * 29 seasons in Tercera División
 * 9 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Current squad
The numbers are established according to the official website: and www.lfp.es

Honours

 * Segunda División: (1) 1990–91
 * Segunda División B: (2) 1989–90, 2013–14, 2016–17
 * Tercera División: (8) 1945–46, 1946–47, 1948–49, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1981–82
 * La Liga promotion: (2) 1990–91, 2002–03
 * Segunda División promotion: (2) 1984–85, 1989–90

Stadium
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.

International players

 * 🇦🇷 Óscar Dertycia
 * 🇦🇷 Carlos Roa
 * 🇦🇺 Andy Bernal
 * 🇦🇿 Vali Gasimov
 * 🇧🇪 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

Famous coaches

 * 🇺🇾 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–)