Albacete Balompié

History

After years of amateur and regional development of football, it would not appear formally until the end of the Spanish Civil War, 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 in 1941. Albacete debuted in Segunda División in 1949, being relegated due to economic problems, but returning ten years 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.

On 14 January 2026, Albacete reached the Copa del Rey quarter-finals for the first time since they reached the semi-finals in the 1994–95 season; they won 3–2 against La Liga club Real Madrid (who were runners-up in 2024–25) in the 2025–26 round of 16.

Seasons

Season to season

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• 7 seasons in La Liga
• 28 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

Reserve team

Main article: Atlético Albacete

Out on loan

Current technical staff

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
• Copa de la Liga 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 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

• Argentina Óscar Dertycia
• Argentina Carlos Roa
• Australia Andy Bernal
• Azerbaijan Vali Gasimov
• Belgium Ronny Gaspercic
• Bolivia Marco Etcheverry
• Brazil Zago
• Bulgaria Ivaylo Andonov
• Cameroon Albert Meyong
• Chile Mark González
• Costa Rica Danny Carvajal
• Costa Rica Luis Conejo
• Costa Rica Keylor Navas
• Croatia Nenad Bjelica
• Croatia Ivan Jurić
• Democratic Republic of the Congo Trésor Kandol
• Equatorial Guinea Javier Balboa
• Morocco Rachid Rokki
• Niger Moussa Yahaya
• Nigeria Abass Lawal
• Panama Rommel Fernández
• Paraguay Nelson Cuevas
• Spain Andrés Iniesta
• Spain Fernando Morientes
• Romania Cătălin Munteanu
• Ukraine Roman Zozulya
• Uruguay Joe Bizera
• Uruguay Darío Delgado
• Uruguay Nicolás Olivera
• Uruguay Antonio Pacheco
• Uruguay Horacio Peralta
• Uruguay José Luis Zalazar

Coaches

• Uruguay Dagoberto Moll (1960–61)
• Spain Enrique Orizaola (1976–78)
• Spain Máximo Hernández (1979–80)
• Uruguay Ignacio Bergara (1981–84)
• Spain Julián Rubio (1984–85)
• Spain Pachín (1985–86)
• Spain Pepe Carcelén (1988–89)
• Spain Julián Rubio (1989)
• Spain Benito Floro (1989–92)
• Spain Julián Rubio (1992)
• Spain Ginés Meléndez (interim) (1992)
• Uruguay Víctor Espárrago (1992–94)
• Spain Luis Suárez (1994)
• Spain Ginés Meléndez (interim) (1994)
• Spain Benito Floro (1994–96)
• Spain Iñaki Sáez (1996)
• Spain Manolo Jiménez (1996)
• Spain Mariano García Remón (1996–97)
• Spain Luis Sánchez Duque (1997)
• Spain Ginés Meléndez (1998)
• Italy Luigi Maifredi (1998–99)
• Spain Julián Rubio (1999–01)
• Spain Paco Herrera (2001–02)
• Philippines César Ferrando (2002–04)
• Spain José González (2004–05)
• Spain César Ferrando (2005–07)
• Spain Quique Hernández (2007–08)
• Spain Máximo Hernández (2008)
• Spain Juan Ignacio Martínez (2008–09)
• Spain Máximo Hernández (2009)
• Spain José Murcia (2009)
• Spain Julián Rubio (2009–10)
• Spain David Vidal (2010)
• Spain Antonio Calderón (2010–11)
• Spain David Vidal (2011)
• Spain Mario Simón (2011)
• Spain Antonio Gómez (2011–13)
• Spain Luis César (2013–16)
• Spain César Ferrando (2016)
• Spain José Manuel Aira (2016–17)
• Spain Enrique Martín Monreal (2017–18)
• Spain Luis Miguel Ramis (2018–20)
• Spain Lucas Alcaraz (2020)
• Spain Aritz López Garai (2020–)

References

References

1. Cope.es. (2019-06-16). "Mallorca – Deportivo, final del play off de ascenso a Primera".
2. (2014-08-16). "Estadio Carlos Belmonte – Albacete Stadium Guide".
3. "Histórico Albacete – Segunda División".
4. (6 December 2011). "Iniesta throws 420,000-euro lifeline to indebted Albacete".
5. {{usurped
6. [http://www.abc.es/local-castilla-mancha/20130305/abci-agustin-lazaro-gerente-bodegas-201303051853.html Agustín Lázaro, gerente de Bodegas Iniesta, nuevo presidente del Albacete Balompié (Agustín Lázaro, Iniesta Winery manager, new president of Albacete Balompié)]; [[ABC (Spain). ABC]], 5 March 2013 {{in lang. es
7. (28 June 2013). "Iniesta loans Albacete 240,000 euros to prevent relegation".
8. "La historia del Club".
9. (11 June 2022). "El Albacete vuelve a Segunda tras remontar al Deportivo de La Coruña en Riazor (1-2)".
10. Nieto, Luis. (14 January 2026). "Desastre para empezar". Diario AS.
11. "Plantilla". Albacete Balompié.