SD Eibar

History

Establishment

Formed by the merger of Deportivo Gallo and Unión Deportiva Eibarresa, the club was originally known as Eibar Fútbol Club, before changing to Sociedad Deportiva Eibar. During the difficult postwar years, the team played sporadically, which caused Eibar to disappear from official competitions during the 1942–43 season. Originally an irregular team, it was not until the 1943–44 season that it was reorganised into more of a full-time unit.

Tercera División

Promoted to Tercera División in 1950, Eibar achieved promotion to Segunda División three seasons later, being relegated again after a five-year stint and competing in division three for 25 of the following 28 years (in 1977 Tercera became the fourth level, after the creation of Segunda División B). In 1988, the side returned to the "silver category". That season also included a historic moment when goalkeeper José Ignacio Garmendia scored a goal in a game against Pontevedra via a kickout from his own area.

Promotion to Segunda División

After spending 18 years in a row in Segunda División, Eibar was relegated to the third division at the end of the 2005–06 campaign. However, it won its group the next season, thereby qualifying for the promotion play-offs where it won its semi-final tie against Hospitalet 2–0 and defeated Rayo Vallecano 2–1 on aggregate in the decisive round, sealing its return after just one year. Eibar finished 21st in the 2008–09 season meaning they were relegated to the Segunda Division B.

Relegation to Segunda B (2009–13)

Eibar qualified for three straight promotion play-offs but could not get promoted to the Segunda División.

In the 2012–13 edition of the Copa del Rey, Eibar ousted Basque neighbours Athletic Bilbao – who had appeared in two of the last four finals in the tournament – on the away goals rule to reach the round-of-16 following a 1–1 draw at the San Mamés Stadium. The decisive goal was scored by Mikel Arruabarrena who played youth football with the opposition, as did manager Gaizka Garitano; the same season the team managed to return to the "silver category", following a four-year absence.

Segunda División and promotion to La Liga

In 2013–14 Eibar earned, for the first time in its history, one of two direct promotion berths to La Liga, which was certified on 25 May 2014 with a 1–0 home win against Deportivo Alavés. (they celebrated their feat with confetti originally produced by Barcelona, who wear the same colours and had anticipated winning the Spanish league title a week earlier, but that did not come to pass). Simultaneously, however, the club was threatened with relegation back to division three due to the financial inability of the S.A.D. to have a share capital of at least €2,146,525.95 before 6 August 2014. The club launched a campaign named Defiende al Eibar (Defend Eibar) with the aim of reaching the required share capital through a seasoned equity offering. On 15 July 2014 the club announced it had reached the established goal.La S.D. Eibar consigue con éxito la cantidad mínima para la Ampliación de Capital (SD Eibar successfully obtains the minimum amount required for the increase in share capital) sdeibar.com 15 July 2014

Eibar finished its first top-flight season in 18th, ending in relegation. However, after the season ended, 13th-placed Elche were sent to the second tier as punishment for financial mismanagement, and Eibar were reinstated.

On 18 July 2015, Eibar played its 75th-anniversary game against Celtic in Ipurua (1–4). This included an inaugural ceremony on the pitch with a parade of 19th-century-clothed Basque soldiers with a Saltire and bagpipes playing "Scotland the Brave", with officials from both clubs shooting a 350 kg 19th-century cannon. Eibar stated that they invited Celtic as their opponent for the game due to the strong connection between the Basque Country and Scotland, and also due to the Scottish presence in Eibar through the years (the main supporter group is named "Eskozia la Brava", meaning "Scotland the Brave").

Under its new coach José Luis Mendilibar, Eibar finished its second top-flight season in 14th. Borja Bastón finished top ten in scoring and was named La Liga Player of the Month of October 2015, making him the first Armero to receive the award. In April 2017, Dani García became the first player to reach the milestone of 100 top division appearances for the club.

The club's 10th place in 2016–17 was improved to 9th the following season, with the latter campaign marking the first time ever that Eibar had finished as the highest-ranking of the Basque teams.

On 16 May 2021, Eibar was relegated after a defeat to Valencia. This ended their seven-year stay in the top tier. The following season in Segunda, Eibar was in the top two of the league for the majority of the season, however, the team had to eventually settle for third place. In the playoffs, Eibar lost to Girona, and failed to make an immediate return to La Liga.

Affiliated clubs

Vitoria

Main article: CD Vitoria

In 2015, the club signed a collaboration agreement with CD Vitoria (Tercera División) to act as an Eibar feeder team for emerging players. Eibar had previously disbanded their own B team in 2012 to cut costs while the senior side languished in Segunda División B but decided to seek a new formal arrangement for a subsidiary club after retaining their place in La Liga. Within two years of the partnership, Vitoria gained promotion to the third tier for the first time in their history; they were relegated in 2018–19

On 26 July 2024, Eibar announced that the affiliation agreement between the club and Vitoria had ended, with the team which achieved promotion to Segunda Federación being fully integrated into Eibar's structure (under Eibar B) and with Vitoria starting a new project under their new board.

Eibar Urko

Main article: SD Eibar Urko

In summer 2016, the club expanded its club structure further by integrating local team Urkomendi (of the 6th level Preferente de Guipúzcoa) into the organisation as a reserve team to act as a link between the youth level and Vitoria, to be known as Eibar Urko.

Playing in the town's Unbe Sports Complex, Eibar Urko gained promotion to the provincial fifth level in 2018, but were blocked from a further promotion after Vitoria were relegated to the same due to rules preventing teams owned by the same club competing in the same division. This also meant Urko could not be promoted in the 2019–20, 2020–21 or 2022–23 seasons either, as Vitoria failed to achieve the same goal. Both teams were promoted directly as group winners in their respective divisions in 2023–24.

Logroñés

Also in 2016, Eibar made a 3-year collaboration agreement with UD Logroñés, with Eibar players going on loan to the Segunda B club for experience with the aim of achieving promotion due to the additional talent in the squad. Four players made the move that summer: goalkeeper Jon Ander, defender Amelibia, midfielder Sergio García and winger Thaylor.

Season to season

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*Avoided relegation to the second tier after the 2014–15 season due to Elche's administrative relegation because of tax problems.

• 7 seasons in La Liga
• 31 seasons in Segunda División
• 7 seasons in Segunda División B
• 28 seasons in Tercera División
• 13 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Honours

• Segunda División : 2013–14
• Segunda División B : 1987–88, 2006–07, 2010–11
• Tercera División : 1950–51, 1952–53, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1966–67
• Tercera División : 1981–82, 1985–86

Notes

Current squad

Reserve team

Main article: SD Eibar B, SD Eibar C

Out on loan

Stadium

Eibar's home stadium is Estadio Municipal de Ipurua, which seats 8,164 spectators.

Famous players

Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games, have reached international status, or both.

Club officials

Current technical staff

Board of directors

Presidents

References

References

1. (21 May 2019). "El Eibar inicia la próxima semana la reubicación de los abonados para la próxima temporada". SD Eibar.
2. (17 February 2018). "La conexión histórica entre el Barça y el Eibar". Mundo Deportivo.
3. Raphael Minder. (23 July 2014). "A Tiny Club's Uneasy Rise". [[New York Times]].
4. (18 October 2014). "Meet the smallest team ever to play in elite European soccer".
5. (19 January 2017). "Eibar: La Liga's smallest club still punching above their weight". Sky Sports.
6. (26 November 2016). "Eibar make la Liga's smallest stadium their fortress". The Indian Express.
7. Euan McTear, Eibar the Brave: The Extraordinary Rise of La Liga's Smallest Team.
8. Matt Davis. (29 November 2018). "Eibar: The female president & football philosophy behind Real Madrid conquerors". [[BBC Sport]].
9. [https://www.diariovasco.com/20080522/bajo-deba/sistema-calidad-eibar-auditado-20080522.html El sistema de calidad de la S.D. Eibar va a ser auditado este fin de semana (S.D. Eibar's quality system will be audited this weekend)]; Diario Vasco, 22 May 2008 {{in lang. es
10. "La historia del Club: La fundación del club: los inicios en Regional y Tercera División".
11. "La historia del Club: El retorno a Segunda División B y el ascenso a la A".
12. [https://www.diariovasco.com/prensa/20070405/deportes/directo-pontevedra-recuerdan-ipurua_20070405.html Su gol directo al Pontevedra aún lo recuerdan en Ipurua (His direct goal to Pontevedra is still remembered in Ipurua)]; [[El Diario Vasco]], 5 April 2007 (in Spanish)
13. [https://futbol.as.com/futbol/2007/06/24/mas_futbol/1182636012_850215.html El Eibar regresa a Segunda tras remontar ante el Rayo Vallecano (Eibar returns to ''Segunda'' after coming back from behind against Rayo Vallecano)]; [[Diario AS]], 24 June 2007 {{in lang. es
14. [https://www.marca.com/eventos/marcador/futbol/2012_13/copa/dieciseisavos/vuelta/ath_eib/ El pequeño se come al grande (Little fish eat big fish)]; [[Marca (newspaper). Marca]], 12 December 2012 {{in lang. es
15. [https://www.marca.com/2013/06/30/futbol/mas_futbol/1372621872.html El Eibar vuelve a Segunda cuatro años después (Eibar returns to ''Segunda'' four years later)]; Marca, 30 June 2013 {{in lang. es
16. [https://deportes.elpais.com/deportes/2014/05/25/actualidad/1401052330_580844.html El Eibar o la ternura del fútbol (Eibar or the tenderness of football)]; [[El País]], 25 May 2014 {{in lang. es
17. [https://www.marca.com/2014/05/25/futbol/2adivision/1401048890.html Un golazo de Jota Peleteiro lleva al Eibar a Primera división (Jota Peleteiro wonder goal takes Eibar to first division)]; Marca, 25 May 2014 {{in lang. es
18. (29 May 2014). "El Eibar celebrará el ascenso con el confeti que el Barcelona no pudo utilizar ante el Atlético". Marca.
19. [http://www.sdeibar.com/-/aprobacion-de-la-ampliacion-de-capital Aprobación de la Ampliación de Capital (Eibar's capital expansion is approved) sdeibar.com 8 April 2014] {{webarchive. link. (14 July 2014)
20. (5 June 2015). "Elche relegated from La Liga over unpaid taxes, Eibar promoted". Sky Sports.
21. (22 November 2014). "Ezkozia La Brava.". Scotsman.com.
22. (3 August 2015). "Ezkozia La Brava.". HeraldScotland.com.
23. (24 April 2017). "100 partidos de Dani García con el Eibar en Primera División". La Liga en Números.
24. (9 June 2015). "El CD Vitoria será filial de la SD Eibar". SD Eibar.
25. (9 June 2015). "El CD Vitoria será el filial del Eibar". [[El Diario Vasco]].
26. (27 May 2015). "El Eibar podría tener un filial en Tercera a partir de la próxima temporada". Diario Vasco.
27. (21 July 2017). "El CD Vitoria jugará en Olaranbe los partidos de Segunda B". Gasteiz Hoy.
28. (8 August 2019). "El filial CD Vitoria jugará sus partidos como local en Eibar". SD Eibar.
29. (26 July 2024). "La SD Eibar y el CD Vitoria dan por finalizada su relación de filialidad". SD Eibar.
30. (15 May 2016). "Competiciones: Regional Preferente Grupo 2 2015/2016".
31. (15 June 2016). "El SD Eibar refuerza el fútbol base con la compra del Urkomendi". Palco23.com.
32. (14 June 2016). "El Eibar se fusiona con el Urkomendi para que sea filial azulgrana". [[Mundo Deportivo]].
33. (18 May 2018). "El Eibar consolida su estrategia con la base". [[Mundo Deportivo]].
34. (15 June 2018). "El Eibar presume de cantera". [[Marca (newspaper).
35. (12 June 2019). "Fran Garagarza califica de "sobresaliente" la temporada del primer equipo". SD Eibar.
36. (15 April 2020). "Un ascenso que se resiste al Eibar Urko". El Diario Vasco.
37. (19 July 2020). "0-0. El Sestao apea al Vitoria y se jugará el ascenso con el Portugalete". Norte Expres.
38. (5 June 2021). "El Eibar Urko quiere remontar la derrota sufrida ante el Hernani". El Diario Vasco.
39. (20 May 2024). "El Eibar Urko, seis años después, es de Tercera RFEF". El Diario Vasco.
40. (26 July 2016). "El Eibar se alía con el Logroñés para llevar su marca a La Rioja". Palco23.com.
41. "Primer Equipo - Jugadores". SD Eibar.