Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, the second tier of Spanish football, having been relegated from La Liga at the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season. The club played in the top tier of Spanish football for seven consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2021, and participated in 26 Segunda División seasons (a spell in the 1950s, and most of the 1990s and 2000s), spending the rest of their history competing at lower levels. The team plays in claret and blue shirts with blue shorts (originating from the kit of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...

) and holds home games at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium. SD Eibar is a fan-owned club, with about 8,000 shareholders from 48 countries. Until SD Huesca qualified for the top flight in 2018, the club was considered the smallest to have played in Spain's top division, and its stadium had the lowest capacity of any La Liga teams. Although Eibar is the sole professional club of its town, it contests several Basque derbies with other clubs from the region. Eibar is the only football club which has the quality certificate UNE-EN-ISO 9001.

History

Establishment

Formed by the

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

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 Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

in 1950, Eibar achieved promotion to

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 Segunda División B ( en, 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 Fo ...

). In 1988, the side returned to the "silver category". That season also included a historic moment when goalkeeper

José Ignacio Garmendia José Ignacio Garmendia Mendizábal (born 4 April 1960) is a Spanish retired Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Club career Garmendia was born in Villabona, Gipuzkoa. He played solely ...

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 The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

, Eibar ousted Basque neighbours

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Le ...

– who had appeared in two of the last four finals in the tournament – on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

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 Gaizka Garitano Aguirre (born 9 July 1975) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of SD Eibar. Over 11 seasons as a player, he amassed Segunda División totals of 315 matches and 37 goals, m ...

; 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 Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded on 1 July 1920 as Sport Friends Club, it ...

. (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 A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash. "Share capit ...

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. Eibar finished its first top-flight season in 18th, ending in relegation. However, after the season ended, 13th-placed

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,

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 A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltato ...

and bagpipes playing "

Scotland the Brave "Scotland the Brave" ( gd, Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song, one of three often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem (the others being " Flower of Scotland", and " Scots Wha Hae"). History The tune probably originated ...

", 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

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, 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 José Luis Mendilibar Etxebarria (born 14 March 1961) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of Sevilla FC. He played no higher than Segunda División, where he made 290 appearances and scored 34 goals main ...

, 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 Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. 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 Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

, and failed to make an immediate return to La Liga.

Affiliated clubs

Vitoria

In 2015, the club signed a collaboration agreement with

CD Vitoria Club Deportivo Vitoria is a football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1945, its senior side is currently the farm team of SD Eibar and plays in Tercera Federación – Group 4, with its gr ...

(

) to act as an Eibar feeder team for emerging players. Eibar had previously disbanded their own

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It re ...

in 2012 to cut costs while the senior side languished in

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 and their home matches back in the Tercera División were then moved to Eibar.

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 In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

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 The Unbe Sports Complex ( eu, Unbe Kirol Konplexua, es, Complejo Deportivo de Unbe) is a sports complex in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain. It is the home venue of the Primera Federación women's football team SD Eibar and used to be ...

, 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 or 2020–21 seasons either, as Vitoria failed to achieve the same goal.

Logroñés

Also in 2016, Eibar made a 3-year collaboration agreement with

UD Logroñés Unión Deportiva Logroñés, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 2009, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home matches at ''Estadio Las Gaunas'', ...

, 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

*Avoided relegation to the second tier after the 2014–15 season due to

's administrative relegation because of tax problems. ---- *7 seasons in La Liga *28 seasons in

*7 seasons in

*28 seasons in

*13 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Honours

: 2013–14 *

: 1987–88, 2006–07,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

: 1950–51, 1952–53, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1966–67 *

: 1981–82, 1985–86

Notes

Current squad

Reserve team

On loan

Stadium

Eibar's home stadium is ''

Estadio Municipal de Ipurua Ipurua Futbol Zelaia (also written Ipurúa), is an all-seater football stadium in Eibar, Spain, serving as the home ground of SD Eibar. Opened in 1947, the stadium has a capacity of 8,164 seats. Ipurua has been the principal football ground in E ...

'', which seats 8,164 spectators.

Famous players

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

Club officials

Current technical staff

Board of directors

{, class="wikitable" , - !Office !Name , - , President , Amaia Gorostiza , - , Vice president , Joseba Unamuno , - , Secretary , Jon Ander Ulazia , - , rowspan=8, Directors , Virginia Arakistain , - , Leire Barriuso , - , J. A. Fernández , - , Javier Gurrutxaga , - , Agustín Lahidalga , - , Antón Martinena , - , Alex Martínez , - , Javier Sarrionandia

Coaches

{, , - style="vertical-align: top;" , *

Antonio Corral Artayer Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

(1953–58) *

Luis Ciaurriz Ustarroz Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and ...

(1971–73) *

Juan Arriarán Aramburu ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanis ...

(1974–75) *

Jesús María Sagasti Zorroza Jesus ( AD 30 or 33) was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who most Christians believe to be the incarnation of God and Muslims believe was a prophet. Jesus may also refer to: People Religious figures * Elymas Bar-Jesus, a Jew in the ''Act ...

(1982–83) *

Alfonso Barasoain Alfonso Barasoain Carrillero (28 January 1958 – 25 May 2021)
was a Spanish f ...

(1988–90) * Mikel Etxarri Sasiain (1990–92) *

José Mendiluce Loyola José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

(1992) *

José Gallastegui Otaduy José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

(1992–93) * José María Araquistain (1993–95) * Miguel Ángel Alonso (1995–98) *

Enrique Ormaetxea Axpe 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 ...

(1998) *

Alfonso Barasoain Alfonso Barasoain Carrillero (28 January 1958 – 25 May 2021)
was a Spanish f ...

(1998–99) *

Blas Ziarreta Blas Ziarreta Obregón (born 6 February 1947) is a Spanish football manager. External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ziarreta, Blas 1947 births Living people People from Santurtzi Spanish football managers Segunda División managers Segunda Div ...

(1999–03) *

José María Amorrortu José María Amorrortu Prieto (born 22 July 1953) is a Spanish former Association football, football Forward (association football), forward and Coach (sport), manager. Playing career Born in Bilbao, Biscay, Amorrortu signed with Athletic Bilbao ...

(2003–04) *

José Luis Ribera José Luis Ribera Uranga (born 1 June 1965 in Azkoitia, Gipuzkoa) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Honours Player Real Burgos *Segunda División: 1989–90 Deportivo * Copa del Rey: 199 ...

(2004) *

(2004–05) * Carlos Terrazas (2005) * Roberto Olabe (2006) *

Manix Mandiola Javier 'Manix' Mandiola Alberdi (born 9 April 1958) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a forward, and is a current coach. His managerial career of over two decades was spent almost entirely in Segunda División B, though ...

(2006–08) *

Carlos Pouso Juan Carlos Pouso Lejonagoitia (born 30 July 1960) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a forward, currently the manager of CD Calahorra. He played no higher than Segunda División B, and spent most of his managerial career of over two d ...

(2008–09) , , * Josu Uribe (2009) * Ángel Viadero (2009–10) *

(2010–12) *

(2012–15) *

(2015–21) *

(2021-)

Presidents

{, class= border="0" , - , 1940–46 , , Juan Artamendi , - , 1946–48 , , Bernardino Odriozola , - , 1948–49 , , Crispin Garate , - , 1949–57 , , Manolo Escodin , - , 1957–58 , , Boni Guisasola , - , 1958–59 , , Tomas Echaluce , - , 1959–61 , , Manolo Zubia , - , 1961–62 , , Pedro Irusta , - , 1962–65 , , Luis María Fernández de Betoño , - , 1965–67 , , Luis María Aranegui , - , 1967–68 , , Roberto Cadenas , - , 1968–74 , , José González Ortiz de Zárate , - , 1974–77 , , Eusebio Oyarzun , - , 1977–84 , , Paco Marquiegui , - , 1984–88 , , Javier Arrieta , - , 1988–2002 , , Juan Luis Mardaras , - , 2002–09 , , Jaime Barriuso , - , 2009–16 , , Alex Aranzábal , - , 2016– , , Amaia Gorostiza

References

External links

Official website

Eibar
at La Liga
Eibar
at

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs foo ...

Club profile
at BDfutbol (match reports in each season)
Futbolme team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eibar Football clubs in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football clubs established in 1940 1940 establishments in Spain La Liga clubs Sport in Gipuzkoa Segunda División clubs