Club San Ignacio is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team based in

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1964, the team plays in . Representing the district of Adurtza, the club's home ground is '' Adurtzabal'', which has a capacity of 400 spectators. San Ignacio has been closely linked to

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

at various times; it was the formative club of Spain international forward

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

History

The San Ignacio Football Club is a modest but respected football club in the city of

, and many place this club among the three or four most outstanding clubs in

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

– behind

, CD Laudio and

Amurrio Club Amurrio Club is a Spanish football team based in Amurrio, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1949, it currently plays in , holding home games at '' Estadio Basarte'', with a 4,000-seater capacity. It is a partner club of t ...

(although

CD Vitoria Club Deportivo Vitoria is a football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1945, the club has a senior side and a full youth system within its football section, as well as a basketball section. ...

and CD Aurrera de Vitoria are of similar stature). The origin of the club traces back to a school in Adurtza, the San Ignacio Public School, from where the club was born in 1964, hence the nickname they receive from the Colegiales (Schoolboys). CF San Ignacio was promoted to the Tercera División RFEF (the then 4th tier of Spanish football) for the first time in 1997, after becoming champions of the Álava Preferential Regional (6th tier of Spanish football), but they only lasted a single season. In 2002, San Ignacio achieved promotion to the Tercera División RFEF again, but once again they weren't able to hold on for more than a season, being relegated at the end of the 2002-03 campaign. In 2003, San Ignacio (who had previously been associated with

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

) agreed a four-year partnership with

to host their second

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. The affiliate became known as '' Alavés C-San Ignacio'', maintaining the Alavés name but playing in San Ignacio colours and usually hosting fixtures at their home ground. When this entity was relegated in 2004–05, the Alavés link was discontinued. San Ignacio continued operating independently and returned to the Tercera level twice (on each occasion their opponents included

Deportivo Alavés B Deportivo Alavés B, S.A.D., usually known as Alavés B, is a Spanish football team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1959 it is the reserve team of Deportivo Alavés, and currently plays in , ho ...

, the other reserve side of Alavés, with both teams being relegated in 2008–09). The club remains a partner club of Alavés. They were promoted again in 2017–18, with Alavés offering use of their Ibaia facilities for matches at that level due to the

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

being concerned with the condition of the playing surface at Adurtzabal. Further progression to the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

(never achieved by the club) was a possibility in 2018–19 until defeat in the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. Between 2019 and 2022, San Ignacio's squad was fully composed of Alavés players, acting mainly as a second reserve team behind Alavés B. In 2022, with Alavés C being reactivated, the link between Alavés and San Ignacio returned to a collaboration agreement.

Stadium

Until the 2017–18 season, San Ignacio played on the Estadio Adurtzabal, with artificial grass. In the summer of 2018, due to the impossibility of playing the matches in Adurtzabal, Club San Ignacio went on to play their matches at the Ibaia facilities, owned by Deportivo Alavés.

Season to season

---- *7 seasons in

*4 season in

Tercera Federación Tercera Federación, previously known as Tercera RFEF, is the fifth tier of the Spanish football league system. It is below the ''La Liga'', ''Segunda División'', and its fellow semi-professional divisions '' Primera Federación'' and ''Segunda F ...

/Tercera División RFEF

Notable players

Jesús Owono Jesús Lázaro Owono Ngua Akeng (born 1 March 2001) is an Equatoguinean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Deportivo Alavés and the Equatorial Guinea national team. Early life Owono was born in Bata and moved ...

* Asier Salcedo

CF San Ignacio B

For the 2011–12 season, the collegiate club launched a subsidiary in the First Regional of Álava (7th tier of Spanish football) to release the youth players who finished that stage.

Notes

References

External links

Official websiteRegional Preferente
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Ignacio Football clubs in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Association football clubs established in 1964 Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol clubs 1964 establishments in Spain Sport in Vitoria-Gasteiz Deportivo Alavés