Elche CF

Elche
Full name Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D.
Nickname(s) Los Franjiverdes (The Green-striped ones)
Los Ilicitanos (The Ones from Elche)
Founded 1923 (1923)[1]
Ground Martínez Valero, Elche,
Valencia, Spain
Ground Capacity 36,017
Chairman Juan Serrano
Manager Alberto Toril
League Segunda División
2015–16 Segunda División, 11th
Website Club home page

Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (Valencian: Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), is a Spanish football team based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1922,the club currently plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero, with a capacity of 36,017[2] seats.

Founded in 1923 as the result of a merger between all of the town's clubs, Elche entered the league system in 1929, reaching Segunda División in 1934 and La Liga in 1959, finishing fifth in the latter tournament in 1963–64. It was runner-up in the Copa del Rey in 1969. They were relegated at the end of the 2014–15 season due to unpaid tax debts.

History

Foundation and early years

Elche Club de Fútbol was founded in the summer of 1923, after the merger of all of the town's football teams. The club's first-ever game was against Monóvar, where they beat the home team 4–0, and its first official match was a 2–0 win over Crevillente. The team played its first league season in 1929–30, in Tercera División, achieving promotion to Segunda División in 1934; it suffered relegation for the first time six years later, but promoted back the following season.

In the late 1950s, Elche achieved two consecutive promotions from the third level to La Liga, securing its first promotion to the latter competition with a 3–0 success against Tenerife in 1959.

1959–78: La Liga

Elche opened its first season in the top level with a 1–1 draw against Real Oviedo, the first goal being scored by Vicente Pahuet. The club finished tenth out of 16 sides, nine points ahead of relegated Osasuna – the campaign included a 2–1 comeback home victory over Barcelona, but also a 2–11 loss at Real Madrid. The following season saw the team having to compete in the relegation/promotion play-off, where it overcame a 0–1 loss in the away leg against Atlético Ceuta with a 4–0 home victory.[3]

Elche achieved their best-ever league finish in 1963–64, ranking in fifth position. The season also saw the club's reserve team, Elche Ilicitano, promote to Segunda División.[4]

In 1969 the club reached their first and only Copa del Rey final, following victories over Pontevedra, Valencia and Real Sociedad. The semi-final against the latter was won 2–0 in a replay in neutral Madrid, as the tie had finished 4–4 on aggregate; the final, played on June 15 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the same city, brought a 0–1 loss to Athletic Bilbao.[5]

After twelve seasons Elche was relegated to division two in 1971, having finished second from bottom.[6] Two years later the team returned to the main category, as champions. Its second spell in the top flight lasted five seasons, often immerse in relegation fights as the best campaign (1974–75) ended with the club in eighth position; at the end of 1977–78 the side returned to the second division after finishing 17th out of 18 clubs, the last game being a 4–4 draw with Atlético Madrid, which was led 2–4 with five minutes remaining.[7]

80s and 90s: severe financial crisis

After the relegation in 1978 Elche suffered. Although on paper they had a good team they never managed to gain promotion to the top flight – in fact, in the first five years since their return to the second level, they were fourth on three occasions and fifth on two (and on a further two, even on points with the third-placed team but with a worse goal difference), often losing the chance of promotion on the last matchday. Especially traumatic was the finish of the 1980–81 season: with one game remaining, they were second two points ahead of Rayo Vallecano and Racing de Santander, only needing a draw against Cádiz at the Martínez Valero; the game ended however in a loss, and Elche finished with 45 points alongside Castellón, Cádiz, Racing and Rayo.

A promotion finally occurred at the end of 1983–84, even though Elche only finished fifth in the regular season – the first two positions were occupied by Real Madrid Castilla and Athletic Bilbao B, who could not promote as reserve sides. The whole of the top division campaign was spent in the relegation zone, and relegation consequently befell as 17th. In 1988 they were promoted again for another cameo appearance, as the side went on to finish dead last with eighteen points, dropping down a category alongside Real Murcia, who they trailed by nine points; the last match for years in the category was a 1–3 away loss against Real Zaragoza, the goal coming courtesy of Alfonso Fernández.

After the relegation in 1989, Elche started to suffer heavily in the financial department, and relegated to Segunda División B – the new third level created in 1977 – at the end of 1990–91. During the better part of the 1990s the club reached the second division promotion playoffs, only to consecutively fall short.

In 1997 Elche finally managed to return to division two, being immediately relegated back but gaining another promotion subsequently.

2010s: return to the top flight

In 2010–11, again in the "silver category", the team finished fourth and thus qualified for the play-offs: after disposing of Real Valladolid in the first round (3–2 on aggregate)[8] the dream of top flight promotion ended at the hands of Granada, on the away goals rule.[9]

On May 18, 2013, following Barcelona B and Alcorcón's 1–1 draw, Elche was automatically promoted to the top level, returning to the competition after 24 years.[10] In the meantime the team coached by Fran Escribá had broken a number of Segunda División records, being the only team to date able to lead the competition from the very first until the last match of the season, setting in the process a new record of both matches won and points scored to date as well as the best first round in the history of Segunda's championship.[11]

During the 2013–14 season, the team managed to keep in the top competition, with an average attendance to home matches estimated at 25,104 people.[12]

In the 2014–15 season, despite managing once again to keep in the top flight (the team was already safe from relegation four dates before the end of the competition[13]) Elche became the first team ever in the history of the Spanish Primera División being relegated to Segunda following new regulations by the Spanish football league limiting excess debt and economic mismanagement.[13]

Seasons

Recent seasons

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P
2002–03 2D 16 42121416 495250
2003–04 2D 14 42131118 506350
2004–05 2D 10 4216917 515257
2005–06 2D 14 42131415 475453
2006–07 2D 11 42161016 474658
2007–08 2D 10 42141216 445054
2008–09 2D 12 42131415 525053
2009–10 2D 6 4218915 675763
2010–11 2D 4 4218159 554269
2011–12 2D 11 4217619 565857
2012–13 2D 1 4223136 542782[14]
2013–14 1D 16 3891316 305040[15]
2014–15 1D 13 3811819 356241[16]

Season to season

Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1929–30 2nd Did Not Play
1931–32 5th DNP
1932–33 2nd DNP
1933–34 2nd DNP
1934–35 4th 6th round
1935–36 8th 1st round
1939–40 7th DNP
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1940–41 1st 2nd round
1941–42 6th 1st round
1942–43 6th DNP
1943–44 1st DNP
1944–45 1st DNP
1945–46 2nd DNP
1946–47 2nd DNP
1947–48 1st 3rd round
1948–49 2nd 2nd round
1949–50 14th 1st round
1950–51 6th DNP
1951–52 13th DNP
1952–53 16th DNP
1953–54 3rd DNP
1954–55 1st DNP
1955–56 3rd DNP
1956–57 1st DNP
1957–58 1st DNP
1958–59 1st Round of 32
1959–60 10th Semi-finals
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1960–61 14th Round of 32
1961–62 8th Round of 16
1962–63 8th Round of 16
1963–64 5th Round of 32
1964–65 8th Round of 32
1965–66 6th Quarter-finals
1966–67 9th Semi-finals
1967–68 11th Quarter-finals
1968–69 9th Runner-up
1969–70 11th Round of 32
1970–71 15th Round of 16
1971–72 4th 4th round
1972–73 2nd 4th round
1973–74 14th Round of 32
1974–75 8th 4th round
1975–76 15th Round of 32
1976–77 11th Round of 16
1977–78 17th 3rd round
1978–79 5th Round of 16
1979–80 4th 5th round
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
1980–81 4th 3rd round
1981–82 4th Round of 16
1982–83 7th 3rd round
1983–84 5th 2nd round
1984–85 17th 2nd round
1985–86 4th 2nd round
1986–87 4th 1st round
1987–88 2nd Round of 32
1988–89 20th Round of 32
1989–90 14th 2nd round
1990–91 17th Round of 16
1991–92 2ªB 4th 2nd round
1992–93 2ªB 3rd 2nd round
1993–94 2ªB 12th 4th round
1994–95 2ªB 6th 1st round
1995–96 2ªB 3rd 1st round
1996–97 2ªB 2nd 1st round
1997–98 19th 2nd round
1998–99 2ªB 3rd 2nd round
1999–00 15th Prelim. round
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
2000–01 18th Round of 64
2001–02 5th Round of 64
2002–03 16th Round of 64
2003–04 14th Round of 64
2004–05 10th Round of 16
2005–06 14th 1st round
2006–07 10th 3rd round
2007–08 10th Round of 32
2008–09 12th Round of 32
Season Division Place Copa del Rey
2009–10 6th 2nd round
2010–11 4th 3rd round
2011–12 11th 3rd round
2012–13 1st 2nd round
2013–14 16th Round of 32
2014–15 13th Round of 16
2015–16 11th 2nd round
2016–17 - 3rd round

Current squad

As of August 18, 2016[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Spain GK Pol Freixanet
2 Spain DF Rober Correa (on loan from Espanyol)
3 Spain DF Javi Noblejas
4 Spain MF Javier Matilla
5 Spain DF Armando Lozano (2nd captain)
6 Spain MF Mandi
7 Bosnia and Herzegovina MF Eldin Hadžić
8 Spain MF Pelayo
9 Spain MF Álex Fernández
10 Spain FW Hugo Fraile
11 Spain FW Nino
13 Spain GK Juan Carlos
14 Spain DF José Ángel Alonso (4th captain)
No. Position Player
15 Spain MF Pedro
17 Spain MF Pablo Hervías (on loan from Real Sociedad)
18 Spain DF Sergio Pelegrín (3rd captain)
19 Spain FW Guillermo Fernández
20 Spain DF Josete
21 Spain DF Edu Albácar
22 Spain DF Urtzi Iriondo (on loan from Athletic Bilbao)
23 Spain MF Albert Dorca
24 Spain MF Lolo (captain)
26 Spain GK Germán Parreño
27 Spain DF Luis Pérez
31 Spain FW Liberto Beltrán

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Spain DF Fran Martínez (at San Fernando until June 30, 2017)

Honours

International players

Coaches

Reserve team

Elche's reserve team, Elche Ilicitano, was founded in 1932. It managed to spend two seasons in the second division, when the main squad was in the top flight.

See also

References

External links

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