Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈsentɾə ðəsˈpɔɾ(ts) səβəˈðeʎ fubˈbɔl ˈklup]) is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta.

Sabadell
Full nameCentre d'Esports
Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)Arlequinats
Saballuts
Llaners
Catalan Gas
Founded11 December 1903; 120 years ago (1903-12-11)
GroundNova Creu Alta, Sabadell,
Catalonia, Spain
Capacity11,908[1]
OwnerInvestor Consortium
CEOBruno Battle
Head coachÓscar Cano
LeaguePrimera Federación – Group 1
2022–23Primera Federación – Group 2, 10th of 20
WebsiteClub website

The side has competed in national leagues since 1928, gaining its first promotion to the Segunda División in 1933 and then the La Liga in 1944. Sabadell's longest spell in the top flight was from 1965 to 1972, and their most recent from 1986 to 1988. They have reached one Copa del Rey final, which they lost 3–0 to Sevilla in 1935.

By historical standards, CE Sabadell FC is the third best club in Catalonia, after FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol.

History edit

In 1901, Joan Saus and a group of youngsters from the Sabadell Catalan Centre founded Centre d'Esports Sabadell, which became fully legalized on 5 June 1906. The club's first games were held in a grass field at Prat de Sant Oleguer but, on 3 June of that year, a stadium in the Creu Alta District was inaugurated, in a game against "Team X" from Barcelona, later known as RCD Espanyol; in 1912, in the same site, the first game under floodlights was played in the country.

 
Sabadell vs Sevilla, 1935 Copa del Rey final

In 1933–34, the club won its first major trophy, the Catalan Football Championship, which allowed the winner to participate in the Copa del Presidente de la República. During the former tournament, it won 15 games and drew once, reaching the latter's final in the following season, losing 0–3 to Sevilla FC at the Chamartín Stadium.

Sabadell first competed in La Liga in the 1943–44 season, finishing ninth. It improved to fifth in 1946–47, ranking in front of Real Madrid and only four points behind champions Valencia CF, just one season after returning from Segunda División.

In 1968–69, Sabadell, guided by manager Pasieguito, finished a best-ever fourth as the top flight already consisted of 16 clubs. Subsequently, it competed in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing to Club Brugge K.V. of Belgium in the first round (3–5 on aggregate); in 1972, a seven-year ran in the top division came to an end, as the Arlequinats were relegated after finishing dead last.

CE Sabadell became a public limited sports company in 1991, being relegated to Segunda División B two years later, and immediately to Tercera División following severe economic problems. The club spent the following seventeen years in the third level (with the exception of 2006–07 in the fourth).

In the 2010–11 season, Sabadell, managed by Lluís Carreras, won its group in the regular season. In the playoffs, the team drew both games against SD Eibar, but was eventually promoted on the away goals rule following the 1–1 score at the Ipurua Municipal Stadium, returning to the professional divisions after 18 years.

Sabadell struggled in their return to the second level finishing in 19th place, being the first side in the relegation zone. However, they were spared when Villarreal CF dropped down a division in the top flight, which led to the automatic relegation of its reserve team Villarreal CF B. Sabadell finished second level as 16th in 2012–13 season, as 10th in the 2013–14 season. Finally Sabadell finished it as 21st and relegated to third level after 4 years.

Sabadell had a lot of financial problems after the relegation to Segunda B. Japanese owner Keisuke Sakamoto, who had bought the club in 2012, sold it to Aragón-based company Viacron in 2015. Esteve Calzada, a former member of FC Barcelona board and a marketing expert whose company worked for Manchester City, bought the club in 2017. Since then, the club's debt has been restructured. Difficulties in finding a new investor meant that from 2017 to 2019 the club was more concerned with relegation avoidance than real hopes of promotion.

In August 2019, the Club announced an historical agreement with a group of international investors, whereby this Group would achieve majority ownership through periodic capital infusions over the following three years to guarantee institutional stability and financial resources to achieve sustainable success.[2]

On 26 July 2020, the Club secured promotion to the La Liga Smartbank Segunda División by beating Barcelona B 2-1 in the Segunda División B playoff final after five-years in third division.[3]

The team was immediately relegated in the following 2020–21 season by the narrow margin of one point, and joined the newly-created 1a RFEF Division.

In 2021-22 Season, the team did not manage to make it to Playoffs by the margin of a single point.

Season to season edit

 
Sabadell before game against Eibar (2010)
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1930–31 3 2nd Second round
1931–32 3 1st
1932–33 3 2nd
1933–34 2 9th First round
1934–35 2 2nd Runner-up
1935–36 2 5th
1939–40 2 2nd
1940–41 2 9th First round
1941–42 2 1st First round
1942–43 2 2nd First round
1943–44 1 9th Quarter-finals
1944–45 1 13th First round
1945–46 2 1st First round
1946–47 1 5th Quarter-finals
1947–48 1 12th Sixth round
1948–49 1 14th Fourth round
1949–50 2 6th Second round
1950–51 2 3rd
1951–52 2 4th
1952–53 2 11th First round
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1953–54 2 6th
1954–55 2 10th
1955–56 2 5th
1956–57 2 2nd
1957–58 2 2nd
1958–59 2 2nd First round
1959–60 2 7th Second round
1960–61 2 6th First round
1961–62 2 8th Second round
1962–63 2 16th First round
1963–64 3 1st
1964–65 2 2nd First round
1965–66 1 14th Quarter-finals
1966–67 1 8th Second round
1967–68 1 12th Second round
1968–69 1 4th First round
1969–70 1 13th Quarter-finals
1970–71 1 13th Fifth round
1971–72 1 18th Fourth round
1972–73 2 12th Fifth round
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1973–74 2 15th Round of 16
1974–75 2 19th Fourth round
1975–76 3 6th Second round
1976–77 3 1st First round
1977–78 2 6th Fourth round
1978–79 2 12th First round
1979–80 2 6th Fourth round
1980–81 2 7th Second round
1981–82 2 11th Second round
1982–83 2 18th Second round
1983–84 3 2ª B 1st Fourth round
1984–85 2 4th Round of 16
1985–86 2 2nd Quarter-finals
1986–87 1 15th Third round
1987–88 1 19th Quarter-finals
1988–89 2 13th Fourth round
1989–90 2 7th Round of 16
1990–91 2 12th Fourth round
1991–92 2 9th Fourth round
1992–93 2 20th Fifth round
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1993–94 4 1st First round
1994–95 3 2ª B 11th Second round
1995–96 3 2ª B 16th DNP
1996–97 3 2ª B 11th DNP
1997–98 3 2ª B 11th DNP
1998–99 3 2ª B 7th DNP
1999–2000 3 2ª B 13th DNP
2000–01 3 2ª B 3rd DNP
2001–02 3 2ª B 14th Preliminary round
2002–03 3 2ª B 7th DNP
2003–04 3 2ª B 16th Round of 64
2004–05 3 2ª B 13th DNP
2005–06 3 2ª B 18th DNP
2006–07 4 3rd DNP
2007–08 3 2ª B 14th DNP
2008–09 3 2ª B 4th DNP
2009–10 3 2ª B 10th Second round
2010–11 3 2ª B 1st DNP
2011–12 2 19th Second round
2012–13 2 16th Third round
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
2013–14 2 10th Second round
2014–15 2 21st Round of 32
2015–16 3 2ª B 7th First round
2016–17 3 2ª B 15th DNP
2017–18 3 2ª B 12th DNP
2018–19 3 2ª B 12th DNP
2019–20 3 2ª B 3rd DNP
2020–21 2 19th Second round
2021–22 3 1ª RFEF 8th First round
2022–23 3 1ª Fed. 10th DNP
2023–24 3 1ª Fed. DNP

European record edit

Season Competition Round Country Club Score
1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1R   Club Brugge 2–0, 1–5
  • 1R = first round

Players edit

Current squad edit

As of 22 February 2024.[4]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   ESP Froi Leal
3 DF   ESP Jesús Fernández
4 DF   ESP Ricard Pujol
5 DF   ESP Pau Resta
6 MF   ESP Jordi Calavera
7 MF   ESP Antonio Moyano
8 MF   ESP Álex Gualda
9 FW   ESP Manel Martínez
10 MF   ESP Sander Ballero
11 MF   ESP David Astals
12 MF   ESP Marc Domènech
13 GK   ESP Adrián Ortolá
14 FW   ESP Marcos Baselga
15 DF   ESP Jon Ander Amelibia
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF   ESP Toni Herrero
17 FW   UKR Vladyslav Kopotun
18 MF   ESP Carles Salvador
19 FW   ESP Nando García
20 DF   ESP Raúl Baena
21 MF   ESP Sergi Maestre
22 FW   MAR Abde Damar
23 FW   ESP David Soto
24 GK   BFA Sébastien Koula
27 FW   ESP Marc Marruecos
28 DF   ESP Pau Fernández
DF   ESP Pablo Monroy
FW   ESP Javi Gómez

Youth players edit

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
29 DF   ESP Iker Hernández

Honours edit

Former players edit

Most appearances in La Liga edit

Most goals in La Liga edit

Former coaches edit

Former presidents edit

Stadium edit

Sabadell plays home games at Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta. Inaugurated on 20 August 1967 with a 1–0 win against FC Barcelona, it has a capacity of 11,908 spectators.[6]

Supporters edit

The club has multiple supporter groups. Most groups have activities related to the social life of the members. For example, THE WALKING ARLEKIN CLUB has walking excursions during the season, usually before matches.[7] There are also groups like Honor 1903, La Força Arlequinada and Supporters Gol Nord, that focus more on the encouragement of the team, before, during and after the matches. Most of those groups usually concentrate in the northern stand at the Nova Creu Alta.

The club used to have a fan club called Hooligans Vallès. They used to be a far right-wing group which was established in 1993.[8] In 2011, the group was disbanded as an official supporter group. In 2014, two fans were expelled from the Nova Creu Alta, after performing a Nazi salute during a match.[9] However, in 2016, an unofficial Hebrew supporter group was created, under the name CE Sabadell Hebreu - סבאדל בעברית. The group provides news about the club in its Facebook and Twitter pages, for Israeli and other Hebrew-speaking fans.

The fans have good relations with Bristol Rovers, which initially began due to several Rovers fans noticing that the local club had the same colours.[10] They also have a friendship with Gerunda Sud of Girona FC, and rivalries with Desperdicis of UE Sant Andreu, Penya Sport of Palamos CF and Rudes Lleida of Lleida Esportiu.[11]

Anthem edit

The official anthem of the club is Honor al Sabadell, written by Lluís Papell to the music of Adolf Cabané. However, between 1983 and 1991 the club used Sempre endavant Sabadell as the official anthem, composed by Ramon Montlleó.[12]

References edit

  1. ^ "Instalaciones". CE Sabadell FC (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  2. ^ "El CE Sabadell cierra un acuerdo histórico con un grupo de inversores extranjeros". Marca.com (in Spanish). 26 August 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  3. ^ "El Sabadell deja al Barça B sin ascenso a LaLiga Smartbank". Sport.es (in Spanish). 26 July 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Plantilla" [Squad] (in Catalan). CE Sabadell FC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Spanish Premier Division All-Time Table". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Instalaciones | Sabadell - Web Oficial". Instalaciones | Sabadell - Web Oficial (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  7. ^ "The Walking Arlekin CLUB". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  8. ^ Martín, Luis; Congostrina, Alfonso L. (15 December 2014). "El C E Sabadell estudia expulsar a dos socios que realizaron gestos nazis". El País. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018 – via elpais.com.
  9. ^ "Comunicado oficial | Sabadell - Web Oficial". Comunicado oficial | Sabadell - Web Oficial (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Sorry Lionel. We Made Plans – From Issue 14". standamf.com. 12 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Un petit resum de cada grup - ask.fm/SpinnelliRudeBoy". ask.fm. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  12. ^ SergiSBD (19 June 2009). "Nou himne del C.E. Sabadell 09/10". Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2018 – via YouTube.

External links edit