Real Balompédica Linense

Real Balompédica Linense is a Spanish football team based in La Línea de la Concepción, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1912 it plays in Segunda Federación – Group 4, holding home matches at Estadio Municipal de La Línea de la Concepción with a capacity of 16,120 seats.

Linense
Full nameReal Balompédica Linense
Nickname(s)Balona
Founded1912; 112 years ago (1912)
GroundMunicipal La Línea,
La Línea, Andalusia, Spain
Capacity16,120
PresidentRaffaele Pandalone
Head coachMiguel Rivera
LeagueSegunda Federación – Group 4
2023–24Segunda Federación – Group 4, 9th of 18
WebsiteClub website

History

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Founding years

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Real Balompédica Linense's original date of founding is somewhat disputed with the club and current chairman believing it to have been formed on 12 September 1912. This is now commonly accepted due to a document of the Andalusia Football Federation which had this date in its official yearbook. However prior to this document being rediscovered it was believed to have been founded in 1921 when it was registered and started competing. The club was a merger of several amateur clubs from La Línea and possibly Gibraltar. On 8 December 1921 Balompédica Linense played and won its debut match, played against Club Racing Santander. 9 months later, on 5 September 1922, the club joined the South Regional Federation. In the same year the club also added the distinction of Real to its name, thus creating the present name of Real Balompédica Linense. For the first years of competition the club played its matches at the Aurora Sports Field. As the club began participation in official competitions it became necessary for it to have a custom field. Thus the club opened the San Bernardo Estadio, playing its first match at the ground on 17 October 1926, being defeated 2–1 by FC Malagueño.

Glory years

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The club started its life jumping between the Regional División and Tercera División. The club's fortunes began to change however in the 1950s, when the club gained promotion to the Segunda División in the 1949–50 season. The club managed to avoid relegation with a respectable 12th-place finish in its first season in the Spanish second flight. This season proved to be the first of six straight seasons in the Segunda División for Balona, ending with relegations to the Tercera División at the end of the 1954–55 season.

Promotion to Segunda B

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Following its stint in the second flight, Balona returned to the Tercera División where it stayed for 28 years, bar one in the 1976–77 season where it returned to the Regional División. Following several consistent high finishing seasons the 1982–83 season proved a success for Balona with it coming first in the Tercera División and gaining promotion to the recently created Segunda División B. The club had another extended period in a single league, this time being 10 years. During these ten years the club managed a second-place finish in the 1985–86 season, however this wasn't enough to see it gain promotion to the Segunda División.

Back to Tercera

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Despite the club's high finishes in some seasons throughout its initial 10-year stint in the Segunda División it was relegated in the 1992–93 season back to the Tercera División. The club stayed in the Tercera División for another 6 seasons before, again, gaining promotion to the Segunda División B following a first-placed finish in the División due to a last match of the season win. This proved to be the start of the club having a period of short stints in the Tercera and Segunda B, with 3 seasons in the Segunda B (1999–20002001–02), 6 in the Tercera (2002–03 – 2007–08), 1 in the Segunda B (2008–09) and 2 in the Tercera (2009–10, 2010–11). A notable occurrence during these string of promotions and relegations was the arrival of Alfredo Gallardo as the chairman of the club in the 2002/03 season. Gallardo still holds this position and on his arrival also brought in several local businessmen to help fund the club. A second notable occurrence was in the 2007–08 season with the club going through qualifications for promotion after a third-place finish. This saw the club defeat CD Anguiano due to the away goals rule before having a dramatic conclusion to the qualification with a double tie against CD Mirandes. The first match played in La Linea de la Concepcion ended in a 1–1 result meaning CD Mirandes were ahead on the away goals rule. However the result was completely turned around on the return leg at Estadio Municipal de Anduva, Miranda de Ebro with the match ending 3–3, and thus Balona winning promotion on the away goal rule. The club currently is in the Segunda B following a first-placed finish in the Tercera División in 2010–11. The club achieved a high finish, second, the season following its promotion and backed this up with a solid sixth-placed finish in the 2012–13 season. The next 2013–14 season was almost the same by result, as the club finished 7th.[1]

Season to season

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Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1934–35 5 1ª Reg. 3rd
1935–36 5 1ª Reg. B 3rd
1939–40 5 1ª Reg. B 1st
1940–41 3 4th
1941–42 3 1ª Reg. 5th
1942–43 3 1ª Reg. 6th
1943–44 3 9th
1944–45 3 7th
1945–46 3 5th
1946–47 3 8th
1947–48 3 3rd
1948–49 3 3rd
1949–50 2 12th
1950–51 2 9th
1951–52 2 11th
1952–53 2 10th
1953–54 2 10th
1954–55 2 16th
1955–56 3 2nd
1956–57 3 5th
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1957–58 3 5th
1958–59 3 12th
1959–60 3 3rd
1960–61 3 5th
1961–62 3 3rd
1962–63 3 7th
1963–64 3 3rd
1964–65 3 2nd
1965–66 3 1st
1966–67 3 3rd
1967–68 3 1st
1968–69 3 8th
1969–70 3 8th
1970–71 3 16th
1971–72 3 7th
1972–73 3 16th
1973–74 3 5th
1974–75 3 13th
1975–76 3 19th
1976–77 4 Reg. Pref. 2nd
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1977–78 4 3rd
1978–79 4 3rd
1979–80 4 2nd
1980–81 4 13th
1981–82 4 10th
1982–83 4 1st
1983–84 3 2ª B 15th
1984–85 3 2ª B 4th
1985–86 3 2ª B 2nd
1986–87 3 2ª B 8th
1987–88 3 2ª B 11th
1988–89 3 2ª B 14th
1989–90 3 2ª B 14th
1990–91 3 2ª B 16th
1991–92 3 2ª B 4th
1992–93 3 2ª B 18th
1993–94 4 10th
1994–95 4 6th
1995–96 4 10th
1996–97 4 13th
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
1997–98 4 11th
1998–99 4 1st
1999–2000 3 2ª B 8th
2000–01 3 2ª B 13th
2001–02 3 2ª B 17th
2002–03 4 10th
2003–04 4 3rd
2004–05 4 4th
2005–06 4 4th
2006–07 4 5th
2007–08 4 3rd
2008–09 3 2ª B 19th
2009–10 4 5th
2010–11 4 1st
2011–12 3 2ª B 2nd
2012–13 3 2ª B 6th
2013–14 3 2ª B 7th
2014–15 3 2ª B 6th Third round
2015–16 3 2ª B 11th Round of 32
2016–17 3 2ª B 9th
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
2017–18 3 2ª B 11th
2018–19 3 2ª B 12th
2019–20 3 2ª B 7th
2020–21 3 2ª B 4th / 2nd First round
2021–22 3 1ª RFEF 12th
2022–23 3 1ª Fed. 18th
2023–24 4 2ª Fed. 9th
2024–25 4 2ª Fed.

Current squad

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As of 6 February 2023.[2]

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 Alberto Varo
4 DF   ESP Jesús Muñoz
5 DF   ESP Fran Morante
6 MF   ESP José Masllorens
7 MF   ESP Loren Fernández
8 FW   ENG Bobby Duncan
10 MF   SLE Alhassan Koroma
11 DF   ENG Connor Ruane
12 MF   FRA Yassin Fekir (on loan from Real Betis)
13 GK   ESP Ángel de la Calzada
14 MF   ESP Joel del Pino (on loan from Las Palmas)
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF   ESP Borja López
16 MF   ESP Antonio Romero
17 FW   ESP Gerard Oliva
18 MF   ESP Álex Guti
19 MF   ESP Toni García
20 DF   ARG Nicolás Delmonte (captain)
21 MF   BRA João Pedro
22 FW   ESP Omar Perdomo
26 FW   SLE Alusine Koroma
27 DF   MLI Papa Bamory Camara

Reserve team

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
25 MF   ESP Javi Méndez
28 FW   ESP Cipri

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   SRB Damjan Gojkov (at Torremolinos until 30 June 2023)
FW   ESP Manu Toledano (at Alcalá until 30 June 2023)

Famous players

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References

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  1. ^ "Histórico RB Linense – Segunda División B G 4". resultados-futbol.com. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  2. ^ Linense, Real Balompédica. "Plantilla" (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 October 2021.
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