 | ||||
| Full name | Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Los Franjiverdes /Els frangiverds (The Green-striped ones) Los Ilicitanos /Els Ilicitans (The Ones from Elche) | |||
| Founded | 10 January 1923; 102 years ago (1923-01-10) asElche Foot-ball Club[1] | |||
| Ground | Estadio Martínez Valero | |||
| Capacity | 33,732[2] | |||
| Owner | Christian Bragarnik | |||
| President | Joaquín Buitrago Marhuenda | |||
| Head coach | Eder Sarabia | |||
| League | La Liga | |||
| 2024–25 | Segunda División, 2nd of 22 (promoted) | |||
| Website | elchecf.es | |||
 Current season | ||||
Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (Valencian:Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a Spanish professionalfootball club based inElche,Province of Alicante, in theValencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete inLa Liga for the2025–26 season, holding home matches at theEstadio Martínez Valero, with a capacity of 33,732 seats.[3]
Founded in 1923 as the result of a merger between all of the town's clubs, Elche entered the league system in 1929, reachingSegunda División in1934 andLa Liga in1959, finishing fifth in the latter tournament in1963–64. The club were runners-up in theCopa del Rey in1969.
Elche Club de Fútbol was founded in the winter of 1923, after themerger of all of the town's football teams. The club's first-ever game was againstMonóvar, where they beat the home team 4–0, and its first official match was a 2–0 win overCrevillente. In its first years Elche, like many teams of the time, played in an all white uniform.[4] The team played its first league season in 1929–30, in theTercera División, achieving promotion to theSegunda División in 1934. However, Elche suffered relegation for the first time six years later, but were promoted back the following season.
In the late 1950s, Elche achieved two consecutive promotions from the third level toLa Liga, securing the club's first promotion to the latter competition with a 3–0 success againstTenerife in 1959.
Elche openedits first season in the top level with a 1–1 draw againstReal Oviedo, the first goal being scored byVicente Pahuet. The club finished tenth out of 16 sides, nine points ahead of relegatedOsasuna – the campaign included a 2–1 comeback home victory overBarcelona, but also a 2–11 loss atReal Madrid.The following season saw the team having to compete in therelegation/promotion play-off, where it overcame a 0–1 loss in the away leg against Atlético Ceuta with a 4–0 home victory.[5]
Elche achieved their best-ever league finish in1963–64, ranking in fifth position. The season also saw the club'sreserve team,Elche Ilicitano, promote toSegunda División.[6]
In1969 the club reached their first and onlyCopa del Rey final, following victories overPontevedra,Valencia andReal Sociedad. The semi-final against the latter was won 2–0 in a replay in neutralMadrid, as the tie had finished 4–4 on aggregate; the final, played on 15 June at theSantiago Bernabéu Stadium in the same city, brought a 0–1 loss toAthletic Bilbao.[7]
After twelve seasons Elche were relegated to division two in1971, having finished second from bottom.[8]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 of1977–78 the side returned to the second division after finishing 17th out of 18 clubs, the last game being a 4–4 draw withAtlético Madrid, which was led 2–4 with five minutes remaining.[9]
After the relegation Elche suffered in 1978, 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 the1980–81 season: with one game remaining, they were second two points ahead ofRayo Vallecano andRacing de Santander, only needing a draw againstCádiz at theMartínez Valero; the game ended however in a loss, and Elche finished with 45 points alongsideCastellón, Cádiz, Racing and Rayo.
A promotion finally occurred at the end of1983–84, even though Elche only finished fifth in theregular season – the first two positions were occupied byReal Madrid Castilla andAthletic Bilbao B, who could not promote as reserve sides. The whole of thetop division campaign was spent in the relegation zone, and relegation consequently befell as 17th. In1988 they were promoted again for another cameo appearance, as the side went on to finish dead last with eighteen points, dropping down a category alongsideReal Murcia, who they trailed by nine points; the last match for years in the category was a 1–3 away loss againstReal Zaragoza, the goal coming courtesy ofAlfonso Fernández.
After the relegation in 1989, Elche started to suffer heavily in the financial department, and relegated toSegunda División B – the new third level created in 1977 – at the end of1990–91. During the better part of the 1990s the club reached the second division promotion playoffs, only to consecutively fall short.
In1997 Elche finally managed to return to the second category, beingimmediately relegated back butgaining another promotion subsequently.
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In2010–11, again in the "silver category", the team finished fourth and thus qualified forthe play-offs: after disposing ofReal Valladolid in the first round (3–2 on aggregate)[10] the dream of top flight promotion ended at the hands ofGranada, on theaway goals rule.[11]
On 18 May 2013, followingBarcelona B andAlcorcón's 1–1 draw, Elche wasautomatically promoted to the top level, returning to the competition after 24 years.[12] In the meantime the team coached byFran Escribá had broken a number of Segunda División records, being the only team to date able to lead the competition from the 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.[13]
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.[14]
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[15]) Elche became the first team ever in the history of the SpanishPrimera División being relegated toSegunda following new regulations by the Spanish football league limiting excess debt and economic mismanagement.[15]
In the 2016–17 season, Elche were relegated to the third level after 18 years in the professional league.
One year later, Elche promoted back to second level after defeatingVillarreal B in the final play-off promotion to second level.
In the 2018–19 season, Elche finished right in the middle, on 11th place among 22 teams.[16]
In the 2019–20 season, Elche were promoted to La Liga by beatingGirona in thepromotion play-off final 1–0 on aggregate. They were promoted back to La Liga after five years in the second and third divisions.[17]
In the 2022–23 season, Elche were relegated to the second division after three years in La Liga.[18]
In the 2024–25 season, Elche were promoted to La Liga.[19]
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Eder Sarabia |
| Assistant head coach | Jon López |
| Fitness coach | Aitor Soler Xavi Moñino |
| Goalkeeping coach | Javi Roda |
| Analyst | Andrés Paz |
| Delegate | Juan Sánchez |
| Material manager | Greg Beranger Pepito |
| Head of medical services | Paco Martínez |
| Doctor | Francisco Sánchez |
| Rehab fitness coach | Marcelo Peñaranda |
| Physiotherapist | Sergio Tur Carlos Valero |
| Nutritionist | Alejandro Martínez |
| Nurse | Javier Sánchez |
Last updated: 18 August 2025
Source:Elche CF(in Spanish)
Marc Bernaus
Juan Carlos HerediaMarcelo TrobbianiWilly Caballero
Fernand Goyvaerts
Garry Rodrigues
Enzo Roco
Dominique Malonga
Mario Pašalić
Tommy ChristensenNicki Bille Nielsen
Rodolfo BodipoIván Bolado
Richmond BoakyeWakaso
Sory Kaba
José CardonaGilberto Yearwood
Balázs Molnár
Elbasan Rashani
Moha
Benedict IrohaFrancis Uzoho
Jan Berg
Roberto AcuñaFlorencio AmarillaJosé AveiroJuan CascoRamón HicksJuan Carlos LezcanoCayetano RéDerlis Soto
Germán LeguíaJuan Carlos Oblitas
Tomasz FrankowskiAntoni ŁukasiewiczPrzemysław Tytoń
Silas
Ioan AndoneCristian SăpunaruDennis Şerban
Albert NadjSaša PetrovićJuan Manuel AsensiRubén CanoChanchoFidelGonzalo VerdúJosanCarlos MuñozJavi NavarroNinoJorge OteroMarcial PinaCésar RodríguezHilarioEulogio Martínez
Fabián CoelhoDagoberto MollMario SaraleguiTabaré Silva
Juan Carlos SocorroAndrés Túñez
Goran Đorović
Carlos SánchezCésar (1959 – 30 June 1960)Antonio Barrios (1 July 1960 – 6 February 1961)
Otto Bumbel (1962–63)Heriberto Herrera (1 July 1963 – 30 June 1964)Rosendo Hernández (1964)Martim Francisco (1964–65)Otto Bumbel (1965–67)Alfredo Di Stéfano (1 July 1967 – 8 January 1968)
Ferdinand Daučík (1968)Roque Máspoli (1 July 1968 – 31 December 1969)Salvador Artigas (1970)Otto Bumbel (1970–71)Roque Olsen (1971–74)Néstor Rossi (1974–75)
Marcel Domingo (1975–76)Felipe Mesones (1976–77)Roque Olsen (1977–78)Heriberto Herrera (1 July 1978 – 30 June 1979)Arsenio Iglesias (1979–80)Héctor Rial (1980)Felipe Mesones (1981–82)Luis Cid (1982–83)Cayetano Ré (1983–84)Antonio Ruiz (1984)Roque Olsen (1984–85)Delfín Álvarez (1986–87)Felipe Mesones (1987–88)László Kubala (1988–89)Luis Costa (1989)Tomeu Llompart (1991–92)Julián Rubio (1 July 1993 – 30 June 1994)Quique Hernández (19 July 1994 – 30 June 1995)Felipe Mesones (1995–96)Fabri (1996)Marcial (1996–97)Ciriaco Cano (1997–98)Delfín Álvarez (1997–98)Jorge D'Alessandro (25 January 2000 – 30 June 2000)Felipe Mesones (2000)Marcial (2000)Jorge D'Alessandro (21 December 2000 – 16 April 2001)Marcial (2001)Julián Rubio (1 July 2001 – 30 June 2003)Carlos García Cantarero (2003)Oscar Ruggeri (22 December 2003 – 16 May 2004)Josu Uribe (2004–06)Julián Rubio (2006)Luis García (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2007)David Vidal (12 January 2007 – 12 October 2008)Claudio Barragán (12 October 2008 – 4 October 2009)José Bordalás (5 October 2009 – 8 April 2012)César Ferrando (10 April 2012 – 30 June 2012)Fran Escribá (1 July 2012 – 26 June 2015)Rubén Baraja (12 July 2015 – 6 June 2016)Alberto Toril (28 June 2016 – 29 April 2017)Vicente Parras (29 April 2017 – 16 June 2017)Vicente Mir (16 June 2017 – 13 November 2017)José Acciari (13 November 2017 – 21 November 2017)Josico (21 November 2017 – 27 February 2018)Pacheta (27 February 2018 – 26 August 2020)Jorge Almirón (26 August 2020 – 12 February 2021)Fran Escribá (14 February 2021 – 21 November 2021)Francisco (28 November 2021 – 4 October 2022)Jorge Almirón (12 October 2022 – 7 November 2022)Pablo Machín (17 November 2022 – 20 March 2023)Sebastián Beccacece (27 March 2023 – 1 July 2024)Eder Sarabia (2 July 2024 – )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.
Elche CF andHércules CF have been fierce rivals for a long time. Their rivalry, known as the Derbi de la provincia de Alicante, began way back in the 1925/26 season when Elche CF joined the official regional league. Since then, these teams have clashed over a hundred times.[21] The rivalry between Elche CF andReal Murcia CF is a historical one. Their first official match was during the 1928–29 season. Their frequent meetings, known as the Derbi del Sureste (Southeast Derby), make this fixture the most played in the history of theSegunda División.[22]
Another of the most notable rivalries is withLevante UD. These teams have a long history of intense regional competition across various divisions, includingPrimera,Segunda, andSegunda B, creating a fierce atmosphere both on the pitch and in the stands.[23] Elche CF's rivalries withHércules andReal Murcia stem from regional proximity, while their rivalry withLevante developed over numerous competitive clashes. The rivalry withGranada CF ignited during the tense2010-11 Segunda División season, culminating in the Play-off final.[24][25][26]
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsors |
|---|---|---|
| 1997-1998 | Kelme | None |
| 2001-2002 | Puma | Terra Mítica |
| 2004-2006 | Ciudad de la Luz | |
| 2010-2011 | Rasan | Valencian Community |
| 2011-2012 | Acerbis | |
| 2012-2014 | Gioseppo | |
| 2014-2015 | Kelme | |
| 2015-2017 | None | |
| 2017-2018 | TM Real Estate Group | |
| 2018-2019 | None | |
| 2019-2021 | Hummel | TM Real Estate Group |
| 2021- | Nike |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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