CE Sabadell FC
Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. 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 the La Liga Smartbank Segunda División, holding home games at Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta.
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
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.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 ; 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.
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, which should be the goal for one of the clubs with the biggest stadium, highest average attendance and historic pedigree in the division.
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 maximise chances of promotion.
On July 26 2020, the Club secured promotion to the La Liga Smartbank Segunda División after beating Barcelona B 2-1 in the Segunda División B playoff final.
Season to season
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