Arroyo C.P · History

The Estadio Municipal de Arroyo de la Luz is the home of Arroyo Club Polideportivo, the football club of this town in the province of Cáceres, in the Spanish region of Extremadura. The club was founded in September 1968 and registered with the Extremadura Football Federation in 1970. From that municipal ground it has moved through the regional leagues of Extremadura, the Tercera División and, between 2012 and 2015, Segunda División B, the highest level it has reached. In 2011-12 it won the Tercera División and climbed into Spain’s third tier.

Foundation and the regional years

After its foundation in 1968 and its federation registration two years later, Arroyo competed in the regional divisions of Extremadura from the late 1970s. In 1977-78 and 1979-80 it finished in the top two of the regional Segunda Regional, and in 1990-91 and 1993-94 it was runner-up in the Segunda División Extremeña. The breakthrough came in 1996-97: the club won the Primera División Extremeña and in 1997 earned its first promotion to the Tercera División. That spell lasted a single campaign, as Arroyo finished 18th in 1997-98 and dropped back to regional football.

Between the Tercera and the Preferente

Arroyo won the Primera División Extremeña again in 2001-02 and returned to the Tercera in 2002. That second spell held until 2004-05, when the team finished bottom of the Extremadura group and went down to the Regional Preferente. A third promotion to the Tercera arrived in 2009, the year Juan Bermejo became president, and this time the side settled near the top of the table. In 2010 it reached the promotion play-offs for Segunda División B and lost in the first round to C. D. Alfaro. A year later it tried again and was knocked out by Gimnástica Segoviana, 2-1 on aggregate.

Tercera champions and promotion in 2012

In 2011-12 Arroyo were crowned Tercera División champions, the only national title in the club’s record. As group winners they played the direct promotion tie against S. D. Ejea: they won the first leg 2-1 in Ejea de los Caballeros and, despite losing the return leg 1-0 at Arroyo de la Luz on 27 May 2012, went through on away goals. That result delivered the club’s first promotion to Segunda División B in 2012, then the third tier of Spanish football.

Three seasons in Segunda B and the Copa del Rey

The step up coincided with the club’s debut in the 2012-13 Copa del Rey. On 29 August 2012 Arroyo beat La Roda CF 2-1 after extra time at home, and on 12 September they won 2-1 against Cádiz CF at the Ramón de Carranza. In the third round, on 17 October 2012, they lost 1-0 to SD Eibar at Ipurúa, conceding in the 110th minute of extra time. In the league they finished 15th in 2012-13 and 14th in 2013-14. During that second campaign Juan Marrero left the bench in January 2014 and José Francisco Grao took over; survival was sealed by a Miguel Ángel Espinar goal against Córdoba CF B. Later in 2014 Teodora Ramos was elected president, succeeding Bermejo after six years in charge. In 2014-15 a run of defeats in the closing weeks left the team in the relegation places, and in 2015 Arroyo returned to the Tercera División after three seasons in Segunda B.

Tercera División and Tercera Federación

Back in the Tercera, the team finished third in 2015-16 and played another promotion play-off, where CD Azuqueca knocked them out. Several mid-table and lower finishes followed: 15th in 2016-17, 17th in 2017-18, 14th in 2018-19 and 9th in 2019-20. In 2014-15 and 2019-20 the club won the Extremadura stage of the Copa RFEF. In 2020-21 it qualified for the play-offs for promotion to Segunda División RFEF and lost 2-1 to UP Plasencia. After the restructuring of the Spanish pyramid it competed in the Tercera Federación, the fifth tier: fifth in 2021-22, with a first-round play-off exit against Moralo CP, sixth in 2022-23 and 13th in 2023-24. After the 2024-25 season it was relegated to the Primera División Extremeña, where it played 2025-26 in Group 1 and finished eighth.