Atlético Sanluqueño · History

Atlético Sanluqueño Club de Fútbol won the Primera Regional championship in 1957-58 and with it earned a debut in the Tercera División, then the third tier of Spanish football, in the 1958-59 season. The club, from Sanlúcar de Barrameda in the province of Cádiz, had been founded in 1948. It wears a green-and-white shirt with white shorts and plays its home games at the Estadio Municipal El Palmar.

From regional football to the Tercera División

After its foundation, Sanluqueño played in the Andalusian regional leagues until the Primera Regional title opened the door to the Tercera. That first spell in national football lasted three seasons: the team finished 15th, 6th and 16th, and dropped back to regional level in 1961. It returned in 1965 and spent five straight campaigns in the Tercera, with two eighth-place finishes as its best results, before going down again in 1970. The 1970s were spent between the Regional Preferente and the Primera Regional. Runner-up spot in the Preferente in 1979-80 took the club back to the Tercera División, which had become the fourth tier when Segunda División B was created in 1977.

First promotion to Segunda División B (1987-1992)

Back in the Tercera, the team finished third in 1980-81 and again in 1983-84 and 1986-87. That last third place brought the club’s first promotion to Segunda División B in 1987. In its first season at that level Sanluqueño finished 15th, and in 1988-89 it posted the best league finish in its history: third in Group IV. A ninth place followed in 1989-90 and a 13th in 1990-91. In 1991-92 the team finished 17th and was relegated.

Two decades in the Tercera and the 2012 title

The 1992 relegation began a run of twenty consecutive seasons in the Tercera División. Sanluqueño reached the top places with second in 1995-96 and fourth in 2000-01, but also spent time near the bottom, finishing 17th in 2006-07 and 16th in both 2008-09 and 2009-10. In 2011-12 it was crowned champion of its Tercera group for the first time. In the play-off between group winners it lost to AE Prat (0-0 at El Palmar and 2-0 in the return leg), but through the non-champions route it got past CD Montuiri and Extremadura UD and won back its place in Segunda División B in the summer of 2012.

Between Segunda B and the Tercera (2012-2021)

That return to the third tier lasted two seasons: 11th in 2012-13 and 19th in 2013-14, which meant relegation. The club came back in 2016 after finishing second in its Tercera group and winning the final round of the promotion play-offs against CCD Cerceda (0-0 and 2-0). It went down again in 2017 after finishing 17th and bounced straight back: in June 2018 it beat Yeclano Deportivo in the decisive tie. Three campaigns in Segunda B followed, with 13th place in 2018-19, 15th in 2019-20 and third in the first phase of 2020-21, the transitional season in which the federation reorganised the non-professional divisions.

Primera Federación and the Copa del Rey (2021-2026)

That 2020-21 finish earned a place in the new Primera División RFEF, launched in 2021-22 as the third tier of Spanish football. The team finished 16th and dropped into the Segunda Federación. In the Copa del Rey that same season it knocked out CE Sabadell in the first round on 30 November 2021, and on 15 December it hosted Europa League holders Villarreal at El Palmar, losing 1-7; Adrián Armental scored the home side’s goal.

The return was immediate. In 2022-23 Sanluqueño finished fourth in its Segunda Federación group and in the promotion play-offs eliminated Real Valladolid Promesas and then Deportivo Alavés B, winning 2-0 at El Palmar on 3 June 2023 and 1-0 away on 11 June. After that 2023 promotion to the Primera Federación, the club spent three seasons in the division: 14th in 2023-24, 14th in 2024-25 and 19th in Group II in 2025-26, a finish that sent it down to the Segunda Federación in 2026.