CD Laudio · History

The Estadio Ellakuri in Llodio (Laudio) opened in 1978 with a semi-final of the San Roque Tournament. It holds 2,550 spectators and its pitch measures 100 by 65 metres. It is the home of Club Deportivo Laudio, whose official name is Club Deportivo Laudio de Fútbol San Rokezar. The club from the province of Álava plays in red and white striped shirts, blue shorts and red socks, and its players are known as the rojiblancos or the vidrieros (glassmakers). Its origins date back to 16 July 1927, when Sociedad Deportiva Llodio was founded. The club in its present form was created in 2002 through a merger with Club Deportivo Salleko. It trains at the San Martín ground and, before Ellakuri, played at the Campo de Maderas and at Altzarrate.

Origins: from Llodio Club to Sociedad Deportiva Llodio

Organised football in the town had a forerunner in Llodio Club, which was active between 1912 and 1914 and opened the Basozelai ground in its final year. Sociedad Deportiva Llodio was founded in 1927 and played in the regional leagues of Biscay, because football in the town came under the Biscay federation even though Llodio lies in Álava. In 1934 the club stopped playing in federated competition after being evicted from its ground. For six years the town had no team in official competition.

The Club Deportivo Villosa years

In 1940 Club Deportivo Villosa appeared, sponsored by the company of the same name, and in 1945 it joined the Biscay Football Federation. Under that name the team won the 1953 Biscay amateur championship and the Biscay Primera Regional in 1953-54. That title took it up to the Tercera División, the Spanish fourth tier of the time, where it played from 1954 to 1958. It returned to that level in 1964-65 and, after winning another Biscay Primera Regional in 1965-66, played in the Tercera again between 1966 and 1970 and once more between 1971 and 1973. In 1972 the company withdrew its sponsorship and the club took back the name Sociedad Deportiva Llodio.

From the Biscay to the Álava federation

From 1973 the team spent more than two decades in the Biscay regional leagues, and its main title in that period was the Primera Regional of 1993-94. By 1995-96 it was competing in the Regional Preferente of Álava: it won the league and went up to the Tercera, but went straight back down at the end of the 1996-97 season. Six seasons in the Álava Preferente followed. In 2002 Sociedad Deportiva Llodio merged with Club Deportivo Salleko. The merger gave birth to Club Deportivo Laudio, which won the Álava Preferente in 2002-03 and returned to the Tercera División.

Ten years in the Tercera and promotion in 2013

Between 2003 and 2013 Laudio spent ten straight seasons in Group IV of the Tercera División, the Basque Country group. In 2010-11 the team finished runners-up and reached the promotion play-offs, where it lost to CF La Nucía 1-0 and 2-1. The following year it won the group for the first time, but CD Ourense knocked it out 1-3 and 0-1. In 2012-13 Laudio won the league again and this time came through the play-offs: in the final tie it beat Mar Menor CF 1-0 at Ellakuri to earn the club’s first promotion to the Segunda División B, the Spanish third tier.

The season in the Segunda División B

The 2013-14 campaign was Laudio’s only season in the third tier. Placed in Group II, the team finished 17th, in the relegation zone. In that season’s Copa del Rey it drew 2-2 with Olímpic de Xàtiva and went out 6-7 on penalties. In June 2014 came an administrative relegation over debts owed to players, which meant the club could not register for the Tercera and had to start again in the Regional Preferente of Álava.

Regional football, reserve side and academy

Since the 2014-15 season the first team has competed in the Álava regional leagues. The reserve side, Laudiotarrak, was founded in the 1970s and finished runners-up in the Álava Preferente in 1994-95; it stopped competing after the administrative relegation and returned in 2016-17 in the Primera Regional. The academy fields teams from under-10 to under-19 level. In the 2024-25 season the first team finished fifth in the División de Honor of Álava, and the under-19 side won promotion to the Liga Nacional Juvenil as group runners-up with 63 points, after beating Ariznabarra 2-1 on 10 May 2025.