Club Portugalete · History

Club Portugalete play their home games at the Estadio La Florida, opened on 25 December 1951 and holding 5,000 spectators. The club represents Portugalete, a town in Biscay on the left bank of the Nervión estuary. It was founded in 1909 and wears yellow and black striped shirts with black shorts and socks.

Origins and foundation

Football reached Portugalete in the late 19th century. Athletic Club Portugalete, the town’s first team, was formed in 1899, and in 1909 Alfredo Hervías founded Club Deportivo Portugalete, becoming its first president. The yellow and black stripes were adopted in 1912. In 1915 the side moved up to the top tier of the Northern Regional Championship. The club was refounded in 1921 as Portugalete Football Club and played under that name until the Spanish Civil War halted its activity in 1936. In the 1939-40 season a team called Club Deportivo Portugalete Chiqui took part.

The 1944 refoundation and early years in the third tier

Nuevo Club Portugalete was born on 12 July 1944. Without a ground of its own, it played at San Mamés and at the Ibaiondo pitch in Leioa between 1944 and 1946, and at the San Roque ground from 1946 to 1951. After winning Primera Regional in 1950-51, it earned its first promotion to Tercera División in 1951, the same year La Florida opened. In 1956 the club took the name Club Portugalete. It stayed in Tercera until 1958 and returned in 1963 and 1967, both times as Primera Regional champions, without establishing itself there.

Decades in regional football

From 1968 the club competed in the Biscay regional divisions. It won Primera Regional in 1971-72 and 1983-84 and Regional Preferente in 1984-85, which took it back to Tercera División, by then the fourth tier, from 1985 to 1988. In 1987-88 it finished 18th, its lowest placing in that division, and dropped down again. During the 1990s it was runner-up in Territorial Preferente four times between 1995 and 2000, before winning the league in 2000-01 and returning to Tercera.

Between Tercera and Segunda División B

In 2004-05 Portugalete won Group IV of Tercera División and in 2005 achieved the first promotion in its history to Segunda División B, the Spanish third tier. Its debut there ended in 19th place and relegation in 2006. The club won the Basque group again in 2007-08 and reached the round of 32 of the 2008-09 Copa del Rey, a stage it matched in 2010-11. In 2009 it marked its centenary with a three-team tournament. After finishing runner-up in 2013-14, it won Group IV once more in 2014-15 and went back to Segunda B, where it again finished 19th in 2015-16.

Back-to-back titles and a visit from Betis

The club won Group IV of Tercera in consecutive seasons, 2018-19 and 2019-20. On 11 January 2020, in the second round of the Copa del Rey, it hosted Real Betis at La Florida in front of 4,985 spectators and lost 0-3, with goals from Álex Moreno, Loren Morón and Joaquín. In August 2020 it beat Sestao River to secure its third promotion to Segunda División B. In the 2020-21 season, played in subgroups, it finished eighth in the first phase and fourth in the second, and again reached the second round of the cup.

Tercera Federación and promotion to Segunda Federación

The 2021 restructuring placed Portugalete in the fifth tier, Tercera División RFEF, later renamed Tercera Federación. It finished third in 2021-22, sixth in 2022-23, fifth in 2023-24 and second in 2024-25, when it missed out on promotion in the play-offs. Its national honours comprise five Tercera División titles: 2004-05, 2007-08, 2014-15, 2018-19 and 2019-20. In January 2026 it led Group IV of Tercera Federación by eleven points; it went on to win the group and in 2026 earned promotion to Segunda Federación.