Fundación Albacete · History

Fundación Albacete is the women's football team linked to Albacete Balompié, based in Albacete in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain. It grew out of the Fundación Albacete Balompié, a foundation set up in 1997 with the club as its founding member to promote sport, education and culture, funded by private sponsors. The women's team became part of the men's club's academy structure. Known as «el Funda», it was registered in national competitions as Fundación Albacete Nexus in seasons such as 2013-14. The team spent five seasons in the Spanish women's top flight, from 2014 to 2019, and has played in the Primera Federación since 2022.

The second-tier years (2006-2014)

The team's first documented seasons in the Spanish second tier begin in 2006-07, when it finished seventh. It climbed steadily from there: fourth in 2007-08, second in 2008-09 and first in 2009-10. After finishing second in 2010-11, it topped its group three seasons running, in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. Promotion, however, kept slipping away. The format of the time required a promotion play-off, and Fundación Albacete lost the first five it contested. During those years the club won the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha Trophy twice, in 2009 and 2010, and in 2011 it received the region's Silver Plaque for Sporting Merit.

Promotion in 2014

The sixth attempt was the one. The opponent in the deciding tie was UD Granadilla Tenerife Sur, who had won the first leg 2-1. The return leg was played on 15 June 2014 at the Carlos Belmonte stadium in front of around 4,000 spectators. The Albacete side won 2-0, with both goals coming in the second half and both scored by Alba Redondo. The 3-2 aggregate gave the club its first promotion to the Primera División. That same summer, Alba Redondo was a runner-up at the European Under-19 Championship with Spain.

Five seasons in the top flight (2014-2019)

The debut season in the top division, 2014-15, ended in twelfth place, with survival secured on the final matchday. In 2015-16 the team was coached by Milagros «Mila» Martínez, a former player who had later served as team delegate during the play-off years; that season she was the only woman in charge of a top-flight side. Fundación Albacete finished thirteenth. The captain was Matilde Martínez, who in 2015 was in her thirteenth season at the club. A fourteenth-place finish followed in 2016-17 and a thirteenth in 2017-18, the season of the club's biggest wins in the division: 4-0 at home to Santa Teresa and 5-0 away to Granadilla Tenerife. In 2018-19 the team reached the last 16 of the Copa de la Reina, but finished sixteenth in the league and went down. Across its five top-flight seasons it collected 121 points, and Alba Redondo ended as its leading scorer in the division.

Back in the second tier (2019-2022)

After relegation the team finished third in 2019-20 and second in 2020-21, without winning back its place. In 2021-22 it came sixth and went out in the first round of the Copa de la Reina. When the national divisions were reorganised in 2022, the club was placed in the Primera Federación, the new second tier of Spanish women's football.

Ground

Fundación Albacete plays at the Ciudad Deportiva Andrés Iniesta, Albacete Balompié's training complex. It opened in March 1998 and was renovated in 2005. The site has two full-size natural grass pitches, one of them holding around 3,000 spectators, and lies about 1.6 kilometres from the Carlos Belmonte stadium, where the team has played some of its bigger matches, such as the second leg of the 2014 promotion tie. In 2015 it was one of the few top-flight teams playing on natural grass, along with Athletic Club and Oiartzun.

In the Primera Federación (2022-2025)

In the inaugural Primera Federación season, 2022-23, the team finished tenth and reached the last 16 of the Copa de la Reina. In 2023-24 it rose to eighth place and again went out of the cup in the last 16. In 2024-25 it finished ninth out of fourteen teams, with 8 wins, 9 draws and 9 defeats, 24 goals scored, 29 conceded and 33 points.