Martinez Valero · Profile

The Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero stands on the avenue of the same name in Elche, in the province of Alicante, and has been home to Elche Club de Fútbol since it opened on 8 September 1976. It was designed by Alicante architect Juan Boix Matarredona, is owned by the club and has a pitch measuring 108 by 70 metres. It has hosted World Cup matches, a Copa del Rey final and seven games of the Spain national team.

From Altabix to a new ground

For half a century Elche played at the Campo de Altabix, which opened in 1926. In the mid-1970s the club, then in the Spanish top flight, decided to build a new and larger venue on the outskirts of the city. The driving force behind the project was club president Manuel Martínez Valero. When it opened, the ground was called the “Nuevo Estadio del Elche CF” and held around 26,000 people, a figure that rose in the following decades to roughly 40,000.

The 1976 opening

The stadium was inaugurated on 8 September 1976 with a friendly against Mexico that ended 3-3. Mario Finarolli scored the first goal at the new ground, with Roberto Orellana and Gómez Voglino adding the others for the hosts. Three days later, on 11 September, it staged its first competitive match, a goalless draw with Burgos on the second matchday of the league. The first official goal came on matchday four of the 1976-77 season, scored by Valencia's Diarte in a 4-1 defeat for Elche, whose only goal that day came from Cristo.

The Martínez Valero name

For its first twelve years the ground kept the “new stadium” label. In 1988 the club's members voted to honour Manuel Martínez Valero, honorary president and the man behind its construction, and the stadium officially took his name. The avenue it stands on, at number 3, bears the same name.

A 1982 World Cup venue

When Spain hosted the 1982 World Cup, Elche was one of the first-round venues and its stadium staged all three Group 3 matches between Hungary, Belgium and El Salvador. On 15 June 1982 Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1, the largest winning margin ever recorded in a World Cup match. On 19 June Belgium defeated El Salvador 1-0 through a Coeck goal, and on 22 June Belgium and Hungary drew 1-1, with Varga and Czerniatynski on target. That result sent Belgium into the second round.

The 2003 Copa del Rey final

On 28 June 2003 the Martínez Valero hosted the Copa del Rey final between Mallorca and Recreativo de Huelva. The Balearic side won 3-0, with a Walter Pandiani penalty and two second-half goals from Samuel Eto'o, to lift the first Spanish cup in the club's history.

Renovations since 2013

In the summer of 2013, as Elche returned to the top flight after 25 years away, the stadium underwent a major refurbishment. The first phase, completed before the league kicked off, rebuilt the main façade and upgraded the entrances, seating, dressing rooms, press rooms and offices, while adding VIP boxes and press booths. The work cut capacity to 33,732. In that 2013-14 season the ground received the AFEPE award for the best stadium in the Spanish league. After promotion in 2020 came further upgrades: LED floodlights, new seats, modernised offices and façade, and replacement of the video scoreboards installed in 2005 and 2006. UEFA rates it a category 4 stadium.

Spain national team matches

Spain have played seven matches in Elche and won every one. The first was a 3-0 friendly win over Belgium on 19 February 1986, in preparation for the World Cup in Mexico. Then came Macedonia (3-0) on 15 November 1995, Ukraine (2-1) on 10 September 2003, Egypt (2-0) on 3 June 2006 and Italy (1-0) on 26 March 2008. On 11 September 2018, in the Nations League, Spain thrashed Croatia 6-0. The seventh game was played on 11 October 2025 in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, when Spain beat Georgia 2-0 with goals from Yeremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in front of 28,661 spectators.