Club de Fútbol Extremadura was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1924, it played two seasons in La Liga, and held home games at Estadio Francisco de la Hera, with a capacity of 11,580 seats. The club folded in 2010 following several years of financial problems.

History

Extremadura was founded in 1924, and spent the first 30 years of its existence in the regional leagues, promoting to the second division after winning the regional championship in the third.

The club lasted seven seasons in the category, finishing in fifth position in the 1958–59 season. Subsequently, the following 29 years were spent in the third level – in 1977 it became the fourth, after the creation of Segunda División B – with the addition of three relegations to the regional championships.

In 1990, after finishing first, Extremadura promoted to division three. Four years later, after winning its group, it returned to the second after an absence of 34 years; during that period of time, football in the region of Extremadura experienced a rise, with CD Badajoz and CP Mérida also competing in that level in the mid-1990s.

Extremadura finished in fifth position in the 1995–96 campaign. However, Real Madrid Castilla was ineligible for the playoffs, and Extremadura took its place, achieving promotion to La Liga for the first time ever after disposing of Albacete Balompié 2–0 on aggregate – Iosu Ortoundo was the manager.

The first season in the top flight was difficult as expected: the team lost its first nine matches and only won one of the first 19, but eventually recovered, finishing only one point from the safety zone. In the following year, with a young Rafael Benítez in charge, immediate promotion back was easily attained, as runner-up.

In the 1998–99 season Extremadura finished in 17th position, and the second top flight campaign also ended in relegation, after losing in the playoffs against Rayo Vallecano. The club's financial situation was precarious, and it dropped another division in 2002; in the first season in level three, a fifth position meant a narrow miss in the subsequent promotion playoffs, and the following four years were also spent in the division, with the club never finishing higher than tenth.

After the regular season in 2006–07, Extremadura faced UD Pájara Playas de Jandía from the island of Fuerteventura in the relegation playoffs: after a 0–3 away loss, a 1–1 home draw returned the club to the fourth division, after 17 years. Shortly afterwards it emerged that the club could not settle its economic problems, with players being due several months in wages. After confirmation by the Royal Spanish Football Federation on 1 August 2008, the club was relegated a further category.

Extremadura's sporting and financial troubles continued in the following years, with the club never ranking higher than 16th. In August 2010 it folded, being dissolved by its major shareholder, the Almendralejo City Hall; that fate had already befallen Mérida, with Badajoz being saved in the last minute, replaced by another team in the city and being dropped to level four.

Season to season

SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1950–51 4 1ª Reg. 3rd 1951–52 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1952–53 3 3ª 3rd 1953–54 3 3ª 1st 1954–55 2 2ª 11th 1955–56 2 2ª 7th 1956–57 2 2ª 9th 1957–58 2 2ª 9th 1958–59 2 2ª 5th Round of 32 1959–60 2 2ª 12th First round 1960–61 2 2ª 15th First round 1961–62 3 3ª 4th 1962–63 3 3ª 6th 1963–64 3 3ª 2nd 1964–65 3 3ª 8th 1965–66 3 3ª 1st 1966–67 3 3ª 3rd 1967–68 3 3ª 6th 1968–69 3 3ª 15th 1969–70 3 3ª 15thSeason Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1970–71 4 1ª Reg. 2nd 1971–72 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1972–73 3 3ª 18th 1973–74 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1974–75 3 3ª 19th 1975–76 4 Reg. Pref. 2nd 1976–77 4 Reg. Pref. 1st 1977–78 4 3ª 6th 1978–79 4 3ª 16th 1979–80 4 3ª 13th 1980–81 4 3ª 11th 1981–82 4 3ª 13th 1982–83 4 3ª 13th 1983–84 4 3ª 4th 1984–85 4 3ª 2nd 1985–86 4 3ª 5th 1986–87 4 3ª 4th 1987–88 4 3ª 3rd 1988–89 4 3ª 2nd 1989–90 4 3ª 1st
1950–5141ª Reg.3rd
1951–5241ª Reg.1st
1952–5333ª3rd
1953–5433ª1st
1954–5522ª11th
1955–5622ª7th
1956–5722ª9th
1957–5822ª9th
1958–5922ª5thRound of 32
1959–6022ª12thFirst round
1960–6122ª15thFirst round
1961–6233ª4th
1962–6333ª6th
1963–6433ª2nd
1964–6533ª8th
1965–6633ª1st
1966–6733ª3rd
1967–6833ª6th
1968–6933ª15th
1969–7033ª15th
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey
1970–7141ª Reg.2nd
1971–7241ª Reg.1st
1972–7333ª18th
1973–7441ª Reg.1st
1974–7533ª19th
1975–764Reg. Pref.2nd
1976–774Reg. Pref.1st
1977–7843ª6th
1978–7943ª16th
1979–8043ª13th
1980–8143ª11th
1981–8243ª13th
1982–8343ª13th
1983–8443ª4th
1984–8543ª2nd
1985–8643ª5th
1986–8743ª4th
1987–8843ª3rd
1988–8943ª2nd
1989–9043ª1st
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey
Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1990–91 3 2ª B 14th 1991–92 3 2ª B 3rd 1992–93 3 2ª B 6th Third round 1993–94 3 2ª B 1st 1994–95 2 2ª 15th 1995–96 2 2ª 5th 1996–97 1 1ª 19th Round of 16 1997–98 2 2ª 2nd Round of 16 1998–99 1 1ª 17th Third round 1999–2000 2 2ª 8th First roundSeason Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 2000–01 2 2ª 11th Round of 16 2001–02 2 2ª 21st Round of 64 2002–03 3 2ª B 5th Round of 64 2003–04 3 2ª B 13th First round 2004–05 3 2ª B 10th 2005–06 3 2ª B 11th 2006–07 3 2ª B 16th 2007–08 5 Reg. Pref. 17th 2008–09 5 Reg. Pref. 17th 2009–10 5 Reg. Pref. 19th
1990–9132ª B14th
1991–9232ª B3rd
1992–9332ª B6thThird round
1993–9432ª B1st
1994–9522ª15th
1995–9622ª5th
1996–9711ª19thRound of 16
1997–9822ª2ndRound of 16
1998–9911ª17thThird round
1999–200022ª8thFirst round
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey
2000–0122ª11thRound of 16
2001–0222ª21stRound of 64
2002–0332ª B5thRound of 64
2003–0432ª B13thFirst round
2004–0532ª B10th
2005–0632ª B11th
2006–0732ª B16th
2007–085Reg. Pref.17th
2008–095Reg. Pref.17th
2009–105Reg. Pref.19th

Stadium

CF Extremadura's first permanent ground was called Campo de Santa Aurora, which was located on Camino Alange. It was used from 1928 to 1935, when the club moved to nearby Campo Santa Elvira.

In 1950, the idea of building a municipal stadium was formed, and the club moved to a plot of land adjacent to the proposed stadium. For just over one season, it played at the site, called Los Cañizos. On 12 October 1951, Extremadura played Sevilla FC in the inaugural match at the new grounds, Estadio Francisco de la Hera. The stadium remained relatively unchanged until 1996, when it was demolished to make way for a revamped one, with and a seated capacity of 11,580.

Famous players

Note: this list includes players that have played at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.

Famous coaches

See also

External links

  • (in Spanish)
  • (in Spanish)