Arenas Club de Getxo

Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1914, it currently plays in Tercera División, holding home games at Campo Municipal de Gobela, with a 1,200-seat capacity.

It was among the pioneering clubs of Spanish football, and in 1928 was a founding member of La Liga, alongside neighbouring Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Real Unión.

History

Founded in 1909 as Arenas Football Club, it became Club Arenas three years later. In 1914 the club played a series of three friendlies against FC Barcelona, winning all games.

The team subsequently competed in the Campeonato Norte along with Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Racing de Santander, Sporting de Gijón and Celta de Vigo, being crowned champion in 1917, and qualifying to the Copa del Rey, where it reached the final in Barcelona, losing 1–2 against Madrid FC after extra time.

In 1919, Arenas won another regional competition, the Campeonato de Vizcaya, thus qualifying for the domestic cup again, and winning the tournament after disposing of FC Barcelona in overtime (5–2). The following year, when Spain made its international debut at the Olympic Games in Antwerp, the squad included two players from the club, Francisco Pagazaurtundúa and Félix Sesúmaga.

Arenas Getxo appeared in the Spanish Cup finals on two further occasions, losing against Barcelona in 1925 (0–2) and two years later against Real Unión (0–1), the latter in the only all-Basque decisive match in the competition's history. After playing in La Liga's first seven editions - finishing third in 1929–30 - and the following six seasons in the second division, the club has spent the vast majority of its existence competing at the fourth level, with the occasional visit to the regional leagues.

Season to season

• 7 seasons in La Liga
• 6 seasons in Segunda División
• 1 seasons in Segunda División B
• 56 seasons in Tercera División

Honours

• Tercera División: 1945–46, 1946–47, 1959–60
• Copa del Rey: 1919
• Campeonato Norte: 1916–17
• Campeonato de Vizcaya: 1918–19, 1921–22, 1926–27
• Copa Vasca: 1935–36

Famous players

• Guillermo Gorostiza
• Javier Iturriaga
• Raimundo Lezama
• Joseba del Olmo
• Félix Sesúmaga
• José María Zárraga

Famous coaches

• Javier Clemente

Sources

• Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football (2003), Phil Ball.

External links

• Official website (Spanish)
• Futbolme team profile (Spanish)