Córdoba CF

Association football club in Spain
the Spanish football club

Córdoba Club de Fútbol (ˈkoɾðoβa), competing as Unión Futbolística Cordobesa S. A. D., is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1954 as Club Deportivo San Álvaro, it was refounded as Cordoba CF in 1954 after the dissolution of RCD Córdoba. Currently it plays in the Primera Federación Group 2, with its home matches at the Estadio Nuevo Arcángel, which has a capacity of 25,800 seats.

Forerunners of Córdoba Club de Fútbol included names such as Sporting Fútbol Club de Córdoba, Sociedad Deportiva Electromecánicas and Racing Fútbol Club de Córdoba. The latter changed its name after the Spanish Civil War (as foreign names were banned under the new regime) to Club Deportivo Córdoba. From 1940, its predecessor RCD Córdoba met varying success, spending most of its time in the second and third divisions of Spanish football. In 1944 it changed its home kit to green and white stripes, from the previous one of all white, and, the following year, Córdoba moved from Estadio America to Estadio del Arcángel. In 1954, RCD Córdoba was dissolved due to its many debts and Córdoba CF was refounded by acquiring the place of CD San Álvaro de Córdoba in the third category. In the early 1960s and also in 1971–72, Córdoba amassed eight La Liga seasons. In its third presence it only conceded two goals at home as it went undefeated, the first being courtesy of Espanyol's Alfredo Di Stéfano. The club finished 5th, its best finish to date, but was not allowed to enter the following season's UEFA Cup due to city infrastructure issues. In the following four decades Córdoba again fluctuated between divisions two and three, also spending 1984–85 in the fourth. After a successful 1999–2000 season in Segunda División B Córdoba was finally promoted to Segunda División. On 17 February 2014, former Spanish international Albert Ferrer was hired as Córdoba manager. He led the team to a 7th place finish, and then Córdoba defeated Las Palmas in the Segunda División play off final to return to the top flight for the first time in 42 years. Ulises Dávila scored the decisive goal, a late equaliser in the away second leg, after Las Palmas fans had caused ten minutes to be added onto the game by invading the pitch. Córdoba experienced a difficult return to La Liga however. In their opening match of the 2014–15 season, Córdoba lost 2–0 away at Real Madrid, putting them in 19th place on the table, after round 1. Following that, the team did not achieve a single win, up until the 14th round, when they managed to win 0–1 away at Athletic Bilbao. This boosted their hopes for survival in the elite. Additional wins against CF Granada at home and Rayo Vallecano away in rounds 17 and 18 put the team in 14th place. However, ten straight defeats from rounds 20 29 again put the Andalusians in last place. The team did not improve, remaining in last place until the end of the season. They only collected two points from their last 18 games, thus losing all hopes for survival. At the end of the season, Córdoba only collected 20 points, 15 points behind Granada CF, which avoided relegation. Their relegation was confirmed with three games remaining after a 0–8 home defeat against FC Barcelona. On 15 June 2018, the club announced that it had purchased local women's club AD El Naranjo and their respective youth teams with the intention of turning them into the club's official women's team. The newly created Córdoba Club de Fútbol Femenino will play in the Spanish Segunda División (women) starting in the 2018–19 season. After ranking second to last in the 2018–19 Segunda División (after disqualified Reus), the club was demoted to Segunda B. In December 2019, the club was purchased by Infinity, an investment fund from Bahrain, for a reported amount of €3.25 million The club gained promotion to the Primera RFEF (third tier of the Spanish league system) in April 2022.

Córdoba currently plays at the Estadio Nuevo Arcángel, opened in 1993. Since 2004 the stadium has been going through a remodelling, converting it to a pure football stadium. Three of the four sides have been rebuilt. When the fourth stand is rebuilt the capacity will be 25,100 seats.

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