Name evolution • ''Centre d'Esports de Sabadell (1903-1910)'' • ''Centre d'Esports Sabadell Foot-ball Club (1910-1941)'' •
Centro de Deportes Sabadell Club de Fútbol (1941-1975) • ''Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club (1975-1992)'' • ''Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.E. (1992-present)''
History Beginnings In 1901, Joan Saus and a group of youngsters from the Sabadell Catalan Centre founded ''Centre d'Esports Sabadell'', which became fully legalized on 5 June 1906. The club's first games were held in a grass field at Prat de Sant Oleguer but, on 3 June of that year, a stadium in the Creu Alta District was inaugurated, in a game against "Team X" from
Barcelona, later known as
RCD Espanyol. On 6 August 1912, the first game under floodlights in Spain was played in the same venue against Universitari, a club also from Barcelona. The team, which finished runner-up in
1985-86 Segunda División, was guided by manager Pedro Mari Uribarri and was captained by homegrown midfielder
Lino Gutiérrez. The following season, the team survived in the first tier after succeeding in a dramatic relegation group in the
1986-87 La Liga managed by former goalkeeper and legend , the player with most games in Primera División in the club's history. Martínez was sacked on 2 November 1987 and was replaced by
Antonio de la Cruz, who could not keep the team in the top division. Relegation to Segunda División was confirmed on 22 May 1988 after losing 2–0 in
San Mamés against
Athletic Club and finishing second from bottom. Four months before, in the
Copa del Rey quarter-finals first-leg, Sabadell had produced one of its most famous games ever after a dramatic comeback against
Real Madrid in the second half. The Spanish giants were two goals ahead at half time, but
Jordi Vinyals,
Josep Maria Sala and scored in the second half to seal a memorable win. In the return leg at the
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid won 2–0 in the
extra-time.
18 years outside of professional leagues CE Sabadell became a
public limited sports company in 1991,
being relegated to
Segunda División B two years later, and immediately to
Tercera División following severe economic problems. After
achieving promotion in 1994 with a very young team guided by manager Antonio Jaurrieta, the club spent the following seventeen years in the third level (with the exception of
2006–07 in the fourth). In that dark period, there were only three highlights, two of them with manager
Pere Valentí Mora in charge: the
1999-2000 Copa Federación de España title against
the reserve team of Elche CF and a third-place finish
the following season which allowed the team to play in
the play-offs, with hopes of promotion to the second tier ended after a home defeat against
Burgos CF. The third one was
another unsuccessful promotion play-off after the team finished fourth in the
2008–09 Segunda División B. This time, the dream was over after a controversial game against
Real Unión de Irún.
Ramón Moya, who had also been the manager in
the return to Segunda B two seasons before, narrowly missed a second promotion with the club.
Return to second tier and Japanese takeover In the
2010–11 season, Sabadell, managed by
Lluís Carreras, won its group in the
regular season. In
the playoffs, the team drew both games against
SD Eibar, but was eventually promoted on the
away goals rule following the 1–1 score at the
Ipurua Municipal Stadium with
Marc Fernández scoring the historic goal, returning to the professional divisions after 18 years. Three young players who were loaned by other Catalan clubs, winger
Isaac Cuenca, midfielder
Juanjo Ciércoles and striker
Hiroshi Ibusuki, had a big impact in the successful campaign. It was the second promotion for goalkeeper
David de Navas, who signed for the club when it was in the fourth tier in 2007. Sabadell struggled in
their return to the second level finishing in 19th place, being the first side in the relegation zone. However, they were spared when
Villarreal CF dropped down a division in the top flight, which led to the automatic relegation of its
reserve team Villarreal CF B. Sabadell finished second level as 16th in 2012–13 season, with Carreras departing at the end of the campaign.
Manu Lanzarote, who finished the league with 14 goals and 11 assists in 37 games, also left the club and was signed by
RCD Espanyol. The announcement was made four months before the end of the season. In the summer of 2013, the Japanese owners signed
Sotan Tanabe and made an agreement with
FC Tokyo. A pre-season tour was made in Japan, even playing a friendly against FC Tokyo in the
Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka which ended in a 2–2 draw. Businessman Keisuke Sakamoto, who had bought the club one year before, was named president on 30 July 2013 replacing , who had achieved two promotions in his seven years in front of the club. The season started badly, with new manager
Javi Salamero sacked in November. He was replaced by his assistant,
Miquel Olmo, and the team finished the season in 10th place, the best final position in the second tier since 1992.
Aníbal Zurdo scored 18 league goals and was signed by Mexican side
Cruz Azul. The following season was much more difficult, with Olmo sacked in November and his successor
Álex García winning only one of his nine league games in charge. Although the team improved with the appointment of
Juan Carlos Mandiá and the return of Aníbal Zurdo on loan, Sabadell finished in the 21st place and was relegated to the third level after 4 years.
The Hidalgo years: promotion in Marbella and relegation in Miranda Former captain
Antonio Hidalgo saved the club from relegation to the fourth tier after he was appointed as the new manager with seven games remaining of the season 2018-19 and led the team to promotion to
Segunda División in July 2020 by beating
Barcelona B 2–1 in the
Segunda División B play-offs final after five-years in third division with goals from
Aleix Coch and
Néstor Querol. The team was immediately relegated in the following
2020–21 season by the narrow margin of one single point after results in the last matchday were not favourable in spite of Sabadell winning 0-2 in
Miranda de Ebro against
CD Mirandés and joined the newly created
1a RFEF Division. Hidalgo was sacked after a poor start of the new season , and the team missed the play-offs in the last matchday after the improvement made by new manager
Pedro Munitis.
Financial difficulties and relegation to the fourth tier In June, Calzada announced that investment would be much lower in the 2022–23 season and Munitis departed the club, with former
FC Barcelona player
Gabri named as his replacement. He was sacked on 19 December 2022 with the team in 18th place. Assistant coach
Miki Lladó, who previously had been in charge of the youth teams of the club, was named manager. He led the team to a 10th-place finish in
2022–23 Primera Federación earning 32 points in his 21 games in charge and was offered a new one-year contract in the summer. Talented young players such as
Pau Víctor,
Sergi Altimira and
Álex Sala contributed to survival. Before the beginning of the
2023-24 season, Chairman Esteve Calzada resigned and was replaced on 12 June 2023 by board member Pau Morilla-Giner. The new season started badly and Lladó was sacked on 10 October 2023 after collecting only seven points in the first seven league games of the
2023–24 season. He was replaced by his assistant
Gerard Bofill, who could not achieve a single point in six games and was fired with the team in the bottom of the table. The team improved with the signing of manager
Óscar Cano and sporting director Carlos Rosende, but was relegated to
Segunda Federacion after failing to win the last game away against
CD Lugo on 25 May 2024.
Rothstein takeover and promotion back to the third tier Some weeks before the end of the 2023-24 season, Chairman Morilla-Giner found a new ownership group led by venture capitalist Adam Rothstein. Despite the relegation, Rothstein stayed loyal to his word and the club was able to form a competitive team to try to go back to Primera Federación. At the end of the 2024–25 season, the team, guided by manager
David Movilla, achieved promotion to
Primera RFEF via a successful playoff run defeating
SD Eibar B in the semifinal and
UCAM Murcia CF in the final after
finishing fourth in the league. Movilla had replaced the sacked
David Català on 20 January 2025. Youngster
Javi Morcillo played a key role in the second half of the season before he was sold to
Atlético de Madrid in the summer. Despite achieving promotion, Movilla's contract was not extended and on 23 June 2025
Ferran Costa was appointed manager of the team signing a two-year contract. ==Season to season==