Founded in 1926 after a
merger of
Stadium Ovetense and
Real Club Deportivo Oviedo. The first one was founded by young people who had studied in England, where the "foot-ball" was already popular. And the second club was founded a few years later by a split in the first.
Carlos Tartiere served as the inaugural president when the club was established. Oviedo first reached
La Liga seven years later. Their attacking quartet of
Emilín,
Galé,
Herrerita and
Isidro Lángara (all represented
Spain in this period), as well as
Casuco and
Ricardo Gallart modernised the game with their pace and running off the ball tied with sharp passing and one-touch football, played in a style 30/40 years before its time, being dubbed
Delanteras Eléctricas ("The electric forwards"); all this was connected with a rigid training and fitness regime started by a former manager of the club, Englishman
Fred Pentland. won three consecutive
Pichichi trophies from 1933–34 to 1935–36.Lángara won the
Pichichi Trophy three years in a row prior to the
Spanish Civil War, as Oviedo broke all scoring records (174 goals in 62 league games). With the outbreak of the conflict, however, the team broke up: Lángara emigrated to
South America, Herrerita and Emilín signed with
FC Barcelona, Galé with
Racing de Santander and Gallart with
Racing de Ferrol. When football in the country resumed in 1939, Oviedo could not play
1939–40 season, as their pitch was deemed unplayable –
Francisco Franco's troops had used the stadium as an ammunition dump. During the following decades, the club bounced back between the first and second levels. The
1957–58 Segunda División campaign saw them promoted to
La Liga. The club high point was a best-ever third position in
1962–63 (ranking joint-first with
Real Madrid after the first 15 rounds). However, the club had been experiencing financial difficulties and, under
Enrique Orizaola, had to sell key players
Sánchez Lage,
Paquito García and
José María. It finished
the next season facing
Relegation play-offs. Real Oviedo were Play-off winners but were subsequently relegated
in 1964–65. The first phase of
El Requexón training centre was opened in 1969 by the efforts of then-club president Enrique Rubio Sanudo. Later in the 1980s, the second phase of the construction was completed by the efforts of then-president José Manuel Bango. The lowest point was the side's first relegation to
Segunda División B, in 1978 (for a single season). With the
FIFA World Cup to be held
in Spain in 1982, the
Carlos Tartiere Stadium was completely renewed, the first match being held with the
Chile national team, 0–0. In 1984–85 Oviedo won the soon-to-be-defunct
Spanish League Cup (second division), after successively defeating
UD Salamanca,
Bilbao Athletic,
CF Lorca Deportiva,
CE Sabadell FC and
Atlético Madrileño (the latter with a 2–1 aggregate in the final). In 1988 Oviedo returned to the top division, after ousting
RCD Mallorca in the promotion playoffs (2–1 on aggregate, with
striker Carlos, who would feature prominently for the club in the following years, scoring one of the goals), and remained in that level for 13 consecutive seasons – in
1990–91 it finished sixth,
qualifying for the first time for Europe, and being knocked out in the first round by
Genoa C.F.C. of
Italy (2–3). Oviedo bounced back from that defeat immediately, with a 2–1 win at the
Camp Nou over Barcelona.After that successful year, there were more brilliant seasons and others where relegation was narrowly dodged (in 1998 Real Oviedo succeeded in a
relegation playoff to stay up after beating
UD Las Palmas). In a nutshell, the
Carbayones had an outstanding run in La Liga during the 1990s with a team which lined up top international players. In 1992 Real Oviedo as well as most Spanish football clubs was forced to become
public limited sports company. The initial capital stock for Real Oviedo amounted to €3.6 million. On 4 October 1995, Real Oviedo played its 1,000th game in La Liga. In 2000, the new
Carlos Tartiere Stadium with 30,500 seats became Real Oviedo's new ground. It was officially opened on 20 September 2000 with a match between Real Oviedo and
Partizan Belgrade, where Real Oviedo lost 0–2 to the Serbian side. Three days before, Real Oviedo and UD Las Palmas had got a 2–2 draw on the first fixture in the
2000–01 season. After being relegated two consecutive times, Real Oviedo suffered severe economic troubles, which, when coupled with a profound lack of institutional support from the city's government, resulted in the team's inability to pay its players. The club was then forced to drop all the way to the
fourth division of
Spanish football, for the
2003–04 season; at this point the team nearly folded but eventually recovered and regrouped, returning to level three in the following campaign. Oviedo lasted two further campaigns before dropping down a level again. In another playoff against a Mallorca team – this time
the reserves, the club returned again to the third division, after a
penalty shootout; however, its survival remained at risk in the following years, due to continuing financial difficulties. The financial dire straits continued into the
2012–13 season, when Oviedo called on supporters to buy shares in the club. A few footballers, notably
Santi Cazorla,
Juan Mata,
Michu and
Adrián who all started their careers there, offered their financial support in an attempt to save the club from bankruptcy – the club had until 17 November to raise
€2 million in order to prevent closure.
Zohran Mamdani, who would later be elected
mayor of New York City in
2025, also bought a share. On 17 November 2012,
Carlos Slim, at the time the richest person in the world, invested
$2.5 million in the club, therefore gaining a controlling stake. On 31 May 2015, Oviedo confirmed their return to the Spanish
Segunda División after a thirteen-year absence with a 2–1 aggregate victory over
Cádiz in the
2015 Segunda División B play-offs. In the
2023–24 Segunda División, Oviedo finished sixth, earning a spot in the
promotion play-offs, where they reached the final, winning the first leg 1–0, but lost 2–1 on aggregate to
Espanyol. After finishing third in the
2024–25 season, Oviedo secured promotion to La Liga for the first time in 24 years by defeating
Mirandés 3–1 after extra time in the second leg of the
promotion play-off final. ==Season to season==