Establishment Formed by the
merger of
Deportivo Gallo and
Unión Deportiva Eibarresa, the club was originally known as
Eibar Fútbol Club, before changing to
Sociedad Deportiva Eibar. During the difficult postwar years, the team played sporadically, which caused Eibar to disappear from official competitions during the 1942–43 season. Originally an irregular team, it was not until the 1943–44 season that it was reorganised into more of a full-time unit.
Tercera División Promoted to
Tercera División in 1950, Eibar achieved promotion to
Segunda División three seasons later,
being relegated again after a five-year stint and competing in division three for 25 of the following 28 years (in 1977
Tercera became the fourth level, after the creation of
Segunda División B). In
1988, the side returned to the "silver category". That season also included a historic moment when goalkeeper
José Ignacio Garmendia scored a goal in a game against
Pontevedra via a kickout from his own area.
Promotion to Segunda División After spending 18 years in a row in Segunda División, Eibar was relegated to the third division at the end of the
2005–06 campaign. However, it won its group
the next season, thereby qualifying for the
promotion play-offs where it won its semi-final tie against
Hospitalet 2–0 and defeated
Rayo Vallecano 2–1 on aggregate in the decisive round, sealing its return after just one year. Eibar finished 21st in the 2008–09 season meaning they were relegated to the Segunda Division B.
Relegation to Segunda B (2009–13) Eibar qualified for three straight promotion play-offs but could not get promoted to the Segunda División. In the
2012–13 edition of the
Copa del Rey, Eibar ousted
Basque neighbours
Athletic Bilbao – who had appeared in two of the last four finals in the tournament – on the
away goals rule to reach the
round-of-16 following a 1–1 draw at the
San Mamés Stadium. The decisive goal was scored by
Mikel Arruabarrena who played youth football with the opposition, as did manager
Gaizka Garitano;
the same season the team managed to return to the "silver category", following a four-year absence.
Segunda División and promotion to La Liga In
2013–14 Eibar earned, for the first time in its history, one of two direct promotion berths to
La Liga, which was certified on 25 May 2014 with a 1–0 home win against
Deportivo Alavés. (they celebrated their feat with confetti originally produced by Barcelona, who wear the same colours and had anticipated winning the
Spanish league title a week earlier, but that did not come to pass). Simultaneously, however, the club was threatened with relegation back to division three due to the financial inability of the
S.A.D. to have a
share capital of at least €2,146,525.95 before 6 August 2014. The club launched a campaign named
Defiende al Eibar (Defend Eibar) with the aim of reaching the required share capital through a
seasoned equity offering. On 15 July 2014 the club announced it had reached the established goal. On 18 July 2015, Eibar played its 75th-anniversary game against
Celtic in
Ipurua (1–4). This included an inaugural ceremony on the pitch with a parade of 19th-century-clothed Basque soldiers with a
Saltire and bagpipes playing "
Scotland the Brave", with officials from both clubs shooting a 350
kg 19th-century cannon. Eibar stated that they invited Celtic as their opponent for the game due to the strong connection between the
Basque Country and
Scotland, and also due to the Scottish presence in Eibar through the years (the main supporter group is named "Eskozia la Brava", meaning "Scotland the Brave"). Under its new coach
José Luis Mendilibar, Eibar finished its
second top-flight season in 14th.
Borja Bastón finished top ten in scoring and was named
La Liga Player of the Month of October 2015, making him the first
Armero to receive the award. In April 2017,
Dani García became the first player to reach the milestone of 100 top division appearances for the club. The club's 10th place in
2016–17 was improved to 9th the
following season, with the latter campaign marking the first time ever that Eibar had finished as the highest-ranking of the Basque teams. vs. Eibar On 16 May 2021, Eibar was relegated after a defeat to
Valencia. This ended their seven-year stay in the top tier. The following season in Segunda, Eibar was in the top two of the league for the majority of the season, however, the team had to eventually settle for third place. In the playoffs, Eibar lost to
Girona, and failed to make an immediate return to La Liga. ==Affiliated clubs==