Club Deportivo Leganés is a football club based in Leganés (Community of Madrid, Spain). This article covers the history from its foundation in 1928 to the present day.
History
Foundation The current Club Deportivo Leganés was founded on June 23, 1928 by Félix Pérez de la Serna, with Ramón del Yerro as its first president. The first pitch was a piece of land borrowed from the military rifle range, called "El Paseo de la Estación", inaugurated on July 1, 1928 against Latina F.C., while the first kit was a blue and scarlet shirt with white shorts, later changing to a tricolor kit with equal green, white and red stripes. For the 1928-29 season, the club registered with the Central Regional Federation (now the Royal Madrid Football Federation) and played in the Segunda Categoría Ordinaria, making its debut on its home turf on October 1, again against Latina F.C., in a match that ended 1-1. In the following season, 1929-30, playing in the second group, they qualified to play in the tournament for promotion to the Segunda Categoría Preferente, and managed to be promoted. That season would see the arrival of the first pepinero footballer to play in the First Division: Manuel Guijarro, Pirolo (1929-31). In 1931 he was signed by Atlético de Madrid (1931-34), then in the Second Division, and later played two seasons (1934-36) in the top division with Valencia CF.
On August 17, 1930, the first match was played against Real Madrid CF, a friendly that ended in a 4-4 draw.
The club moved to its own stadium, the Paseo de la Estación ground, and won the Segunda Categoría Preferente on its debut in the 30-31 season. It would play in that division for the next few years, but the reorganization of the tournament in 1934 led to its withdrawal from the competition. Due to disagreements with the Castilian Football Federation, a parallel competition was created under the auspices of the Central Spanish Workers' Cultural and Sports Federation, in which Leganés played in the second division. Two years later, the competition was suspended due to the Spanish Civil War and would not resume for a decade.
Competition in semi-professional categories
The club was re-established on September 4, 1946, the date of its registration in the Segunda Categoría Ordinaria of the Castilian Federation, and adopted a green kit with white shorts, reinforcing the nickname "pepineros." On its return to competition, it won the championship in the 47-48 season and was promoted to the Segunda Categoría Preferente. In the 48-49 season, it played with a green and white striped shirt and finished second, tied on points with Getafe Deportivo, and was promoted to the Primera Categoría. In the second group of the 49-50 season, it finished third, played in the promotion phase and finished first. It was promoted to the Preferente in the 1950-51 season and to the Third Division at the end of the 1953-54 season, with Gumersindo Repullo Écija as president, after finishing first in the Primera Categoría. In the promotion phase, they lost the first match against Callosa Deportiva and won the second and final match against UD Poblense, coming back from 3-0 down in the first leg to win 6-0.
The debut in the new category coincided with a change of president, Manuel Gómez Casado (who was also the mayor of the city), and a change of kit, with the team adopting a blue and white shirt with vertical stripes, the colors of the city. The performances in the new category were not overly successful: after a fifth place in the debut, the objective was always to stay up, and at the end of the 1959-60 season the team was relegated, finishing sixteenth and bottom of the league. On the other hand, in 1959 the Agrupación Deportiva Legamar was founded, federated in the Tercera Categoría and future Blue and White affiliate.
During the 1960s, the team alternated between the Bronze Division (63-65 and 67-68 seasons) and the Regional Division, never remaining in the Third Division for more than two consecutive seasons. Leganés' demographic growth at the time led to the construction of new facilities, such as the Luis Rodríguez de Miguel Municipal Stadium, which opened in 1966 and hosted local matches for more than three decades. In the 1968-69 season, the club was coached by Uruguayan Wilder Barcos, the club's first foreign coach.
Relegated to the Regional First Division again in 1969-70, they finished seventh, tenth and ninth in the following three seasons before making the leap to the newly created Preferente in 1973-74, with Rafael Mirat Maroto as president. The move was short-lived, as they were relegated to the Primera Categoría after finishing eighth, but in the 1974-75 season they finished champions and returned to the Preferente. On their return to that category, they finished in sixth place, and in the 1976-77 season they finished first, achieving promotion to the Third Division thanks to the expansion of groups and teams in the category with the creation of the Second Division B.
Jesús Polo: the longest term
A return to the category would be difficult, but they managed to stay up, finishing sixteenth in the 1977-78 season. The following year they finished third, while in November 1978 Jesús Polo González, a La Mancha businessman who lived in the city and remained in office until 2005, took over as president, replacing Manuel Pimentel Gómez-Sánchez. The decade ended with an eleventh place finish in the 1979-80 season, with Joseíto on the bench.
By the eighties, Leganés was already a densely populated city with a considerable industrial base, which meant increased investment in football and the club's budget. In this decade, the goal was not only to stay in the league, but to fight for the top positions in the table, in order to try to make the leap to a higher division. The star player of those years and the club's first legend was Benjamín Moreno, recognizable by his characteristic moustache and dribbling technique, who spent five seasons at Leganés (1980-85), making 165 appearances and scoring 52 goals. The 1980-81 (with Antonio Briones as coach) and 81-82 seasons ended with a respectable sixth-place finish, while in 82-83 they narrowly avoided relegation by finishing sixteenth, with three coaches during the season: Segura, Paco de Gracia and József Tóth. In the Copa del Rey, in the 83-84 season, the tie against Real Madrid Castilla of La Quinta del Buitre was played in Leganés' first visit to the Santiago Bernabéu, with a 3-1 defeat (overall score 4-1), with a goal scored by Moreno. In the 83-84 season they regained their place among the top teams, finishing seventh, and in 84-85 they finished third, close to the promotion spots. In the 1985-86 season, they finally qualified for promotion to the new Second Division B for the first time; after finishing as champions of the Madrid Third Division group, they were eliminated by CD Lugo in the promotion playoffs after a 1-1 draw at Leganés and a 3-2 loss in Galicia. In the 1986-87 season, the Royal Spanish Football Federation decided to expand the Second Division B from one to four groups, with the Castilian federation being awarded seven places due to its footballing potential. That season, the pepinero team, coached by José Díaz Pablo, finished in third place, which earned them a promotion spot on merit.
Their debut in the Bronze Division, which continued with José Díaz Pablo as coach, ended with a surprising seventh place finish. The following season, they finished in eighth place. From the 1989-90 season, Luis Ángel Duque took over as coach, coming from the youth ranks, and they achieved third place. The following season they finished fifth, just two points away from promotion, and in the 1991-92 season they dropped to eighth. On June 4, 1991, the Agrupación Deportiva Legamar became the B team of Leganés under the name Club Deportivo Leganés "B".
Finally, in the 1992-93 season, Leganés pulled off an upset and were promoted to the Second Division for the first time in their history, with a style of play that emphasized physical preparation and tactical discipline. After finishing first in the regular season, they played in a group with Elche CF, Xerez CD and CF Palencia for promotion, and did not lose a single game. The match that sealed their promotion, against Elche, was played at the Luis Rodríguez de Miguel stadium on June 27, 1993, and ended with a 3-0 home win. The average age of the squad at the time was 22, and most of the players did not have professional contracts, so they combined sport with work or studies. The starting eleven consisted of Javier Aguilera in goal; Pizarro, Juanma, Mesas and Dorado in defense; David, May, Fernando and Chuso in midfield; and Peces and Antonio up front. There were also homegrown players such as goalkeeper Mario Soria and midfielder Ángel Manuel Vivar Dorado.
First season in the Second Division
For the 1993-94 season, both Luis Ángel Duque and the promotion squad were retained in order to ensure the club's permanence in the division. The team struggled, especially in the first half of the season, but eventually managed to consolidate their position and avoid relegation on the final day of the season. A year later, with the lowest budget in the division, they finished penultimate in the 1994-95 season and were destined to be relegated to Segunda B. This did not happen, however, thanks to two events: the restructuring of the top flight in the 22-team league (the pardons for Sevilla FC and Celta de Vigo, who had previously been administratively relegated for failing to provide the required guarantees), which reduced the number of relegations; and the economic problems of Palamós CF, which, after finishing seventeenth ahead of C.D. Leganés, would have enjoyed administrative permanence, but was finally administratively relegated to the Third Division.
On September 21, 1995, the club was transformed into a sports corporation and changed its name to Club Deportivo Leganés, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva. Jesús Polo remained president as he owned the majority of the shares.
The 1995-96 season brought changes. Young players such as defenders Mesas and Óscar Fernández, midfielder Alfredo and strikers Miguel Ángel and Rodri were joined by new signings David Belenguer, Javi López and Miguel Melgar. Under the guidance of Luis Sánchez Duque, who was signed from Getafe, they had a good season, with the blue-and-white club even challenging for promotion. However, a poor run in the final stages of the season saw them finish eighth, the best finish in the club's history. The 1996-97 season saw a repeat performance, with striker Moisés García leading the way with 13 goals in 16 games before being sold to Celta de Vigo in the winter transfer window.
Luis Sánchez Duque left Leganés in 1997-98 and was replaced by Pedro Braojos, who made changes to the squad. Although the homegrown players were kept, new players were brought in who would later make the step up to the first division: Catanha, Crescencio Cuéllar, Jesús Unanua, Llorens, Andrei Mokh and a young Samuel Eto'o on loan from Real Madrid. On the other hand, on February 14, 1998, the new municipal stadium of Butarque was inaugurated. With ups and downs, the club finished thirteenth. The following year, Braojos was replaced by Luis Sánchez Duque, but they finished in a worse position: seventeenth, saved on the last day of the season.