Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in , holding home games at Estadio Reino de León, with a capacity of 13,346 seats.
Ahead of the 2014–15 season, the club released a kit designed to look like a tuxedo. The kit, which attracted huge attention in the media and social networking sites, was worn in a pre-season charity match in support of local charities for mining families.
History
Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa was founded on 5 August 1923.
In 1926, Cultural Leonesa won the Regional championship and in 1929 Cultural played the Segunda División Grupo B and promoted to the second division.
In 1931, the club ceased activity and several teams were created in the city with the aim to replace them, but after the Spanish Civil War, Cultural Leonesa came back to the competition.
In 1955, Cultural was promoted for the first time to La Liga, but they could only play one season in the Spanish top tier.
In 2011, the club was relegated to Tercera División due to unpaid debts to the players and took two years to recover the place in the third tier. In 2015, the Qatari Aspire Academy bought a controlling 99% of the shares of the club, thus avoiding its dissolution.
On 28 May 2017, Cultural was promoted to Segunda División after 42 years by defeating Barcelona B in the promotion play-offs. On 3 January 2018, Leeds United announced an official partnership with Cultural Leonesa's owners Aspire Academy in Qatar. The link up saw Leeds players Yosuke Ideguchi and Ouasim Bouy both join Cultural Leonesa on loan as part of the unique partnership.
On 2 June 2018, Cultural was relegated to the third level, after being defeated by Numancia on the last matchday. In the 2018–19 season the club played in Segunda División B, Group 1 and fought to be promoted back to the second tier. But it finished only in the 5th position. The club had a good start on the 2019–20 season, being in the 2nd position after first 16 games. In the 2019–2020 season, they upset Atletico de Madrid in the Copa del Rey Round of 32.
On 2 December 2020, Cultural hired Iñigo Idiakez as Head Coach who came from Luton Town in EFL Championship and previously Leicester City and Derby County.
On 24 May 2025, Cultural achieved promoted to Segunda División following draw 1–1 against Andorra and thanks to a superior head-to-head record against runners-up Ponferradina, returned after 7 years absence.
Honours Castilla-León Championship: Winners (4): 1925–26, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30
Teide Trophy: Winners (1): 2019
Club structure
PositionNamePresidentMohd Khalifa Al Suwadi Vice-PresidentManaging Director Felipe Llamazares DíezSports managementRicardo Pozo ÁlvarezDirector DelegateIgnacio Álvarez MartínezAdvisory BoardAntonio Martín EspinaJosé LasaJassim Mohammed AA Al-AnsariFundation culturalistaManuel CarneroDiego CalzadoTechnical secretarySanti Santos Juan Carlos Valiño (adjunto) César Villafañe (adjunto)Social areaJuan Luis Diez Mata
Season to season SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey192933ª1stRound of 321929–3022ª10thRound of 321930–3133ª6thRound of 321931–3233ª5thDNP1939–4031ª Reg.2nd1940–4141ª Reg.2nd1941–4231st1942–4322ª3rd1943–4422ª9thRound of 321944–4522ª13thFirst round1945–4633ª3rd1946–4733ª2nd1947–4833ª8thFifth round1948–4933ª7thSecond round1949–5033ª5th1950–5133ª5th1951–5233ª3rd1952–5333ª2nd1953–5422ª4thSeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1954–5522ª1stRound of 161955–5611ª15thRound of 161956–5722ª6th1957–5822ª16th1958–5922ª16th1959–6033ª1stRound of 161960–6122ª12thFirst round1961–6222ª16thFirst round1962–6333ª4th1963–6433ª3rd1964–6533ª7th1965–6633ª2nd1966–6733ª3rd1967–6833ª1st1968–6933ª4th1969–7033ª2ndSecond round1970–7133ª1stFourth round1971–7222ª5thFifth round1972–7322ª19thFourth round1973–7433ª1stThird round SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1974–7522ª20thFifth round1975–7633ª6thSecond round1976–7733ª2ndFirst round1977–7832ª B6thSecond round1978–7932ª B5thSecond round1979–8032ª B4thSecond round1980–8132ª B4thFirst round1981–8232ª B19thSecond round1982–8332ª B19th1983–8443ª2nd1984–8543ª2ndFirst round1985–8643ª1stFirst round1986–8743ª2ndThird round1987–8832ª B14thFirst round1988–8932ª B8thFirst round1989–9032ª B7th1990–9132ª B9thSecond round1991–9232ª B6thSecond round1992–9332ª B10thSecond round1993–9432ª B17thThird roundSeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1994–9543ª1stThird round1995–9632ª B4thSecond round1996–9732ª B8thFirst round1997–9832ª B4th1998–9932ª B1stFirst round1999–200032ª B9thPreliminary2000–0132ª B2nd2001–0232ª B2ndRound of 322002–0332ª B5thRound of 322003–0432ª B4thRound of 322004–0532ª B10thRound of 322005–0632ª B14th2006–0732ª B11th2007–0832ª B11th2008–0932ª B2nd2009–1032ª B12thRound of 322010–1132ª B14th2011–1243ª3rd2012–1343ª2nd2013–1432ª B14th SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey2014–1532ª B7th2015–1632ª B7thSecond round2016–1732ª B1stRound of 322017–1822ª19thThird round2018–1932ª B5thRound of 322019–2032ª B2ndRound of 162020–2132ª B / Second round2021–2231ª RFEF12thSecond round2022–2331ª Fed.10th2023–2431ª Fed.6th2024–2531ª Fed.1stSecond round2025–2622ª21stRound of 162026–2731ª Fed.TBD
1 season in La Liga 16 seasons in Segunda División 5 seasons in Primera Federación/Primera División RFEF 36 seasons in Segunda División B 31 seasons in Tercera División/ Segunda División Grupo B (24 on 3rd tier)
Players Current squad
Reserve team
Coaching staff
PositionNameHead coachCuco ZigandaAssistant coachJorge PérezAssistant coachJulián MarínDoctorAlfredo ÁlvarezDoctorMarcos GonzálezDoctorSalustiano López-ContrerasFitness coachRoberto LorenzoPhysiotherapist, Head of medical servicesJavier MadinabeitiaPhysiotherapistJuan MayoPhysiotherapistJorge MartínezDelegate, Team managerLuis BallesterosGoalkeeper coachJavier PérezRehab fitness coachAlejandro SierraEquipment managerCarlos Gómez CarballoEquipment managerManuel Martínez SelaAnalystPedro GómezTeam delegateEdu Álvarez
Notable former players Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status. César Chema Iván Casquero Sergio Fernández Santi Santos Yosuke Ideguchi Almoez Ali
Famous coaches Miguel Ángel Rubio
Stadium
Reserve team Júpiter Leonés is the reserve team of the club.
Founded in 1929, later known as Cultural de León and finally changed to its current name Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa "B" Jupiter Leonés. After the 2009–10, the team was dissolved after Cultural was relegated to Tercera División due to its debts. In 2014, it was re-founded as the reserve team and after three promotions it currently plays in Tercera División, the fourth tier, after gaining promotion in the Primera División Regional de Aficionados 2017–18 season.
References
External links
Official website
Unofficial website Club & Stadium History at Estadios de España