Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1922 it plays in , holding home matches at Nuevo Estadio de La Victoria, with a capacity of 12,569 spectators. The club's biggest achievement has been playing 3 seasons in La Liga, the Spanish top tier, during the 1950s.
History
The club was founded in 1922, and was refounded in 1929 as Sociedad Olímpica Jiennense. They changed their name to Real Jaén Club de Fútbol in 1947. The team did not enroll in a national division until 1943 when it promoted to the Tercera Division. It immediately became a dominant team in the Spanish third division usually finishing in the top four.
After nine seasons in the Tercera Division, the "Lizards" were promoted to the Segunda Division in 1952. Their good form continued in the second division, as Real Jaén won the 1952–53 Segunda Division group south, and were promoted to La Liga for the first time ever. They won all of their home games that season including a 9–0 home win over fellow Andalusians Granada CF.
During Real Jaén's first ever season in the Spanish top tier (1953–54) the team finished 14th with 11 wins, 6 draws, and 13 defeats, meaning they obtained 28 points. This meant the team would be placed in the relegation group along with CA Osasuna and four teams from the Segunda Division. Jaén finished in last place with only one win and were relegated after just one season in the Spanish top flight.
Following their relegation from La Liga in 1954, key players departed from the team and Jaén finished in 7th place the following season. The next season was a lot better for Jaén. They won the group South of Segunda Division, this time in the season 1955–56. This meant that La Liga again awaited the Real Jaén.
In their second top flight season, Jaén barely avoided relegation, finishing 14th, one point above relegated Deportivo de La Coruña. Jaén stayed in the Spanish elite. Their third top flight season was less successful and the team finished last with only 20 points collected. Real Jaén was relegated after two years in La Liga. The biggest highlight of their season was probably a 1–0 home win over powerhouse FC Barcelona.
Following their second top flight relegation, Real Jaén were never able to compete for a return to the elite. Their best season was 1959–60, when the team achieved a 3rd-place finish coming up two points behind the second placed Cordoba CF, which qualified the team for the promotion playoffs. Following the 1962–63 season, the "Lizards" were relegated to the Tercera Division. This was the first time the team played there since 1952.
For the following 12 seasons, Jaén only made one return to the Segunda, in 1967, but were immediately relegated. They returned to the second tier in 1976 and remained there for three seasons until 1979 when they were relegated to the newly created Segunda Division B, the new third tier in Spanish football. Jaén stayed in the third level until 1986, when the team was relegated to the Tercera Division, this time the fourth tier. They bounced between the Segunda B and the Tercera the following years.
In 1997, the team returned to the Segunda Division for the first time since 1979. The 1997–98 season was bad however, as they finished last and went back to the Segunda B. Real Jaén returned to the Segunda in 2000. They achieved a 10th-place finish in the 2000–01 season, but finished last the following season and were relegated again. The following 11 seasons were spent in the Segunda B, until 2013, when Jaén again returned to the Segunda. The "Lizards" finished second to last, in 21st place, meaning relegation followed again.
In 2017, Jaén finished 19th in the Segunda B, and were relegated to the Tercera Division for the first time since 1991.
Here, being in the 4th level of the Spanish football, the club finished 3rd in the 2017–18 season and remained in that category. On July 5, 2019, Real Jaén presented Alberto González as a new coach for the 2019–20 season.
Season to season SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1941–4233rd1942–4334th1943–4433ª2ndFourth round1944–4533ª4th1945–4633ª2nd1946–4733ª2nd1947–4833ª8thThird round1948–4933ª10thFirst round1949–5033ª11th1950–5133ª3rd1951–5233ª1952–5322ªThird round1953–5411ª1954–5522ª7th1955–5622ªQuarterfinals1956–5711ª14thRound of 161957–5811ªQuarterfinals1958–5922ª9thFirst round1959–6022ª3rdFirst round1960–6122ª14thFirst roundSeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1961–6222ª9thFirst round1962–6322ªRound of 161963–6433ª4th1964–6533ª1st1965–6633ª5th1966–6733ª1967–6822ªFirst round1968–6933ª5th1969–7033ª8thFirst round1970–7133ª8thSecond round1971–7233ª3rdFirst round1972–7333ª9thFirst round1973–7433ª10thSecond round1974–7533ª12thThird round1975–7633ªSecond round1976–7722ª4thFirst round1977–7822ª15thSecond round1978–7922ªThird round1979–8032ª B12thFirst round1980–8132ª B7th SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1981–8232ª B15thFirst round1982–8332ª B12th1983–8432ª B3rd1984–8532ª B7thSecond round1985–8632ª BSecond round1986–8743ª5th1987–8843ªFirst round1988–8932ª B11th1989–9032ª B1990–9143ªFirst round1991–9232ª B10thSecond round1992–9332ª B4thRound of 161993–9432ª B4thFirst round1994–9532ª B4thThird round1995–9632ª B1stFirst round1996–9732ª BFirst round1997–9822ªSecond round1998–9932ª B8thFirst round1999–200032ª B2000–0122ª10thRound of 32SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey2001–0222ªRound of 322002–0332ª B12thRound of 642003–0432ª B12th2004–0532ª B9th2005–0632ª B13th2006–0732ª B6th2007–0832ª B9thSecond round2008–0932ª B2nd2009–1032ª B3rdFirst round2010–1132ª B8thSecond Round2011–1232ª B4thSecond Round2012–1332ª BRound of 322013–1422ªRound of 322014–1532ª B11thFirst Round2015–1632ª B10th2016–1732ª B2017–1843ª3rd2018–1943ª1stSecond round2019–2043ª4thSecond round2020–2143ª7th / 1st SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey2021–2253ª RFEF13th2022–2353ª Fed.2nd2023–2453ª Fed.2ndFirst round2024–2553ª Fed.First round2025–2642ª Fed.First round2026–2731ª Fed.TBD
3 seasons in La Liga 16 seasons in Segunda División 1 season in Primera Federación 31 seasons in Segunda División B 1 season in Segunda Federación 28 seasons in Tercera División 4 seasons in Tercera Federación
Honours Segunda División Winners (2): 1952–53, 1955–56 Segunda División B Winners (2): 1995–96, 2012–13 Tercera División Winners (6): 1951–52, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1975–76, 1987–88, 2018–19 Copa Federación Winners (2): 1951–52, 2008–09
Current squad
Out on loan
Famous players Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status. José Basualdo Claudio García Jorge Serna Tano Iván Zarandona Joel Johnson Carlos Torres Juan Antonio Anquela Jesús Castellanos Diego Cascón Manolo Herrero Manolo Jiménez Fran Machado Javi Moyano Iñigo Ros Antonio Rueda Francisco Sutil Adel Sellimi
Women's football Real Jaén was represented in the 2009–10 Superliga Femenina by FCF Atlético Jiennense.
References
External links
Futbolme team profile Unofficial website La futbolteca team profile