OUR HISTORY SINCE 1928
Founded on June 23, 1928, by Félix Pérez de la Serna as a continuation of the initial C.D. Once Leones project, it spent its early years in regional leagues playing at Campo de Tiro and Plaza Roma. Its period of growth began in the 1980s, rising to Second Division ‘B’ in 1987 and Second Division in 1993, with Jesús Polo as president and Luis Ángel Duque as coach. However, the historic milestone came in 2016 with promotion to the First Division for the first time in its history. Players such as Etoo, Catanha, Miguel Ángel, Víctor, Benjamín Moreno, and Mantovani have brought prestige to the laurel crest.
The club was officially founded on June 23, 1928, by Félix Pérez de la Serna, continuing the initial project of C.D. Once Leones. Its first president was Ramón del Yerro Ordóñez, and its first kit consisted of blue and garnet colors with white shorts. The team’s first matches were played at the Campo de Tiro, although in the 1930s the club moved to a new field located where Plaza de Roma stands today.
In the mid-1940s, Leganés changed its colors to green and white, thus reinforcing the nickname “pepineros,” which is attributed to all those born or residing in the city. This nickname originated from the municipality’s excellent cucumber crops, which were even supplied to the royal household. The club registered with the Castilian Football Federation and began climbing through the divisions, reaching the Third Division in 1954. That very year, it permanently changed its uniform, adopting the blue-and-white colors representative of the town.
The 1960s were marked by continuous promotions and relegations, though another significant event was the inauguration in 1966 of the Luis Rodríguez de Miguel Municipal Stadium, which would be the team’s home for the next thirty-two years. In the 1970s, the same pattern continued, with Leganés alternating between the Third Division and Regional Preferente.
The 1980s would bring Leganés’ definitive takeoff. The club began aiming for greater heights, and in 1986 it was crowned Third Division champion, though promotion slipped away after losing in the playoffs. The following season, however, they achieved promotion, making their Segunda División B debut in 1987 under president Jesús Polo and coach Díaz Pablos. On the field, players such as Moreno and Aguilera became fan favorites.
And in 1993, Leganés made history by earning promotion to the Segunda División. Under Luis Ángel Duque, the team finished the league in first place and faced Xerez, Palencia, and Elche in the promotion playoffs. Against the latter, on June 27, 1993, Leganés secured promotion at home with a 3–0 victory. Players such as Antonio, Vivar Dorado, May, Peces, Dorado, and Miguel Ángel sent the city into a frenzy.
In the second tier, Leganés would remain for eleven consecutive seasons, achieving eighth place as their best finish in the 1995/96 and 1996/97 leagues. Players like Eto’o, Catanha, Moisés, Makukula, Puñal, Merino, and Emery became key figures during Lega’s years in Segunda. These years also saw the club relocate once again, moving in February 1998 to the new Municipal Butarque Stadium, with a capacity of 8,158 spectators.
The adventure in Segunda A came to an end in 2004, with relegation to Segunda B after a home defeat against Córdoba on the final matchday. It was an unusual season in which Argentine businessman Daniel Grimbank acquired the club, restructuring it and assembling a squad of top-level compatriot players, only to abandon it unexpectedly in the second half of the season. Jesús Polo kept the club afloat, and the following season Rubén Fernández assumed the presidency, with several local companies joining the club’s ownership.
From the 2004/05 season onward, Leganés competed in Segunda División B, dreaming of one day returning to Spanish football’s second tier. That dream nearly became a nightmare in the 2008/09 season, when the club went through one of the most delicate periods in its history, facing severe financial problems that could have led to a tragic outcome. Fortunately, Felipe Moreno and Victoria Pavón took on the club’s debt, settling all accounts and later acquiring nearly all of its shares.
Since then, Club Deportivo Leganés has undergone a process of institutional, social, and sporting modernization, overcoming the enormous financial difficulties of the time. On the footballing front, Leganés managed to compete in two promotion playoffs to Segunda División A during these years—first in 2009 (first round against Jaén) and again in 2011 (first round against Badalona).
In the 2011/12 season, the team avoided relegation on the final matchday, with Víctor Fernández stepping in as coach after hanging up his boots with five games to go, taking on the challenge of securing survival.
After a season of hardship, Leganés smiled again, as reflected in their slogan for the 20th anniversary of their first and only promotion to Segunda División A. Under coach Pablo Alfaro, the pepinero side finished second and qualified for the 2013/14 promotion playoffs, with Dioni becoming one of the four highest-scoring forwards in the club’s history with 21 goals.
However, the team was unable to complete their tremendous effort, and heartbreak struck on June 2, 2013, at Butarque Stadium before 8,000 pepineros. The visitors, Lleida, capitalized on their first-leg advantage (2–1) with a goal in the 103rd minute that canceled out Pírez’s strike (1–1), shattering Leganés’ hopes. Although Leganés did not win that match, they won something far greater that day: an impressive, devoted fanbase, fully committed to their hometown team.
As a result, Leganés began the 2013/14 season with even greater determination, under the guidance of coach Asier Garitano. The consistency of a smart and hardworking team propelled Leganés to the top positions, qualifying once again for the promotion playoffs in second place.
This time, football repaid the team’s efforts with joy, as they overcame C.D. Guijuelo, Lleida Esportiu, and finally L’Hospitalet, securing promotion on June 22, 2014, at the Feixa Llarga stadium thanks to a spectacular bicycle kick by “El Guaje” Carlos Álvarez. Eleven buses of fans traveled to the match, while thousands more followed the return leg on a giant screen in Plaza Mayor. The celebration was unforgettable, and the city of Leganés erupted in joy.
It was yet another example that with humility and ambition, dreams can indeed come true.
On June 4, 2016, Leganés achieved what seemed impossible to many: the club’s first-ever promotion to Primera División. It happened on the final matchday of the league, in Miranda de Ebro, thanks to a goal from central defender Pablo Insua following a corner kick. It was the culmination of a season in which the team steadily improved, taking the lead at the start of the second half of the season after a spectacular match at Butarque against Alavés, another team that would also achieve promotion. Under the guidance of Asier Garitano and an exceptional group of players, Leganés made the dream of an entire city and generations of pepineros come true: Lega is in Primera.
The 2016/17 season was Leganés’ first-ever campaign in the first división. The debut could not have been better: Leganés won their first match in the top flight at Balaídos, defeating Celta 0–1. Víctor Díaz made history as the club’s first-ever scorer in Primera División. The team secured its survival on the penultimate matchday at San Mamés, and in their second season in the top tier, they not only avoided relegation more comfortably but also achieved a historic feat by reaching the Copa del Rey semifinals against Sevilla, after eliminating Real Madrid in the quarterfinals with a memorable victory at the Santiago Bernabéu. Meanwhile, the stadium was expanded to 12,454 seats, and the club surpassed 10,000 season ticket holders.
In 2018, Asier Garitano ended his tenure as coach, and Mauricio Pellegrino took over. Under the Argentine coach, Leganés achieved its best-ever league finish (13th) and set a points record in the top division (45) in the 2018/19 season. Continuing the project into 2019/20, a poor start to the season led to the arrival of Javier Aguirre as head coach, who fought to keep Leganés in Primera, supported by more than 10,300 season ticket holders and the whole city behind him. The campaign ended heartbreakingly, with the team falling just one goal short of survival on the final matchday in a season marked by a string of adverse circumstances.
In July 2020, C.D. Leganés began a new chapter, aiming to return to Primera División with José Luis Martí as head coach. After four seasons in the top flight, the pepineros returned to LaLiga SmartBank with a renewed squad, and at the end of January 2021, the coach responsible for the club’s greatest achievements, Asier Garitano, took charge once again. Leganés finished third in the regular league but fell in the promotion playoff semifinals against Rayo Vallecano.
The year 2022 marked a new cycle with the arrival of Jeff Luhnow as the club’s president, replacing Victoria Pavón. After three more seasons in the second tier, the 2023/24 campaign became historic, as Leganés won the LaLiga Hypermotion title for the first time in the club’s history. Led from the bench by Borja Jiménez, the blanquiazules returned to Primera División, although the following season’s effort was not enough to maintain their top-flight status.
Beyond the sporting achievements, with a club firmly established among the elite and continuing its evolution, Leganés reached its record number of members in 2025, with a renovated and expanded Estadio Ontime Butarque.
