A year later, the club moved into Campo de Jolaseta in the adjacent district of Neguri, playing friendly games, including a series against FC Barcelona. Arenas joined the Campeonato Norte.
Arenas won
the championship in 1916-17 and qualified for the Copa Del Rey, reaching the
final before being defeated by Madrid FC at the Camp de la Indústria in
Barcelona. Arenas won Campeonato de Vizcaya in 1919 and once again reached the
final of the Copa Del Rey, where they lifted the trophy after a 5-2 extra-time
victory over FC Barcelona.
The match
was played at Martínez Campos in Madrid as Félix Sesúmaga netted a hat trick, with the other goals coming from José María Peña and Ibaibarriaga. Two years
later, Spain played their first ever international, fielding Sesúmaga and Francisco
Pagazaurtundúa of Arenas in the team.
The club
went on to reach two more Copa Del Rey finals. In 1925, they were defeated 2-0
by FC Barcelona, moving to their new home, Campo de Gobela. In 1927, they went
down by the game's only goal to Real Unión in Zaragoza.
Arenas
became a founder member of La Liga in 1928-29, finishing in third place the
following season. In 1934-35, the club finished bottom of the table and were
relegated to Group II of the Segunda División.
Arenas
remained at that level until 1943-44, when they were demoted a further step to
Group III of the Tercera División. The club won the division in 1945-46 and
1946-47 but failed to be promoted through the playoffs.
A further Group
III Tercera División title arrived in Getxo in the 1959–60 season. Arenas
continued in the third tier until the completion of the 1969-70 season, when the
club were relegated to the regional fourth tier División de Honor de Vizcaya.
Arenas
employed a young Javier Clemente as manager in the 1975-76 season, taking the
team to promotion back to the Tercera División. Following a re-organisation of
the Spanish league system in 1977-78, the Tercera División became the fourth
tier.
A second
place in Group II in the 1978-79 campaign saw Arenas win promotion to the third
level Segunda División B. However, the team went straight back down after just
one season.
Arenas
returned to the fourth-tier Tercera División until the end of the 1981-82
season. A final-place finish demoted the team to the fifth-level División de
Honor de Vizcaya before returning just one season later after lifting the
league title.
Fourth-level
football was played at Campo de Gobela until 1994-95, when a bad season saw a
further demotion to the regional División de Honor de Vizcaya. Two seasons later, Arena fought back to the fourth tier.
Apart from a
third-place finish in 1999-00, the team generally finished in mid-table until
2012-13 when Arenas weighed in with a runners-up spot. Changes came off the
field as the new Campo Municipal de Gobela was opened in 2004 on the site of
the old stadium.
After a
couple of third-place finishes, the club were promoted at the end of the 2014-15
season under manager Bolo to the third-tier Segunda División B, where they
resumed in Group II. An eighth-place finish saw the club qualify for the Copa
Del Rey.
This was
followed by a mid-table finish in the 2016-17 season, before they narrowly avoided relegation in 2018-19 under the stewardship of Javi Lauces, before he was replaced by Endika Bordas, who helped the side win their final game to stay up. Arenas then appointed Javier Olaizola to the position.
The leagues were restructured, with Arenas being placed in Group II of Segunda División RFEF, the new fourth tier of Spanish football. The team reached the promotion playoffs, losing their second round tie to La Nucía. Olaizola returned for a second spell as manager before being replaced by Manu Calleja, who lasted only a few months.
Ibai Gómez was given the job in July 2024, taking the side to the title and promotion to Primera Federación. Gómez headed off to FC Andorra to be replaced by John Erice in June 2015.
Arenas Club
de Getxo will play in Primera Federación in the 2025-26 season.
My visit
Arenas Club
0 Sestao River Club 0 (Saturday 25th February 2017) Segunda División
B Group II (att: 500 approx)
My weekend
trip to Bilbao and the Biscay region was on my second day, and I loved
everything about it. As ever, my schedule was packed. I’d already seen parts of underage games at Danok Bat and Ibarreko.
After
returning to my fine hotel for a quick siesta, I headed on the Metro to Neguri
from where I walked down to the bay front on a stunning afternoon. The beach
and marina looked fantastic as I continued around Zugatzarte Etorbidea before
heading inland along Cervantes Kalea and then Negubide Kalea past Gobela
station.
Campo
Municipal de Gobela was just a couple of hundred yards further up, though, like
several stadiums I’d visited around the region, you’d have been hard pushed to
spot it without previous knowledge, as it formed part of a community facility.
My ticket
cost €15 from a booth. No programmes were issued. The entrance took me up a few
steps to the only spectator facility. The long raised stand had steep steps,
which most sat on. A few bucket seats in the centre provided facilities for
dignitaries. A club shop was set up by the entrance.
Large walls
were behind either goal, proudly displaying banners commemorating Arenas' Copa
Del Rey victory. The far side was backed by tennis courts with the team benches
in front. The pitch was artificial.
Noticing a
door right at the end of the stand with people coming and going, I decided to
have a look, finding a nice enough bar with cheap beer and pintxos. I was
surprised to find a police presence outside, but no segregation once inside the
stand. Many of the fans were in fancy dress for the carnival weekend.
The local
derby between two sides on opposite banks of the Nervión kicked off at 5pm,
which was welcome on a warm afternoon. It offered high quality in terms of
technique. Arenas had the majority of possession in the opening stages.
Alberto
Toríl, on loan from RCD Mallorca, had a chance when through, but he couldn’t
beat Gorka Magulazenaia in the Sestao net. Defender Eneko Zabaleta also had a
couple of efforts for the home side before the visitors grew into the game.
The first half
finished blank as I headed back to the bar where I got chatting with a group of
fellas from my same flight who visited a different city in Spain that same
weekend for football, culture, food and drink.
It was good
to meet some Orient fans, including Mark whom I exchanged Twitter details. Orient Braces kept me up to date with some excellent information, and we
agreed to meet up before the Athletic Bilbao game the following day.
Dani Lopez
had a goal disallowed for Arenas soon after the restart. Chances continued to
be at a premium with Arenas continuing to have the better of the exchanges.
However, Sestao began to press as the game entered the final quarter.
Txemi
Talledo made a fantastic save for Arenas from an Armando Corbalán effort. Luisma
Villa had a final attempt to break the deadlock in favour of the home side with
a free kick. At this point, it was time for me to head away with about seven
minutes remaining.
I had an evening fixture to attend, so it was time to take the Metro to San Mamés, only to find that the bus station had changed location by a hundred yards overnight. I soon put myself right and got ready to head to Eibar!