History
SINCE 1942
Futbol Club Andorra was founded on 15 October 1942 and became the leading sports club of the Principality. In fact, it was so pioneering that, when it was created, the Andorran Football Federation did not yet exist - in fact, it was not created until 1994.
For this reason, the founders of the tricolour institution decided to request permission both from FIFA and from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to be able to play in Spain, by joining the Catalan Football Federation (FCF). This is still the case today, making it the only football club in the Principality that plays in foreign competitions.
From the outset, it was also clear that the colours of the club had to be the blue, yellow and red of the Andorran flag. Always, during the more than 70 years of history, the team's first strip has proudly displayed this flag.
During its first years, until 1964 to be exact, FC Andorra did not compete in any federated competition. In the 1964/65 season, the tricolour team debuted in Group IV of the second Catalan regional division and from then until 1977, the team always competed in regional divisions until the historic promotion to the 3a divisió, in which it debuted in the 1977/78 season with a meritorious fourth place. It was a sign that the tricolour team was ambitious and it proved it in the 1979/80 season, when it was champion and achieved promotion to 2a divisió B, opening a glorious era for the club.
THE GOLDEN YEARS
From 1980/81 to 1997/98, with a one-year hiatus in the 3a divisió (1986/87), the tricolour club competed in 17 seasons in the competitive bronze division of Spanish football. Those were the golden years in the Principality, with the arrival of many legendary footballers who ended up settling in the country and helping the national sport to grow.
During these 17 almost consecutive seasons in 2a divisió B, Andorra never managed to make the leap to professional Spanish football, although it was close for a few years. The season that it came closest was 88/89 when, with José María Sánchez Iglesias on the bench, the team finished second in their group, only behind Palamós, very close to promotion to 2a divisió A.
Also during that time, the images of the final of the 1994 Copa Catalunya, in which Andorra were proclaimed champions by beating Espanyol in the penalty shoot-out, still remain vivid in the memories of many fans. Previously, in the semi-final, they had overcome the almighty Barça of the Dream Team.
AN ABRUPT DESCENT
At the end of the 1990s, the results began to fail and, in just two seasons, they fell by two divisions in a row - relegation to 3a divisió in the 1997/98 season and to the 1a catalana in 98/99. And, in fact, it could have been even worse because the following year the relegation to preferente was only avoided thanks to the compensation for the promotion of Catalan teams to 2a divisió B. Redemption would come the following year when, thanks to a victory at La Pobla de Mafumet (2-3), the tricolour team secured the third final position in 1a catalana and achieved a return to the 3a divisió.
It was, however, a joy of a single season. In the next, the tricolour team came last and was relegated again. From that moment, the club experienced moments of great difficulty that even came close to making it disappear in 2008. Having overcome that run of bad fortune, in the second decade of the 21st century, the team managed to establish itself in 1a catalana, with chances for several seasons to achieve promotion, such as 2016-17, with the late Emili Vicente on the bench.
REBIRTH
In December 2018, the shareholders' meeting agreed to transform the club into a Societat Anònima amb Objecte Esportiu (Limited Public Company with a Sport Purpose - SAOE), a procedure permitted by the Sports Act. The aim was to allow the entry of private investors, led by the Kosmos group, owned by footballer Gerard Piqué, and the Clayton company, with Andorran capital. And the new project was an immediate success: thanks to the arrival of new reinforcements led by coach Gabri Garcia, the tricolours staged an epic comeback in half a year and in June 2019 promotion to 3a divisió was achieved.
Later that same summer, they took advantage of the option to fill the vacancy left by the official relegation of Reus, returning to 2a B and accelerating a rise that would be meteoric in the following years. After a promising return to the bronze category in a season interrupted by Covid, in the second year the tricolour club achieved a new promotion, in this case in the recently created 1a RFEF.
In addition, in that month of May 2021, FC Andorra contested promotion to the LaLiga 2: the tricolours succumbed in the semi-final against Real Sociedad B in a dramatic match that was decided in extra time, but despite the defeat, that game would be the seed of the following season's success, that of the historic promotion to LaLiga in a team led by Eder Sarabia that was proclaimed champion of group II of 1a RFEF.
