Appointment with history: Granada, a stage with an air of debut (1986)

The promotion from Third Division to Second Division B in 1986, achieved in Badajoz, marked the end of a long era and the beginning of another deeply exciting one. After Eibar's relegation from the Second Division in 1958, the blue and red club experienced numerous failed promotion attempts and even competed for three seasons in the Regional Preferente, between 1976 and 1979. Those twenty-eight years until the return to Second Division B in 1986 were a true journey through the desert.

The team led by Alfonso Barasoain prepared to face the 1986-87 season in a demanding category, with opponents of great stature: reserve teams of major clubs such as Sanse, Atlético Madrileño, Deportivo Aragón, or Mallorca Atlético, and teams from provincial capitals like Albacete, Tenerife, Orense, Ceuta, Burgos, Almería, or Granada.

And it was precisely at the Los Cármenes stadium in Granada where Eibar played its first match in Second Division B, on August 31, 1986. The coach from Gernika fielded Garmendia, Iñaki Martínez, Roberto, Altuna (Txutxi Hidalgo), Chemari, Luluaga, Azkargorta, Iñaki, Miguel Fuentes, Josemi Egaña (Josu Ugarte), and “Pajarito” Gómez de Segura. All of them, players and coach, were debuting in the category, as they were the core team that had achieved promotion months earlier in Badajoz, always supported by the constant encouragement of the fans.

In sports, the Andalusians were superior and scored a goal in each half through Manolo, a Catalan forward trained in the FC Barcelona academy who that season scored no less than thirty goals. For their part, Eibar adapted wonderfully to the new category and finished seventh in the standings. It was a true statement of intent, as the following season they would be crowned group champions and achieve promotion to the Second Division A.

Jesús Gutiérrez (The Eibar Archive)

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