Article updated: 19/04/2026
It was a long time coming, 89 years to be precise, but in September 2014, Sociedad Deportiva Leioa won promotion to the third tier of Spanish football. They were the latest in what seemed to be a never-ending line of small Basque clubs to reach Segunda B. Founded in 1925, SD Leioa didn’t even reach the Tercera until 2008. However, the club made steady progress over the next six seasons, culminating in a first Tercera title in May 2014. Promotion to Spain’s third tier was secured thanks to a crushing 7-1 aggregate play-off victory over the Riojans, CD Varea.
SD Leioa joined the Federación Vizcaína de Fútbol in 1925, sharing the Campo de Ibaiondo with Arenas de Getxo. The club won the second division crown in 1935, but fell into decline after the Civil War and was disbanded in the early 1950s. Left to concentrate on youth football and the wide variety of other sports practised at the club, it would take another 20 years before it would field a senior team. When senior football did return, the club played at a variety of locations including the Campo de San Ignacio and a dirt pitch at the Universidad del País Vasco. Finally, in 1979, the club moved to the Campo de Sarriena, a municipal sports development just to the north of Leoia. The main arena featured a sand & lime surface until 1988, when the first grass pitch was laid down, and Athletic Club’s reserves played SD Leioa in a pre-season friendly.
Sarriena has four football pitches, with SD Leioa playing its home matches on the only one with natural turf. A simple, 40-metre-long cover that dates from the early 1990’s stands on the west side of the ground. Its narrow, cantilevered roof hangs over a couple of rows of red and white bucket seats. Far more interesting is the east side, which features the former pavilion, which sits atop a grass bank, halfway between the centre circle and the southern end of the enclosure. This has been superseded by an altogether more impressive structure on the halfway line. In 2010, the club & municipality built a two-tiered clubhouse that includes changing facilities and club rooms. It also features a viewing gallery on its upper floor, underneath which stands a narrow terrace. Floodlights were also added as part of the 2010 improvements. The official capacity of the Campo de Sarriena is 2,000, but as attendances rarely exceed a few hundred, the setting and the stadium have a distinctly lower league feel.
Despite its semi-rural setting, Sarriena became a bit of a fortress, with SD Leoia proving very difficult to beat at home, which was central to their 7-year run in Segunda B. The club recorded a best finish of fifth in the 2016–17 season, missing out on the end-of-season playoffs by a single point, following a last-minute defeat to local rivals Arenas Getxo. Most campaigns saw a mid-table finish, and they were somewhat unfortunate to lose their third-tier status following the disrupted 2020-21season, which led to the reorganisation of the Spanish football pyramid. Since the 2021-22 season, SD Leioa has played in the Tercera Federación, reaching the promotion playoffs in 2022-23 & 2024-25, but failing to progress.
Estadios de España 