Located between the Rio Eresma and Rio Clamores, Segovia is a captivating city known for its rich history and scenic beauty. Whether it is its Roman Aqueduct, the glorious Alcázar or the medieval city centre, Segovia’s cultural heritage and elegance make it one of Spain’s most beguiling destinations. It may not feature on the list of must-see footballing experiences, but whisper it quietly: a weekend break in the city with a match at La Albuera thrown in is an absolute delight.
Gimnástica Segoviana Club de Fútbol was founded in 1928 as Sociedad Deportiva Gimnástica Segoviana and has used several grounds before settling at La Albuera. Originally, the club played at the Campo de La Dehesa, but due to the pitch not meeting the minimum regulated dimensions, they moved in June 1932 to the Campo de Chamberí. On 23 September 1934, Gimnástica first played its now familiar ‘azulgrana’ shirts in a match against Spanish Amatuer champions, Imperio FC. During the Civil War, Chamberí served as a park for military vehicles and wasn’t cleared for sports purposes until March 1940. Then, in 1942, the Frente de Juventudes (Nationalist Youth Front) took control of the Campo de Chamberí, leaving Gimnástica homeless and, as a result, unable to join the RFEF relaunch of the Tercera. The Campo de Chamberí continued to host football well into the 1970s and was located a couple of hundred metres west of Gimástica’s current home, La Albuera.
Gimnástica was left to play friendlies at several borrowed grounds, some in the neighbouring province of Valladolid. Finally, on 23 April 1944, the club played its first match at Campo de Peñascal, a basic municipal enclosure to the northeast of Segovia. The ground featured a 30-metre cover over the northern terrace and changing facilities in the northeast corner. Peñascal had a particularly troublesome dirt pitch, renowned for its poor drainage and inability to see the pitch markings in wet weather. In December 1972, an attempt was made to address the problem when lime was added to the chalk markings. Unfortunately, it rained during the first two matches played on this chemical concoction, and 56 players and officials ended up in the hospital with burns. The ground remained closed for a month until the local municipality was satisfied that the surface was safe.
There were no troubles with the surface when the club moved around half a kilometre to the southeast of the Campo de Peñascal in 1977. Their new home was on the eastern fringe of Segovia at La Albuera, although Gimnástica continued to play some matches back at the Campo de Peñascal during the 1977-78 season. To begin with, the Estadio de La Albuera also had a dirt pitch, which was replaced with a grass surface in 1982, just in time for the Austrian National Team to use it for training during the 1982 World Cup. Forty-five years on, there has been relatively little change to the enclosure. The 60-metre-long main grandstand is situated on the northwestern side and has 674 seats under a cantilevered roof. The stand is flanked by two short, uncovered terraces. Five steps of terracing did feature behind both goals, but these were demolished in 2010 and were replaced with hard standing. Terracing also featured on the east side of the ground until 2010, when the only significant change to the stadium’s layout took place.
During the summer of 2010, a full-length stand was constructed in place of the terrace on the southeast side of the enclosure. This raised cantilevered stand has seven rows of mainly green & white seats. The white seats once spelt out “Segovia 2016” to promote the city’s (unsuccessful) candidature for the 2016 European City of Culture. La Albuera’s makeover was completed with the addition of a boundary fence, which is striped in various shades of green and matches the cladding of the new stand. All of this has changed La Albuera from a rather plain and unremarkable stadium to one that is still simple but now vibrant.
Gimnástica has spent all but a few seasons in either the regional leagues or the Tercera. It’s not for the want of trying, as Gimnástica’s record in the Tercera is very good, having qualified for the playoffs on 18 occasions. The club’s three separate visits to the third tier have all lasted a solitary season. Their first venture into Segunda B was in season 1999-00. Seven wins and a total of 35 points saw the club finish 19th and drop back to the Tercera. Eleven years later, Gimnástica was back in the third tier, and despite a lower points tally of 30, they finished 18th but well adrift from safety. The 2017-18 season saw Gimnástica gain a new high of 39 points, but alas, relegation was not avoided, and it was back to the Tercera. Thankfully, when Gimnástica claimed the Segunda Federación Groupo V title at the end of the 2023-24 season, no playoffs were needed to ascend to the Primera Federación.
Like many small stadiums in Spain, La Albuera is owned by the municipality, and it comes as no surprise that with budgets tight, very little had been spent on the stadium over the past few decades. Gimnástica’s promotion to the Primera Federación, coupled with the council’s desire to attain European Sports City status in 2025, finally led to some cash being splashed on La Albuera. A sum of €663,890 was allocated in August 2024 which in turn saw the installation of new floodlighting, which now meets the required standard to broadcast night matches. Prefabricated seating was added to the area behind the north goal, taking the overall capacity to 3,000, and finally, a new video screen was added to the southern end. Whether Gimnástica manage to extend their stay in the third tier to a second season remains to be seen, but whatever level they play at, treat yourself to a trip to Segovia and take in a match at La Albuera. Just don’t tell everybody about it!
Estadios de España 