A historic club in a romantic town
Stuck between Valladolid and Madrid, we find Gimnástica Segoviana CF, an old club that has never been able to establish itself among the greats of Spanish football. Nevertheless, Gimnástica has an exciting story to tell.
The Origins
Even though the town of Segovia is the home of around 50,000 people, it would be worth a visit for every tourist in the inland of Spain. Only the Alcázar de Segovia (Segovia Castle) would be enough reason. It resembles a typical Disney castle and has indeed inspired Disney, as the fortress appears in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Moreover, Segovia is known for its aqueduct, which is considered one of the best-preserved Roman aqueducts and one of the best-preserved Roman buildings in Spain in general. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, more than enough reason for the bridge to appear on Segovia’s coat of arms and Gimnástica’s badge.
Football was introduced in Segovia at the beginning of the 20th century by soldiers, but the first well-organized club would only be founded in 1928, being called Sociedad Deportiva Gimnástica Segoviana. The club quickly acquired popularity and became the town’s representative club.
Curiously, Gimnástica Segoviana plays in a Barcelona-like kit. There’s no clear explanation for why the club plays in these colors, but one of the most accepted ones is actually related to FC Barcelona. It’s a common tradition for smaller Spanish football clubs to match the crest or kit of a big club out of a mix of admiration and aspiration to achieve the same heights one day. Besides, Barça used to visit Segovia yearly for some pre-season matches. Another theory says that a Swiss engineer living in Segovia proposed these colors because they were the colors of his canton’s flag. Whatever explanation is correct, the colors have never changed.
Gimnástica becomes a local force
La Gloriosa would debut in the Tercera División, one of the most prestigious competitions for lesser-known clubs, in 1944-45, coinciding with big names like Burgos, Salamanca, and even Real Valladolid. In the following decades, the blue-reds were more often present than absent in this competition and would not even get relegated to the lower amateur leagues anymore by the 80s. The club had succeeded in becoming a ‘classic’ in the Tercera División and in representing Segovia well.
During the last years of the century, Segoviana was very close to achieving promotion to the Segunda División B (the then-third division) and actually made the dream come true in 1999 after beating the Asturian side Marino Luanco 4-1 in La Albuera, Segovia. The victory was extra sweet, given that they missed out on promotion the season before by a goal in stoppage time during the last match. Sadly, Gimnástica would not be able to maintain the division. They achieved promotion a couple of times more in the 21st century, but would always drop down the next season. However, this changed very recently.
Gimnástica’s Glory Days
During the 2020-21 season, nationwide-read newspaper AS dubbed Gimnástica Segoviana ‘Spain’s best team’. How did this happen? As always, Sego was playing in the Tercera División, but achieved something extraordinary during this season. As the season was halfway, Gimnástica had won every single match. This had never happened before in the club’s history, and it was enough for the national news outlets to pick up the story of a club that had lived in the shadows for many decades. AS, to illustrate, was even creating hype by setting a new objective for the club: matching CD Ourense’s legendary 1968-69 season, who won 30 of the possible 30 matches.
‘We’re having a great season, and I hope that we’ll be able to achieve promotion. At Gimnástica Segoviana, special bonds are formed, very close ones. […] It’s very good what we’ve done so far, but the most important thing is winning next Sunday and the Sunday after. […] Everything related to registers, statistics, and records is for the future, but now we’re focusing on Arandina next week.’
Manuel González, Gimnástica’s coach during the 2020-21 season.
Sadly, Gimnástica Segoviana was unable to maintain their winning streak, even though they won enough matches to achieve promotion to the Segunda RFEF (the new fourth division after the big restructuring in 2021) as the first team of the country. This was the best season in the club’s history, no doubt.
This great season formed the basis for another fantastic accomplishment: Gimnástica would keep their spot for the first time in a league higher than the Tercera División. After an amazing start in the 2021-22 season, a renewed Gimnástica ended in the playouts but beat Cerdanyola del Vallès FC, and the Segovian side managed not to get relegated.
The gimnásticos (the club’s supporters) could not imagine that their team’s results could improve in 2022-23. They had already lived so many wonders and aimed to avoid relegation again. However, Gimnástica outdid itself once again. The azulgranas fought the entire season for a spot in the playoffs for promotion to the Primera Federación, and managed to conquer it after a heroic victory on the last matchday.
Sego was paired with the toughest rival possible: Recreativo de Huelva. The Andalusian side was arguably the biggest club in the entire competition and was expected to win against Segoviana easily. However, Gimnástica resisted and was only defeated after extra time. This defeat meant, at least for now, the end of the fairy tale Gimnástica was living.
A rival in the southwest
While Segoviana was achieving great feats, another Castilian team played its matches one tier below: Real Ávila. Real Ávila and Gimnástica Segoviana are not only rivals for sport-related reasons but especially for the rivalry between the towns.
‘Ávila and Segovia battle to be the best in heritage, tourism, services, culture, and also sports. We’re two close and very similar towns.’
Malaquías del Pozo, player of Gimnástica in the 60s and 70s.
It’s rare to witness a lower-league rivalry between two teams from two different provinces. Still, their teams have performed quite similarly for most of their histories and played many matches against each other. According to Gimnástica Segoviana, the Clásico de Castilla is the seventh most-played derby in Spain.
That the derby is lived very intensely in Ávila and Segovia can be proved by the following quotes.
‘It’s defending the town itself against the rival. The years passed by, and the teams remained practically the same, unlike today. There was always a reason for payback time in the next season.’
José Vicente Cuéllar, striker of Gimnástica in the 70s.
‘It was the match of the year because the fans did not only come to watch a match of football but also did they hope that we’d win against the eternal rival. It was always more than just a game due to tradition and playing against an always-strong rival and good players.’
Chema Esteban, goalkeeper of Gimnástica in the 90s.
‘In the beginning, I thought it was strange that the rivalry was with Ávila and not with another province. When I saw that it was just as important in the stands what happened on the field as the fact that one city had a Carrefour and another did not, I found out that it was about much more than football because it went beyond the economy and society.’
Nacho Valle, midfielder of Gimnástica in the 90s.
The future
The future of Gimnástica Segoviana seems quite bright. From 2020 to 2023, the club has managed to beat its expectations annually, which caused a growth in club members to over one thousand. On the other hand, the club made the controversial decision to convert to a SAD, which – in the past – has led to the dissolution of other smaller clubs. Whatever the latter’s result: we all can’t wait to see how Gimnástica Segoviana, the pride of Segovia, will perform in the upcoming years. This was…Gimnástica Segoviana.
Sources
- https://www.gimnasticasegoviana.es/
- http://www.lafutbolteca.com/gimnastica-segoviana-club-de-futbol/
- https://as.com/futbol/2021/02/19/mas_futbol/1613748525_526280.html
- Borchers, L. (2021). GOLAZO. Self-published.
- Borchers, L. (2022). CARA O CRUZ. Self-published.
Modest Spanish Football 
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