Elche CFOn 15 June 1969, at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Elche CF played the only Copa del Generalísimo final in its history, as the Copa del Rey was then known. It lost 1–0 to Athletic Bilbao. The route there had been remarkable for a club from a mid-sized city in Alicante province: wins over Pontevedra and Valencia, then a semi-final against Real Sociedad that finished 4–4 on aggregate and was settled by a 2–0 replay in Madrid. That final remains the club's greatest cup moment and a reference point for several generations of supporters.
The club was founded on 10 January 1923, as Elche Foot-ball Club, by the merger of the town's local sides. Its first match was a 4–0 win at Monóvar, and in its early years it played in all white. The green stripe that later appeared on the shirts gave the club its nickname, Los Franjiverdes, and it is also known as Los Ilicitanos, after the people of Elche. Elche entered the league system in 1929–30 in the Tercera División and reached the Segunda División in 1934. The city is best known for its Palmeral, a palm grove on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The club's best era came after promotion to La Liga in 1959, secured with a 3–0 win over Tenerife. Its first top-flight season began with a 1–1 draw against Real Oviedo and finished in tenth place. That campaign included a 2–1 home win over Barcelona, but also a 2–11 defeat at Real Madrid. The best league finish came in 1963–64, when Elche placed fifth under coach Heriberto Herrera. Among the coaches who later worked at the club were Alfredo Di Stéfano, in 1967–68, and László Kubala, in 1988–89. After relegation in 1971, Elche returned to the top flight in 1973, finished eighth in 1974–75, and went down again in 1978 after a 4–4 draw with Atlético Madrid on the final day, having led 2–4 with five minutes to play.
The Estadio Martínez Valero was inaugurated on 8 September 1976 and is named after the club's late president, Manuel Martínez Valero. It was one of the venues of the 1982 World Cup and staged three first-round matches: Belgium 1–1 Hungary, Belgium 1–0 El Salvador and, on 15 June 1982, Hungary 10–1 El Salvador, still the heaviest win in the history of World Cup finals. In that match László Kiss became the only substitute to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. The ground also hosted the Copa del Rey final of 2003.
Since the 1970s the club has been defined by its ups and downs. Elche lost promotion on the final day of 1980–81, when a home defeat against Cádiz left it level on points with several rivals. It dropped into Segunda División B in 1991, and its return to the top flight in 2013, after 24 years, was one of the most remarkable seasons of the club. Under coach Fran Escribá, Elche led the Segunda División from the first to the last matchday, the only team to do so, and set records for wins and points. In 2015 it was relegated under new league rules on debt, and in 2017 it dropped to the third level. It went back up in 2018, was promoted to La Liga in 2020 by beating Girona 1–0 on aggregate in the play-off final, went down in 2023, and returned again in 2025 as the runner-up of the Segunda División. In 2025–26 it finished 15th in La Liga.
Elche's regional rivalries are long-standing. The Derbi de la provincia de Alicante against Hércules dates back to the 1925–26 season, and the matches against Real Murcia, the Derbi del Sureste, are the most played fixture in the history of the Segunda División. The rivalry with Levante has grown across many seasons in different divisions.