Malaga Football Club is a Primera Liga Football team, and plays at La Rosaleda, Málaga Football Club’s Home Stadium.
History of Malaga C.F.
Malaga Club de Futbol in its present form is a relatively young team having been constituted on the 29th June 1994. Before that it was known as Atlético Malagueño and was founded in 1948. From its first moments this team was affiliated with Club Deportivo Málaga whose main object was to train footballers for the first team. With the disappearance of CD Málaga in the summer of 1992, Atlético Malagueño, which was registered in it’s own right, was able to take over the position that CD Málaga held representing the City of Málaga.
About the club
In their first campaign 92/93, they played in Group 9 of the 3rd Division achieving promotion into Segunda B. The following season 93/94 posed financial problems the team and they were relegated back to the 3rd Division and were at the point of disappearing from the football scene when in 94/95 Federico Beltrán and Fernando Puche came to their rescue financially.
The club did their apprenticeship in the Third and then the Second Division during 1994 and 1998 and made the jump to the First Division at the end of the 1998/99 season. They consolidated their position and comfortably held on to their First Division place in 1999/2000. In 2000/2001 right until the last moment they fought for the right to play in the UEFA.
21th Century
In 2001/2002 there were many changes. Fernando Puche left and the Club’s Presidency was taken over by Serafin Roldán, who is also the biggest shareholder. Málaga had to, once again, learn to become a united team as some of their key players had been sold to fund the Club. With the continued help of Manager Joaquin Peiró, the team gelled and played some remarkable football. So much so they earned a place in the Intertoto, and undefeated in this competition, won a place in the UEFA, seeded 25th.
In the following years, Malaga CF faced financial problems, and lot of players left the team. In 2006 they went down to second division, and two years later, Malaga CF came back to the First Division after winning the last match of the 2008 season.
June 2010, was the year the team was bought by the billionaire Qatari Sheikh Al Thani. This change supposed a major restructuring of the entity, including a new coaching staff and several international high-profile players.
Two years later, Malaga Club de Futbol achieved its highest classification in La Liga (4th Position), so they classified to play the Champions League for the first time in club’s history.
Latest news in Malaga Football Club
- 2011-12: Málaga CF qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history, finishing fourth in La Liga under coach Manuel Pellegrini.
- 2012-13: Málaga CF reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, where they were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in a controversial match. The club also faced financial problems and sanctions from UEFA due to unpaid debts.
- 2013-14: Málaga CF finished 11th in La Liga and did not participate in any European competition due to UEFA’s ban. Pellegrini left the club and was replaced by Bernd Schuster.
- 2014-15: Málaga CF improved its position to ninth in La Liga under coach Javi Gracia. The club also signed a sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways.
- 2015-16: Málaga CF repeated its ninth place finish in La Liga with Gracia as coach. The club also celebrated its 75th anniversary with various events and activities.
- 2016-17: Málaga CF ended up eighth in La Liga under coach Marcelo Romero. The club also signed a new sponsorship deal with Nike.
- 2017-18: Málaga CF suffered a disastrous season and was relegated to Segunda División after finishing last in La Liga under coaches Michel González and José González.
- 2018-19: Málaga CF fought for promotion back to La Liga under coach Juan Ramón López Muñiz but missed out on the play-offs by one point after finishing third in Segunda División.
- 2019-20: Málaga CF struggled again in Segunda División under coaches Víctor Sánchez del Amo and Sergio Pellicer. The club faced serious economic and institutional crisis due to Al Thani’s mismanagement and legal issues. A judicial administrator was appointed by a court to oversee the club’s affairs until a new owner could be found.
- Read more about the history of Malaga Football Club at www.malagacf.com
