Málaga Club de Fútbol is a professional football club formed on April 3rd 1904 as Málaga Football Club. The club is based in the seaside city of the same name on Spain Andalusian south coast.
Early opponents consisted of visiting shipping crews; often from the UK. A local rival club FC Malagueño was established in 1912 before Málaga FC became Real Málaga FC in 1927 after being given royal patronage.
Real Málaga FC and FC Malagueño became founder members of the third tier Tercera División for the 1929-30 season before Real Málaga FC, were reformed as Málaga Sport Club in time for the following campaign.
Málaga SC and FC Malagueño merged to become Club Deportivo Malacitano in 1933 with the new club becoming members of the extended Segunda División in 1934-35 where they remained before football was interrupted during the Spanish Civil War.
The new Estadio La Rosaleda was opened in 1941 as CD Malacitano changed their name to Club Deportivo Málaga. Relegation back to Tercera División came in 1942-43 before ‘Albicelestes’ won promotion in 1945-46.
Promotion to the top flight La Liga for the first time came in the 1948-49 season before the team went back down in 1950-51. Helenio Herrera was head coach as Málaga regained their La Liga place at the first attempt after lifting the Segunda División title.
Their La Liga spell lasted just twelve months, but the team went back up again in 1953-54. Yet again it would be a top division period of just one season. In 1958-59 Málaga were relegated to the Tercera División but bounced back to the second tier after a season’s absence.
Sabino Barinaga led his team back to La Liga in 1961-62 but once again the step up proved too much as Málaga found themselves back in Segunda División a season later. Domènec Balmanya was in charge of the next promotion winning side in 1964-65.
Relegation came a season later, but their La Liga place was secured within twelve months. Málaga’s tenure at the top level lasted a couple of seasons before the managerial skills of José María Zárraga and then Jenő Kálmár delivered promotion in 1969-70.
Marcel Domingo was followed by Milorad Pavić as head coach at La Rosaleda before Málaga were demoted back to the Segunda División at the completion of the 1974-75 campaign.
The team went straight back down but returned a couple of seasons later under Sebastián Viberti. Another relegation came in 1979-80, but Málaga recovered in characteristic fashion to return to La Liga in 1981-82 with Antonio Benítez as head coach.
The team went back down in 1984-85 before returning as Segunda División champions in 1987-88 with former FC Barcelona legend Ladislao Kubala as head coach. On this occasion Málaga remained in La Liga for two seasons.
In the summer of 1992 CD Málaga dissolved after financial difficulties. Club Atlético Malagueño had been set up as a reserve side with a separate affiliation to Málaga. They played in Grupo IX of the Tercera División, which had become the fourth tier in the 1992-93 campaign.
Ricardo Albis led the team to promotion and a place in Segunda División B, but the club went back down after just one season in severe financial difficulties. Antonio Benítez returned as coach with members voting for the club to change name to their current title.
The team played their part by winning promotion in 1994-95 before winning Grupo IV of Segunda División B in 1997-98 as Basti banged in the goals while keeper Rafa González kept out opponents at the other end under head coach Ismael Díaz to go up to the second tier.
Díaz was replaced by Joaquín Peiró as Málaga lifted the Segunda División title to return to La Liga after an absence of ten years. The club consolidated their top flight status with six successive seasons of mid-table finishes.
Peiró was replaced by Juande Ramos and then Gregorio Manzano. The 2005-06 campaign ended in relegation as Málaga went through three head coaches; Antonio Tapia, Manolo Hierro and Marcos before the arrival of Juan Muñiz.
Málaga regrouped and won promotion back to La Liga in 2007-08 as midfielder Antonio Hidalgo netted the vital goals in the deciding game. The team consolidated their position the following campaign before major investment was found to aid the club.
Qatari sheikh, Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani became Málaga’s new owner in June 2010 with Jesualdo Ferreira being appointed as the new coach. Money was spent on new signings Salomón Rondón and Eliseu, but Ferreira was replaced within months by Manuel Pellegrini after a poor start.
Further money was spent in bringing Martín Demichelis and Júlio Baptista to the Andalusian coast. The squad was bolstered further in the summer of 2011 with the arrival of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jérémy Toulalan and Santi Cazorla who fitted in well with Isco and Joaquín.
Málaga finished in fourth place in the 2011-12 season which led to Champions League football the following season. The team topped their group and then dispatched FC Porto before somehow managing to throw away a seemingly unbeatable position against Borussia Dortmund in the quarter finals.
Málaga finished sixth in La Liga but were excluded from European football the following season owing to financial discrepancies. Isco, Toulalan and Joaquín were all sold in the summer of 2013 as Bernd Schuster took over as head coach from Pellegrini.
The side ended in mid-table in 2013-14 before Javi Gracia took over the reigns from Schuster to oversee a better finish by two places in 2014-15. This was improved upon as Málaga completed the 2015-16 campaign in eighth spot.
Juande Ramos replaced Gracia but only lasted until November 2016 before Marcelo Romero was appointed in his place. Míchel became the third different head coach on his arrival in March 2017 as Sandro Ramírez ended as top scorer.
José González became the new coach in January 2018 with Málaga struggling in the league before they were relegated in bottom position. Juan Muñiz was placed in charge of the team as the club kicked off the 2018-19 season in Segunda División.
Málaga CF will play in Segunda División in the 2018-19 season.
My visit
Málaga CF 0 CF Reus 3 (Sunday 6th January 2019) Segunda División (att: 16,058)
I’d wanted to visited Andalusia for some time; most notably Seville but Málaga was also on my radar after reading and hearing good reviews about the city. I didn’t need much persuading with a week off work and cold weather a high possibility in the UK.
It was also the Epiphany Bank Holiday meaning that games in the third and fourth tier would be played on the Monday, which fitted perfectly into my plans. I was most happy when the Málaga was arranged for an 7pm Sunday night kick off.
Millwall v Hull City in the FA Cup was a tempter, but I needed a break after a dry New Year and Hendon’s defeat at home to Kings Langley definitely signalled the time to have a bit of warmer weather and hopefully some previously unknown pleasures.
My morning flight from Gatwick ran to time. The train deposited me at Málaga Centro Alameda station from where I had a nice walk in the direction of my accommodation. The free internet wasn’t working on my phone wasn’t working for some reason, which was a bit of a pain.
However, the Google Map App just about functioned, as I got a brief overview of the pretty old town before arriving at my well-appointed Apartamentos Marques De La Merced. I’d gone out and taken a look at the venue of local club AD Malaka CF before having a siesta and cooking a basic meal.
The walk to La Rosaleda through the narrow old streets and then along Paseo Martiricos once I’d crossed the bridge over the dry Río Guadalmedina took around twenty minutes. Crowds gathered outside grabbing food, souvenirs and drinks from the stalls.
I’d bought my ticket in advance and printed it at home. I thought it was excellent value for €10, especially once I’d found my entrance and then seen my view near the vomitory on the second tier. Another expat sporting both Málaga and Cardiff City tattoos sat further along.
Málaga were known to have a sizeable expat support from the UK. A St George cross flag was on parade further round. La Rosaleda was most impressive, with two tiers of seating all the way round. The two sides had concaved roofs high over the seating.
The hosts kicked off with a possibility of going top of the table, whereas the visitors from Catalonia were in relegation trouble. Everything pointed to a comfortable home victory. I wasn’t the only one about to be shocked!
I was impressed by the home supporters as they applauded the announcement of the Reus players as well as their own favourites. There were many families among the crowd with plenty of females. It had been a warm afternoon, but the temperature had dropped by kick off.
The visitors took the lead after Málaga had enjoyed lots of possession in the early stages without creating too much. Reus defended very deep and showed fine control and close passing. The goal caused plenty of frustration among the locals.
It came from a short corner move, which was returned to the taker Álex Carbonell to deliver a fantastic cross to find Borja Herrera who had the freedom of the box to head into the corner past home keeper Munir on eleven minutes.
Juan Añor saw a weak shot easily saved by Pol Freixanet as Málaga looked to reply before Alfred N'Diaye saw his header parried and then blast the rebound over the bar. Reus were almost teasing the home side with some of their deep interplay, but they looked dangerous on the break as they sucked in their opponents.
Indeed, they could have easily doubled their lead on the break. For all their possession Málaga really needed to inject some creativity into their play. At the interval I took the opportunity to have a wander around the corner to take some photos from a different angle and to try and warm up a bit.
Three minutes after the restart Málaga’s Adrián missed a great opportunity with a free header after coach Muñiz made two changes. Hugo Vallejo, one of the subs saw a curling shot go close shortly after as the atmosphere ramped up a little.
However, the mood turned just past the hour mark when a sumptuous defence splitting pass from Luís Gustavo sent in David Querol for Reus. He was fouled in the box by Diego González and despite protests, referee José López correctly gave a penalty.
Luís Gustavo scored from the spot despite the best efforts of Munir, which can be viewed here. Freixanet tipped over a Gustavo Blanco header at the other end before the frustrations of the home support boiled over.
They were cheering “Olé” as the Reus players kept the ball in a taunt usually reserved for their home side. They even went as far as booing when a Málaga player briefly got hold of the ball. A beautiful one touch move followed which led to Alfred Planas setting up Querol to make it 3-0.
This was the cue for a mass exodus from the supporters. In stoppage time Vallejo missed an easy chance to grab a consolation as Freixanet pushed his effort round the post. A scramble from the following corner led to a shot hitting the foot of the post and another block. It certainly wasn’t Málaga’s night.
At full time the remaining spectators gave Reus a well deserved round of applause. I headed out and across the bridge and then along Av. de Jorge Silvela back towards the old town. Drinks were enjoyed in Arte & Sana Craft Beer Café close to my apartment and then the Sherlock Holmes pub before I turned in.
The following morning’s local Sur free newspaper encapsulated the performance perfectly on their front cover with the reporter giving several home players 2 and 3 out of 10. As I suspected it proved to be “one of those nights” as Málaga bounced back to win away to Real Zaragoza the following weekend.
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