CD Marino (Spain)

Club Deportivo Marino is a football club based in Playa de las Américas on the Island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Its home games are played in Los Cristianos. Marino was formed in 1933, making it the second-oldest club on the island.

Marino Fútbol Club, as the club was originally named, was formed by local fishermen and became Club Deportivo Marino in June 1947. Early matches were played on the salt flats of El Guincho, later moving to Campo de El Quinto.

Marino became a founding member of the Preferente de Tenerife in 1975, a fourth-tier league at the time. The club progressed to the Tercera División for the 1980-81 season. Manager Valentín Toste took his side to the Grupo XII title in 1987-88 to reach what had become the third-tier, Segunda División B, playing in Grupo III.

The 1992-93 season ended in double agony for the club, as they were relegated on the pitch and then sent down a further level because of financial issues. Placed in the Preferente de Tenerife, the team went down another tier to 1ª Regional Grupo II, where they finished runners-up in 1994-95.

The league title was won in 1997-98 to return to the fifth-tier Preferente. Marino remained there until 2006-07, when they were promoted to the Tercera División as runners-up. José Antonio Barrios’ team settled and won promotion with Willy Barroso at the helm in 2011-12.

The side spent just one season in Segunda División B, under the stewardship of José Juan Almeida, before being relegated from Grupo I back to Grupo XII of the Tercera División, with José Antonio Sosa Espinel taking over as team manager. A second and then a third-place finish ensued, leading to playoff games.

UD San Sebastián de los Reyes won the first-round clash in 2013-14, before UD San Pedro ended any hopes of promotion the following season. Constantino Tirado led the side in 2015-16 before being replaced by Toni Dumpiérrez. Zebenzui Hernández was team boss between 2017 and 2019.

Promotion was won in 2019-20 under Kiko de Diego after the side won the league title. Again, the step up to the third-tier Segunda División B proved too big, with Marino being relegated from Grupo IV. Spanish football was reorganised for the 2021-22 season, with Marino being placed in the fifth-tier Tercera División RFEF Grupo XII.

Willy Barroso returned for a second spell in charge of the team, with Marino finishing consistently towards the lower half of the table before ending eighth in 2024-25.

CD Marino will play in Tercera División RFEF Grupo XII in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

CD Marino 3 CD San Lorenzo Costancia 1 (Saturday 26th November 1994) Primera Regional Tenerife Grupo 2 (att: c200)

I was in Tenerife on a holiday sorted out through my mate Steve Walker and his pals Julie and Heath, along with some employees at the Pizza Hut in Scarborough. Basically, one of them, Paul, had the use of a couple of timeshare apartments in Los Americas. 

I was to go and make up the numbers, which was quite an adventure for me as I’d never flown before. We arrived on Friday night, so on Saturday morning, I had to predictably go for a walk to try and ease my hangover and try to get my bearings. While I was out, I saw a poster advertising a match for the local club, CD Marino, taking place that afternoon. 

This was too good an opportunity to miss. I left my compatriots who went to book a jeep for a few days and told them I’d meet them at tea time after the match. I took a taxi to the stadium, which got me there ridiculously early. Never mind. It was a gloriously sunny day, and I had a paper to read. 

I was encouraged to get in and find that I could go back out if I wished, and that a reserve/youth team match was underway as a kind of aperitif. I did go back out to buy a film for my camera. I was soon back inside and happy to find that the concessions on the flat standing at the rear of the banked terracing had a bar and food for sale. 

I was approached to buy some raffle tickets, which I did, being the diplomat I am. I handed a big peseta note and found myself with far too many tickets and no change. They didn’t miss a trick! The Estadio Antonio Dominguez was very smart. It had a running track around it and had natural grass banking down one side and behind the far goal owing to its proximity to the mountainous hill that divides the two resorts. 

It contained a seated stand down one side with a cover to the rear. The terracing continued around the corner to halfway around behind the goal. The facilities and entrance were to the rear of there. I had a very pleasant afternoon. I was a bit put out that nobody recognised or enquired after the Scarborough away shirt I was wearing, but you can’t have everything! 

I walked back to our resort after the match to build up an appetite for food and drink. Judging by how I felt the next day, it seemed to have worked!

Nearly another visit

In October 2009, I returned to the island, which is a story all in itself. Karl and Macca had booked to go and stay in Las Americas for a week, and I decided to join them. This would have been a relatively sound idea, but I decided not to book any accommodation in advance,  
reasoning that on my previous visit, there were advertisements for rooms everywhere. 

I got caught out and eventually ended up sneaking in and out of my mate's digs up an adjoining grass bank, much to the astonishment of a guard minding his own business one night! We went out on Saturday lunchtime to find Lineker's Bar in the resort. 

It was the day of the Scotland v England playoff at Hampden Park to see who would compete at the 2000 European Championships. I had once again seen a notice advertising that Marino were playing at home with a late kick off. I suggested this to my mates, who thought it a grand idea. This was admittedly before we started drinking.

Then, in a miraculous twist, two of our Boro mates, Bunner and Filey John, appeared in the bar, despite not believing Karl. Talk about a small world! Anyway, we didn’t make the match. We were too flamboyant, shall I say? Instead, we met up again at night with their partners in tow to find a bar showing Scarborough’s local boxing hero, Paul Ingle, go on to become World Champion.

Unfortunately, the pictures of the stadium are from the web, as I loaded my camera incorrectly and the pictures didn’t come out. The replacements have been sourced online.