Club Deportivo Málaga was a Spanish football club based in Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It played twenty seasons in La Liga, before being dissolved in 1992.

History Origins

The first football club in Málaga was established in 1904, with the formation of the Málaga Foot-Ball Club. It was nothing more than a society intended to promote football, a new sport in the city, carried from the United Kingdom. Its first rivals were small teams formed by crews of foreign ships arriving in the local harbor. In 1907, further attempts of popularizing football were performed by Málaga FC.

1912 saw the arrival of a rival club, FC Malagueño, and the establishment of a great rivalry with Málaga FC, which had merged with other minor clubs like Málaga Racing. In 1927, Málaga FC became the Real Málaga FC after they were granted royal patronage by Alfonso XIII.

During the 1929–30 season both Real Málaga FC and FC Malagueño clubs became founding members of the Tercera División. In late 1930, Real Málaga FC, were reformed as the Málaga Sport Club.

Club merging in 1933 In 1933 Málaga SC and FC Malagueño merged to become Club Deportivo Malacitano, although it was not a real merging at all, only a name change of FC Malagueño, which had economic wealth and a better squad than Málaga SC. Thanks to this operation, the CD Malacitano was able to use Malagueño's squad, having their contracts canceled in the other way.

In 1934 this new club made its debut in the Segunda División when the division was expanded from ten teams to 24, and remained there until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. In 1940, Malacitano participated in the inaugural edition of the FEF President Cup, which they won after beating AD Ferroviaria 5–2 in the last matchday, courtesy of a first-half brace from Juan Mesa and a second-half hat-trick from Tavilo, thus claiming the club's first-ever piece of silverware.

In 1941 the club changed their name to the Club Deportivo Málaga when the new La Rosaleda stadium was inaugurated.

First promotion to La Liga in 1949, first topflight years In 1946, Málaga undertook a change of fortune with the election of Manuel Navarro Nogueroles as the club's new president. His first big success as Málaga's president was the signing of forward Pedro Bazán, who had previously scored nine goals in a single Second Division match against the Hércules CF on 4 January 1949; he went on to become the club's all-time top scorer with 146 official goals. After two unsuccessful seasons, Navarro hired a new coach, Luis Urquiri, who had just achieved promotion to La Liga with Deportivo de La Coruña.

During the first half of the season, Málaga averaged three goals per game, but despite this, the president decided to look for two other forwards, including Manolo Jimeno, who was introduced in a friendly match against UD Melilla. Málaga finished the 1948–49 season as the team with the fewest goals conceded and only six losses on its way to promotion, which was achieved on the last matchday with a 5–1 away victory over Racing de Ferrol to finish level on points with both Real Sociedad and Granada, but ahead of the latter on head-to-head goal difference. Therefore, on 17 April 1949, Navarro Nogueroles became the first Málaga president to be promoted to the First Division of Spanish football, doing so within eight years into Málaga's existence. This promotion brought joy to the Malaga fans at the end of the 1940s, a period in which the city was still very impoverished, with many people suffering from poverty and lack of means, so the celebrations were therefore apotheotic.

At the start of the following season, Navarro Nogueroles fired Urquiri with the false allegation of his financial demands, only so he could replace him with the legendary Ricardo Zamora, who stayed at the helm of the team until its first relegation at the end of the 1950–51 season, lacking just one point to maintain status.

In the subsequent seasons, Málaga achieved two new promotions to La Liga in 1951–52 and 1953–54, being relegated after just one year in both. The 1952–53 season was notable because of a resounding 6–0 thrashing of the Real Madrid at La Rosaleda, the major result up to date for Málaga against that club.

The golden years in the early 1970s

After several new fleeting first-level promotions in the 1960s, which turned out in immediate relegations, Málaga were promoted once again in 1969–70 under the command of chairman Antonio Rodríguez López and coach Jenő Kálmár, to start a five-year top flight stay. However, president in charge Antonio Rodríguez López was brutally murdered by the Mafia in the year 1971, and was replaced by Rafael Serrano Carvajal for the next season.

With notable players like Migueli, Sebastian Viberti, Juan Antonio Deusto and José Díaz Macías, the club achieved two seventh-place finishes in the league in 1971–72 and 1973–74 (best results of the club up to date), a Ricardo Zamora Trophy in 1971–72 season performed by goalkeeper Deusto, and a 1972–73 run of the club in the Spanish Cup, where they were dumped out in the semifinals by Athletic Bilbao. They also notably scored a victory at Camp Nou for the first time after winning against FC Barcelona at the end of the 1971–72 season. The club also established in 1973 an official anthem, Málaga La Bombonera, and from that moment the song is still the official anthem of the club.

After a polemic exit by Viberti at the end of 1973–74 season, the so-called golden years ended with a new relegation to the second level in 1974–75.

Dissolution In 1992, CD Málaga dissolved after financial difficulties.

Season to season As Fútbol Club Malagueño SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1929–3033ª2nd1930–3133ª2nd1931–3233ª3rd1932–3333ª1st As Club Deportivo Malacitano SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1933–3433ª3rd1934–3522ª5th5th Round1935–3622ª5th3rd Round1939–4022ª3rd1st Round1940–4122ª5th3rd Round

1940 FEF President Cup

As Club Deportivo Málaga

SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1941–4222ª4thRound of 321942–4322ª5thRound of 321943–4433ª1st1944–4533ª2nd1945–4633ª1st1946–4722ª9thRound of 161947–4822ª4th6th Round1948–4922ª2nd5th Round1949–5011ª12thRound of 161950–5111ª13th1951–5222ª1stQuarterfinals1952–5311ª15th1953–5422ª3rd1954–5511ª16th1955–5622ª11th1956–5722ª5th1957–5822ª14th1958–5922ª15th1st Round1959–6033ª1st1960–6122ª12th1st Round

SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1961–6222ª2ndRound of 161962–6311ª16thQuarterfinals1963–6422ª9thRound of 321964–6522ª2nd1st Round1965–6611ª13thRound of 161966–6722ª1stRound of 321967–6811ª10thRound of 161968–6911ª14thQuarterfinals1969–7022ª2ndRound of 321970–7111ª9thQuarterfinals1971–7211ª7th5th Round1972–7311ª10thSemifinals1973–7411ª7th5th Round1974–7511ª16thRound of 161975–7622ª3rdRound of 161976–7711ª18th3rd Round1977–7822ª13th3rd Round1978–7922ª2nd4th Round1979–8011ª18th4th Round1980–8122ª6th2nd Round

SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1981–8222ª3rdRound of 161982–8311ª10th4th Round1983–8411ª9th4th Round1984–8511ª16th3rd Round1985–8622ª11th4th Round1986–8722ª6th3rd Round1987–8822ª1st4th Round1988–8911ª16thRound of 321989–9011ª17thRound of 161990–9122ª4th5th Round1991–9222ª18th5th Round

20 seasons in La Liga 31 seasons in Segunda División 9 seasons in Tercera División

Honours Domestic Segunda División Champions (3): 1951–52, 1966–67, 1987–88 Tercera División Champions (3): 1943–44, 1945–46, 1959–60

Friendly Trofeo Costa del Sol Winners (3): 1963, 1971, 1974

Trofeo Costa del Sol Between 1961 and 1983, Málaga organised its own summer tournament, the Trofeo Costa del Sol. The hosts won it on three occasions, successively defeating Real Madrid, Red Star Belgrade and Derby County. In 2003, the competition was revived by Club Deportivo's successor, Málaga CF.Trofeo Costa del Sol (Málaga-Spain) 1961-2008 ; at RSSSF

In 1976, CD Málaga won a similar summer trophy, the Trofeo Ciudad de La Línea, played in La Línea de la Concepción, near Gibraltar. The triumph arrived after penalty shootout defeats of FC Dinamo Tbilisi and Valencia CF, after 0–0 draws.Trofeo Ciudad de La Línea (La Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz - Spain)) 1970-2008 ; at RSSSF

Selected former players

Sebastián Viberti Cyril Makanaky Albeiro Usuriaga Miguel Guerrero Luka Bonačić Kim Christofte John Lauridsen Abdallah Ben Barek Antonio Cabral Sebastián Fleitas Pedro Bazán Juan Antonio Deusto Jesús Garay Pedro Luis Jaro Juanito Antonio Mata Paquito Miguel Ramos Vargas Esteban Vigo Gustavo Matosas Pertti Jantunen

Famous coaches

Helenio Herrera Otto Bumbel Jenő Kálmár Ladislao Kubala Domènec Balmanya Antonio Benítez Marcel Domingo Ricardo Zamora José María Zárraga Milorad Pavić

References

External links CD Málaga at La futbolteca