Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the , holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López, with a 22,824-seat capacity. The traditional home colours are white shirts and blue shorts.
Tenerife has a history playing in the top flight of La Liga. They have been promoted to the top tier on four occasions, including a 10-year stint from 1989 to 1999. The club managed to finish as high as fifth in the league table on two occasions during that period, which qualified them for the first round of the UEFA Cup. They most recently played in La Liga in the 2009–10 season.
Being based in the Canary archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Africa, while playing its away games on the Spanish mainland, both the club and rival Las Palmas from Gran Canaria are two of the most geographically isolated professional clubs. Tenerife and Las Palmas contest the Canary Islands derby.
History
Club Deportivo Tenerife was founded in 1922. La Liga started in 1928, but the team played in regional divisions until it was promoted to the Segunda División in 1953. It first reached the top flight in 1961, being immediately relegated back and, in the following 27 years, played almost exclusively in the second level, also spending three years in Tercera División and six – five in a row – in Segunda División B, the newly created division three (in 1978).
In 1985 when Tenerife were relegated to the third division for a second time, Javier Pérez became president of the club. The side was promoted this year to the second level and, two years later, returned to the first, after winning the promotion playoff against Real Betis (4–1 on aggregate).
In 1991, Jorge Valdano took charge of the club as manager, and the Argentine would help deny former side Real Madrid of two consecutive league titles in the last round, to the benefit of Barcelona. In the first season, the Canary Islands outfit barely avoided relegation, but would finish in a best-ever fifth position in the following year, eventually reaching the round of 16 in the subsequent UEFA Cup, losing to Juventus 2–4 on aggregate.
German Jupp Heynckes became head coach of Tenerife in 1995, leading the club to another fifth-placed finish and the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. In the 1996–97 UEFA Cup, the islanders fared better, reaching the last-four after defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv, Lazio, Feyenoord and Brøndby (the winner coming late in extra time from an Antonio Mata free-kick), only bowing out to eventual winners Schalke 04.
Tenerife then went on a downward spiral which eventually led to relegation to the "silver category" in 1999, prompting various managerial changes within the club. In 2001, the club was again promoted, led by Rafael Benítez, who promptly left to take up the manager's job at Valencia; the promotion was achieved in the last match of the campaign thanks to a goal from Hugo Morales.
Pepe Mel became the new trainer but the first division season never took off, as Tenerife were beaten heavily at home by Barcelona 0–6, which cost the manager his job. Javier Clemente, formerly with the Spain national team, took the reins, but could not help prevent the eventual immediate relegation.
Tenerife suffered from serious economic problems in the following years, owing more than €40 million. President Pérez was replaced with Víctor Perez de Ascanio, who resigned due to bad management, leaving his position to Miguel Concepción, who negotiated with local politicians and businessmen, also creating a construction company as a subsidiary of the side.
On 13 June 2009, Tenerife secured a top flight return after a seven-year absence after a 1–0 win at Girona. In the following season, even though the team held on until the last round, another relegation befell, after the 0–1 loss at third-placed Valencia.
2010–11 brought with it three coaching changes, as Tenerife eventually suffered another relegation, returning to the third division after 24 years. On 2 June 2013, the club, led by Álvaro Cervera, returned to the second level after winning the promotion play-off against Hospitalet (3–2 on aggregate).
Tenerife almost achieved promotion to La Liga in 2016–17 and 2021–22 season, but was defeated by both Getafe and Girona at final play-off promotion in their respective season. Tenerife eventually suffered relegation to third division in 2024–25 season, following a 12-years stay in second division. On May 1st 2026, the club achieved promotion back to second division following a 2–0 victory against Barakaldo.
Seasons
Season to season
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1928–2942nd1929–3042nd1930–3142nd1931–3241st1932–3341st1933–3441st1934–3541st1935–3642nd1940–4141st1941–4243rd1942–4342nd1943–4443rd1944–4544th1945–4641st1946–4743rd1947–4845th1948–4944th1949–5041950–5142nd1951–5241st
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1952–5341953–5422ª6th1954–5522ª9th1955–5622ª9th1956–5722ª13th1957–5822ª2nd1958–5922ª4thRound of 321959–6022ª10thFirst round1960–6122ª1stQuarter-finals1961–6211ª16thQuarter-finals1962–6322ª10thRound of 161963–6422ª5thRound of 321964–6522ª11thRound of 321965–6622ª8thFirst round1966–6722ª11thRound of 321967–6822ª9thFirst round1968–6933ª5th1969–7033ª2ndFirst round1970–7133ª1stRound of 321971–7222ª9thFourth round
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1972–7322ª14thFourth round1973–7422ª4thRound of 321974–7522ª12thFourth round1975–7622ª7thQuarter-finals1976–7722ª6thFirst round1977–7822ª19thRound of 161978–7932ª B6thSecond round1979–8032ª B3rdSecond round1980–8132ª B5thSecond round1981–8232ª B13thThird round1982–8332ª B2nd1983–8422ª15thFirst round1984–8522ª11thRound of 161985–8622ª19thRound of 161986–8732ª B1stSecond round1987–8822ª12thFourth round1988–8922ª3rdRound of 321989–9011ª18thRound of 161990–9111ª14thFifth round1991–9211ª13thFifth round
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1992–9311ª5thThird round1993–9411ª10thSemi-finals1994–9511ª15thThird round1995–9611ª5thQuarter-finals1996–9711ª9thRound of 161997–9811ª16thSecond round1998–9911ª19thFourth round1999–200022ª14thSecond round2000–0122ª3rdRound of 162001–0211ª19thRound of 642002–0322ª8thRound of 642003–0422ª8thRound of 642004–0522ª9thRound of 322005–0622ª18thFirst round2006–0722ª7thSecond round2007–0822ª11thThird round2008–0922ª3rdThird round2009–1011ª19thRound of 322010–1122ª20thSecond round2011–1232ª B2ndFirst round
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey2012–1332ª B1stSecond round2013–1422ª11thSecond round2014–1522ª17thSecond round2015–1622ª13thSecond round2016–1722ª4thThird round2017–1822ª11thRound of 322018–1922ª16thSecond round2019–2022ª12thRound of 162020–2122ª14thRound of 322021–2222ª5thSecond round2022–2322ª10thSecond round2023–2422ª12thRound of 162024–2522ª20thRound of 322025–2631ª Fed.1stSecond round2026–2722ª
13 seasons in La Liga 49 seasons in Segunda División 1 season in Primera Federación 8 seasons in Segunda División B 3 seasons in Tercera División
European cup history Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Aggregate1993–94UEFA CupFirst round Auxerre 2–2 1–0 3–2Second round Olympiacos 2–1 3–4 5–5Third round Juventus 2–1 0–3 2–41996–97UEFA CupFirst round Maccabi Tel Aviv 3–2 1–1 4–3Second round Lazio 5–3 0–1 5–4Third round Feyenoord 0–0 4–2 4–2Quarter-finals Brøndby 0–1 2–0 2–1Semi-finals Schalke 04 1–0 0–2 1–2
Honours Domestic
Segunda División (1): 1960–61
Tercera División (1): 1970–71
Segunda División B (1): 1986–87
Teide Trophy (28): 1973, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2025
Current squad
Reserve team
Other players under contract
Out on loan
Current technical staff
International players
Christian Bassedas Oscar Dertycia Esteban Fuertes Diego Latorre Gerardo Martino Hugo Morales Marcelo Ojeda Nico Paz Pablo Paz Martín Posse Fernando Redondo Grant-Leon Ranos Aurelio Vidmar Stefan Lexa Meho Kodro André Luiz César Belli Guina Leandro Daniel Kome Francisco Rojas Navarro Montoya Pedro Portocarrero Pavel Hapal Riza Durmisi Juvenal Otar Kakabadze Robert Enke Oliver Neuville Brimah Razak Thierno Frantz Bertin Bryan Acosta Juan Carlos García Anthony Lozano Ramón Maradiaga Darixon Vuelto Gilberto Yearwood Gal Alberman Gaku Shibasaki Gabriel Palmero Samuel Camille Gerardo Torrado Nikola Šipčić Moulay El Ghareff Roy Makaay Ferdi Vierklau Rommel Fernández Alcides Báez César Cabrera Crispín Maciel José del Solar Percy Olivares Tomasz Frankowski Bino Domingos Igor Simutenkov Sylvain N'Diaye Amath Ndiaye Miroslav Đukić Slaviša Jokanović Veljko Paunović Uroš Račić Róbert Mazáň Samuel Slovák Sizwe Motaung David Nyathi Juan Carlos Aguilera Francisco Arencibia Ángel Arocha Rubén Cano Chano Ignacio Conte Curro Torres Diego Rodríguez Quique Estebaranz Albert Ferrer Foncho Luis García Gabriel Jorge Juanele Martín Marrero Felipe Martín Felipe Miñambres Mista Luis Molowny José Manuel Ochotorena Ayoze Pérez Pier Juan Antonio Pizzi Eleuterio Santos Víctor Voro Bengt Andersson Shaaban Chilunda Haythem Jouini Shaq Moore Carlos Correa Javier Zeoli Julio Álvarez Dani Hernández Jonay Hernández Rafa Ponzo Josmar Zambrano
Notable coaches Carlos Aimar Vicente Cantatore Ángel Cappa Felipe Mesones Jorge Solari Jorge Valdano Ljubiša Broćić Dragoljub Milošević Jupp Heynckes Bernd Krauss Ewald Lienen Mauro Sandreani Heriberto Herrera Artur Jorge Raül Agné David Amaral Gonzalo Arconada Xabier Azkargorta Rubén Baraja José Antonio Barrios Rafael Benítez Antonio Calderón Paco Campos Fernando Castro Santos Casuco Álvaro Cervera Luis César Sampedro Javier Clemente Ignacio Eizaguirre Joseba Etxeberria Fran Fernández Víctor Fernández Rafael García Cortés Javier García-Verdugo Satur Grech Benito Joanet Joseíto Juan Manuel Lillo Aritz López Garai Antonio López Juan Carlos Mandiá José Luis Martí Quique Medina Pepe Mel Alfredo Merino Vicente Miera Felipe Miñambres Pepe Moré José Luis Oltra José Planas Enric Rabassa Luis Miguel Ramis Sesé Rivero Manuel Sanchís Antonio Tapia Eduardo Toba Dagoberto Moll Héctor Núñez
Fans Fans of Tenerife are called Chicharreros because in early days, the inhabitants of a small fishing village called Santa Cruz (later the capital of Tenerife) consumed "chicharros" (Atlantic horse mackerel) as a main part of their diet.
Other inhabitants of Tenerife and the Canary Islands used the moniker as a pejorative name, but finally the inhabitants of Santa Cruz accepted it affectionately.
See also CD Tenerife B Unión Deportiva Tenerife
References
External links
Futbolme.com profile Armada Sur – fansite. . Frente Blanquiazul, fansite