Melon Trophy is a pre-season football tournament held in Vilafranca de Bonany (Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain) since 1970. Its organizer was CD Vilafranca, first, and since 1989 CF Vilafranca. It is currently one of the most veteran tournaments of this type in Mallorca, along with Nicolau Brondo (1966), Ciutat de Palma (1969), Trofeu de s'Agricultura (1973) and Torneig de sa Llum (1973).

History

In 1969, CD Vilafranca had promoted the Melon Fair to raise funds for the club. It was held at the beginning of September and over time would become one of the main festivals in the festive calendar of Mallorca. The following year, the football tournament was incorporated, which from the beginning achieved great popularity, especially due to the category of participants and the great interest in pre-season summer tournaments at that time.

In the 1970s it was a leading tournament, with the participation of four teams that played semi-finals, a match for third and fourth place, and the grand final. Most of them were members of the Tercera División, but in those years the main clubs of the Islands were in this category. In fact, the most modest participant in terms of sport was precisely CD Vilafranca, which for this reason never managed to get past the semi-final phase.

Throughout the 1980s the tournament lost strength due to several factors. First, the riots caused by the public in the 1978 edition during one of the semi-final matches; second, the gradual loss of interest in summer tournaments (which would end with the disappearance of many of them); and above all the crisis of CD Vilafranca, until it disappeared in 1983, which meant the temporary disappearance of the tournament. In 1988 it was reorganized, even before the official constitution of the current CF Vilafranca, which that year participated with an unofficial team.

During the 90s, teams from a more local and humble area participated, maintaining the original format of four participants and some editions with a single match. During the decade, the local club improved its sporting results, ascending from Tercera regional to the Tercera división (where it would be ten seasons), which made the tournament recover a poster with better potential. The most outstanding edition was that of 2004, with the competition of RCD Mallorca, then in the Primera división.

From 2007, the crisis of CF Vilafranca (it was relegated again to Tercera regional in a few years) caused the tournament to adopt a simpler format. It became a single match and with more modest rivals, in accordance with the sports category of the team. Even during the 2010s, some editions were played coinciding with one of the team's home league matches. In 2020, the tournament was interrupted due to Covid-19 and resumed in 2022, recovering its autonomy from the league competition.

At all times, the tournament has continued to be organized linked to the events of the Melon Fair, being held on nearby dates or within the events of the Fair itself.

The trophy From the beginning, the tournament became popular for its trophy, shaped like a melon, alluding to the Fair and the main agricultural product of the municipality. Each year the trophy is different and is received by all participants, always maintaining the figure of the fruit as the main element. This characteristic has been a differential feature of the rest of the sports trophies and has been maintained to this day.

History Year Ed.ChampionScoreRunner-upOther comments 1970 1st UD Collerense 0–0 (pp) CE Constància Semi-finalists, CD Margaritense and CD Vilafranca 1971 2nd CD Margaritense 4–0 CD Murense Semi-finalists, UD Collerense and CD Vilafranca 1972 3rd UD Poblense 1–0 CD Murense Semi-finalists, CD Margaritense and CD Vilafranca 1973 4th CE Manacor 2–2 (pp) UD Poblense Semi-finalists, CE Campos and CD Vilafranca 1974 5th CE Constància 0–0 (pp) Atlètic Balears Semi-finalists, UD Poblense and CD Vilafranca 1975 6th CE Constància 2–1 Atlètic Balears Semi-finalists, UD Poblense and UE Porreres 1976 7th Atlètic Felanitx 1–0 UD Poblense Semi-finalists, CE Constància and UE Porreres 1977 8th CE Felanitx 2–1 UE Porreres Semi-finalists, CE Manacor and CD Vilafranca 1978 Edition cancelled (a) 1979 Not played following the incidents of the previous edition 1980 9th UD Poblense 4–0 Atlètic Balears Semi-finalists, CE Constància and CD Vilafranca (b) 1981 10th Porto Cristo FC 2–1 CE Felanitx Semi-finalists, UE Petra and CD Vilafranca 1982 11th CE Montuïri 3–2 CE Esporles Semi-finalistes, CE Cardassar and CD Vilafranca 1983 – 1987 Not played 1988 12th CE Montuïri 2–0 CE Sant Joan Semi-finalists, Badia de Cala Millor and Vilafranca (no federated) 1989 13th CF Vilafranca 4–1 UE Porreres Single party 1990 14th UE Petra 2–1 CF Vilafranca Semi-finalists, CE Llucmajor and UE Porreres 1991 15th CE Cardassar 2–0 CF Vilafranca Semi-finalists, CE Llucmajor and UE Petra 1992 16th CE Badia de Cala Millor 5–0 CF Vilafranca Single party 1993 17th RCD Mallorca B 2–0 CF Vilafranca Semi-finalists, CE Cardassar and CE Montuïri 1994 18th CE Espanya 6–0 CF Vilafranca Semi-finalists, UE Petra and UD Poblense 1995 19th CE Montuïri 2–0 CF Vilafranca Semi-finalists, CE Cardassar and RCD Mallorca B 1996 20th CE Campos 3–1 RCD Mallorca B Semi-finalists, CE Felanitx and CF Vilafranca 1997 21st CF Vilafranca 4–1 Atlètic Balears Single party 1998 22nd CF Vilafranca 1–0 CD Binissalem Semi-finalists, CE Cardassar and CE Montuïri 1999 23rd CE Manacor 2–2 (pp) CF Vilafranca Single party 2000 Not disputed for installation of artificial turf at the Municipal des Molí Nou 2001 24th CE Montuïri 2–1 CF Vilafranca Semi-finalists, CE Felanitx and CE Santanyí 2002 25th RCD Mallorca B 5–0 CF Vilafranca Single party 2003 26th CF Vilafranca, CE Montuïri and UD Poblense 3x1 triangular tournament 2004 27th RCD Mallorca 1–0 CF Vilafranca Single party 2005 28th CE Manacor 3–0 CE Felanitx Semi-finalists, CD Margaritense and CF Vilafranca 2006 29th CE Manacor 1–0 CE Montuïri Semi-finalists, CD Ferriolense and CF Vilafranca 2007 30th CF Vilafranca – unknown Single party 2008 31st FB Santanyí 3–0 CF Vilafranca League matchday 2009 32nd CF Vilafranca 3–1 CF Santa Eugènia Single party 2010 Not played 2011 33rd CF Vilafranca 4–2 CE Cardassar B Single party 2012 34th CF Vilafranca 2–2 (pp) CC Son Macià Single party 2013 35th CF Vilafranca (veterans) 5–1 CF Vilafranca Single party 2014 36th Bunyola CF 2–2 (pp) CF Vilafranca League matchday 2015 37th CF Vilafranca – unknown Single party 2016 38th CF Vilafranca 1–0 Pina CF League matchday 2017 Not contested due to renovation of the artificial turf at Municipal des Molí Nou 2018 39th CF Vilafranca 1–0 CF Sóller B League matchday 2019 40th CF Vilafranca 7–3 CD Consell League matchday 2020 – 2021 Not played due to the Covid-19 pandemic 2022 41st UE Petra 5–1 CF Vilafranca Single party 2023 42nd Athletic Club de Montuïri 2–0 CF Vilafranca Single party 2024 43rd UE Porreres, Athletic Club de Montuïri and CF Vilafranca 3x1 triangular tournament 2025 44th CF Vilafranca 4–0 Athletic Club de Montuïri Single party 2026 45th CE Artà 2–1 CF Vilafranca Single party

(pp): resolved in the penalty shootout (a) Following the riots of the public during the Vilafranca-Atlètic Balears match, the final and third and fourth place matches were suspended (b) Resumption of the 1978 edition, played at the Miquel Nadal municipal field in Palma

Titles by club 13 trophies: CF Vilafranca (1989, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2025) 4 trophies: CE Manacor (1973, 1999, 2005 and 2006) and CE Montuïri (1982, 1988, 1995 and 2001) 2 trophies: UD Poblense (1972 and 1980), CE Constància (1974 and 1975), CE Felanitx (1976 and 1977), UE Petra (1990 and 2022) and RCD Mallorca B (1993 and 2002) 1 trophy: UD Collerense (1970), CD Margaritense (1971), CF Porto Cristo (1981), CE Cardassar (1991), CE Badia de Cala Millor (1992), CE Espanya (1994), CE Campos (1996), RCD Mallorca (2004), FB Santanyí (2008), CF Vilafranca (veterans) (2013), Bunyola CF (2014), Athletic Club de Montuïri (2023), UE Porreres (2024) and CE Artà (2026)

References