Malaga F.C Football Club

The first football team in the city, the Málaga Football Club, was founded in 1904. It was just a company that announced in the city this new sport from England. Among the early competitors were teams of crew members of foreign vessels reaching the port. In 1907, another attempt to popularize football in the city was conducted by the Málaga Football Club, a name that matches the current football team.

C.F. Malaga was born in 1912, a division of this team in 1915 becomes the new Málaga FC and there is a great rivalry between the teams. In 1917, Malaga F.C. merges with Racing creating Malaga Racing.

After two years without football, from 1919 to 1921, Malaga CF was reborn. Two years later, in 1923 a division of Malaga FC merged with the Victoria Football, Spain and Atlantis and leads to FC Malaga. From 1923 to 1933 there was great rivalry in the city between Malaga FC and F.C. Malaga.

While F.C. Malaga always kept its name, Malaga FC had serious financial problems. It was renamed to Royal Malaga F.C. in 1927, following the offer of the royal title by King Alfonso XIII (also, the Prince of Asturias would become honorary president of the club), the team had to disappear in 1930 and reappear as Malaga Sport Club after having merged with Sporting.

The merger of the two football teams

On May 26, 1933 F.C. Malaga and Malaga S.C. merged, although in reality it was not an actual merger, but rather a change of name, which has since been called Club Deportivo Malacitano. This was agreed by both parties, as the Malaga SC drew a large financial debt, while the Malagan had better staff

The C.D. Malacitano donated blue-white trimmed shirts and white pants. After the Civil War they changed wearing style to white shirts and black trousers. In 1940 Malacitano team became the President Cup champion (a trophy that only was played that year).

In September 1941, with the inauguration of the La Rosaleda Stadium, it was decided to change the name of the club to CD Malaga. That day the team wore blue and white striped shirt and black pants. That same season (1941-42) Malaga definitively established as jersey white-blue vertical stripe shirt and blue pants, a wear that with different shades due to fashion changes remains until today.

The debut of Malaga CF in La Liga

In 1949, Malaga rose for the first time in its history the first division, after several seasons in the second division and even a couple of them in Third Division.

At this early stage in the First Division, Malaga remained for two consecutive seasons in the elite of Spanish football, with the legendary ex-player Ricardo Zamora occupying the dock at La Rosaselda stadium. The first relegation to the Second Division came at the end of the 1950-1951 season, missing only one point to get to stay in the category.

In the following years, Malaga got two new promotions to First Division in 1951-1952 and 1953-1954 seasons, only to find further reductions to the second division at the end of the 1952-1953 and 1954-1955 seasons. The season 1952-1953, still, was remarkable for the goals Real Madrid got from Malaga football club at the Rosaleda Stadium in a match that ended with the result of Málaga 6 - Real Madrid 0, and that continues today being the widest Malagan result that the club has materialized in front of this team.

Great 2000-2005 stage and European participation

The return to the First Division was quick and successful, having achieved the promotion to the top in 1999 from the hand of President Fernando Puche and coach Joaquin Peiro.

Early in the XXI century, Malaga set a new record of staying in the same top category for seven consecutive seasons.

In summer 2002, the first participation of Malaga CF in the UEFA Cup was remarkable, reaching the quarterfinals after exceeding four qualifying rounds to Zeljeznicar, Amica Wronki, Leeds United and AEK Athens, and falling in the penalty shootout against Portugal Boavista.

Malaga F.C Actually

After a season marked by economic failure of the club and new players being sold Malaga FC went down to Second Division in 2006, with the club up for sale. That same summer, Fernando Sanz acquired 97% of shares in the club and the captain then became president of the club.

Since the 2008-2009 Malaga FC plays on first division after a season in which for 42 days has maintained promotion positions. It was on 15 June 2008, on the last day, when earned promotion after winning by 2 goals to 1, both scored by Antonio Hidalgo to Tenerife, finishing second in the standings.

That season was praised work and team play, being a newly promoted and having one of the lowest budgets of the League to qualify for European places. This gaves the club the privilege of being considered revelation team of the season and the best football team in club history.

On 28 March 2009, the Malaga Football Club played a charity match at Rosaleda Stadium in front of 5,000 spectators, which raised 24,000 euros for the benefit of victims of the tornado damage in Malaga. Malaga's opponents was a team of former club players, active or retired, called "Malagan Legends" and headed by former coach Joaquin Peiro.

In summer 2009 the Malaga FC took part in the Peace Cup 2009, a high-level friendly tournament, being one of the seats the stadium of La Rosaleda.

Rosaleda Football Stadium

The Malaga C.F. Stadium is located at the end of the Paseo de Martiricos, at the Guadalmedina riverbank. Opened in 1941, it was rebuilt and enlarged for the World Cup in 1982. In 2000 began an endless remodeling that leads to remodeling 2006. The stadium capacity is 28,963 people.

Rosaleda Stadium hosts every year the dispute oh the Costa del Sol trophy, pre-season tournament first organized in 1961 by CD Malaga. It has also been the scene of international matches of the Spanish national team, Andalusia, a friendly match between England U21 and Ecuador and several charity matches. It has also hosted several matches of the 2009 Peace Cup tournament that summer.

Malaga CF external links

• Malaga FC Official website
  www.malagacf.com

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