Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

, the autonomous community of

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. Founded in 1997, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Dama de Noche football ground.

History

Unión Deportiva Marbella was founded in 1997 immediately after the defunction of Club Atlético Marbella, which was founded 38 years before and was owned by Jesús Gil, also the chairman of

Atlético de Madrid Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

. In 2000–01, the team won its

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

group but came second to Real Betis B in the promotion play-offs. It subsequently qualified to the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

for the first time, losing 0–1 at home to CD Díter Zafra in the preliminary round. In 2003, it was finally promoted to

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. Marbella was taken over by businessmen Ian Radford and Wayne Elliott of the HI Group, an international sports, leisure, property and travel company in September 2007. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, the club contested the play-offs for promotion to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

for the first time, losing 2–1 on aggregate to Lorca Deportiva. In the ensuing domestic cup season, it reached the last 32 before an 8–0 aggregate loss to Atlético; the league campaign ended with relegation after seven years in the third tier. On 28 June 2013 Unión was renamed ''Marbella Fútbol Club'', by consent of the Russian ownership presided by Alexander Grinberg, in order to appeal to a wider foreign fanbase. At the end of the season, it ended four years in the fourth division with a 3–2 aggregate win over

CD Eldense Club Deportivo Eldense is a Spanish football team based in Elda, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1921, the club plays in the Segunda División, and holds home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Nuevo Pepico Amat'', which has a ...

after extra time in the play-offs. By finishing second in the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

, Marbella played in the

2018 Segunda División B play-offs The 2018 Segunda División B play-offs (Playoffs de Ascenso or Promoción de Ascenso) are the final playoffs for promotion from 2017–18 Segunda División B to the 2018–19 Segunda División. The four first placed teams in each one of the four g ...

, and lost on penalties in the first round to Celta de Vigo B. Grinberg sold the club to Chinese investor Zhao Zhen in November 2018. In 2019–20, the team again came second and qualified for the play-offs, where all games were held in the local area due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Nonetheless, they lost 2–0 in the first round to SCR Peña Deportiva. A league restructuring meant that Marbella were relegated from the last season of the Segunda División B in 2020–21, dropping to the fifth-tier Tercera Federación. After two years in the fifth tier, Marbella achieved promotion in April 2023 as champions of their group. Goalkeeper Alberto Lejárraga celebrated the occasion by

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. Marbella's first season in the

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Fede ...

ended in success, with promotion to the Primera Federación in June 2024. They defeated Getafe B and then UD Logrones in two two-legged play off games. Following promotion, it was announced that Brazilian midfielder

Casemiro Carlos Henrique Casimiro (born 23 February 1992), also known mononymously as Casemiro , is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the ...

would be investing in the club.

Club background

*'' Atlético Marbella'': 1947–1997 *''UD Marbella'': 1997–2013 *''Marbella FC'': 2013–present

Season to season

*As ''UD Marbella'' *As ''Marbella FC'' ---- *2 season in Primera Federación *13 seasons in

*1 season in

*9 seasons in

*2 seasons in Tercera Federación/Tercera División RFEF

Current squad

Out on loan

Honours

: 2001–02, 2013–14 * Tercera Federación: 2022–23 *

: 2023–24 play-off winners

Former players

Former coaches

* Juan López Muñiz * Oli * Alfredo Santaelena

Stadium

Marbella's traditional home ground is at ''Estadio Municipal de Marbella''. However, with this stadium being redeveloped, Marbella currently plays its home games a
Dama de Noche football ground
a training pitch that has been converted into a very basic stadium by the addition of temporary stands, and has a capacity of around 1,500 spectators. As a result of the basic and limited facilities at Dama De Noche, the local council and football club have been under pressure from the supporters to conclude the redevelopment of ''Estadio Municipal de Marbella''.

Affiliated clubs

The following club is currently affiliated with Marbella FC: * Hyderabad FC (2020–present)

References

External links

Official website

Futbolme team profile

Official youth academy websiteClub & stadium history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marbella Football clubs in Andalusia Association football clubs established in 1997 1997 establishments in Spain Sport in Marbella Phoenix clubs (association football) Primera Federación clubs