Club Atlético Malagueño Málaga's history trace back to
CD Málaga, a club founded in 1904.
Club Atlético Malagueño was founded on 25 May 1948 as a former
reserve team of CD Málaga, after the club absorbed
CD Santo Tomás with the purpose of establishing a reserve team, took over as Málaga's main team.
Club Atlético Malagueño and
CD Málaga had found themselves together in the
1959–60 Tercera División after
CD Málaga was relegated at the end of the
1958–59 Segunda División. As a reserve team, the former should have been relegated to regional competition. To avoid this, they separated from their parent club and registered as an independent club within the
Royal Spanish Football Federation. That move made it possible for CA Malagueño to survive after CD Málaga suspended operations. The 1992–93 season saw CA Malagueño playing in
Tercera División Group 9. After a successful campaign, the club was promoted to the
Segunda División B. The following season, however, the club was relegated again and, were in danger of folding due to financial struggles.
Name change to Málaga CF On 19 December 1993, in a referendum, the club's members voted in favour of changing names and, on 29 June 1994, CA Malagueño changed their name to Málaga Club de Fútbol S.A.D. In the early 2000s, Málaga were a club rich in young and top quality players, and boasted a more modern and developed stadium. Although they never pushed for a
Champions League place, Málaga were always successful under the popular
Joaquín Peiró. They made a solitary appearance in the
UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2002, clinching their only official trophy by beating
Gent,
Willem II and
Villarreal. Málaga's run in the
UEFA Cup was something of an overachievement, and ended in a defeat on penalties in the quarter-finals to
Boavista, after beating
Željezničar Sarajevo (who had been eliminated from the Champions League by
Newcastle United),
Amica Wronki,
Leeds United (after a 2–1 win at Elland Road, courtesy of two
Julio Dely Valdés goals) and
AEK Athens. After Peiró's retirement, a mass exodus slowly started.
Darío Silva,
Kiki Musampa, Dely Valdés and
Pedro Contreras all left the club.
Juande Ramos took over as coach and oversaw a 5–1 home thrashing of
Barcelona, the club's biggest victory against the Catalan giants, with a hat-trick from loanee
Salva Ballesta, who would end up missing out on the
Pichichi Trophy by just two goals. Ramos, however, left for the
Sevilla and
Gregorio Manzano took charge.
Slow decline and financial issues Despite steering Málaga to their second consecutive tenth-placed finish, Manzano could not prevent a lackluster side from being relegated, and they finished at the bottom of the league with a paltry 24 points to their name. Málaga began the new second division season well. However, their form dipped dramatically and for two of the remaining six weeks were in the relegation zone. Málaga managed to address this situation and survived their first Segunda season. The
2007–08 Segunda División also began impressively, with seven straight victories. Málaga seemed to be on track for promotion but, after another slump in form, they were overtaken as leaders by
Numancia. They needed a victory in their final game, at home to
Tenerife, to assure promotion. Two goals from
Antonio Hidalgo secured a 2–1 triumph and Málaga returned to the top flight as runners-up.
Abdullah Al Thani era (2010–present) Due to the club's economic problems, then-president
Fernando Sanz entered conversations with
sheikh Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani to launch an ambitious project. On 11 June 2010, after a week of negotiations, Al Thani became the entity's new owner, being named president on 28 July Later, Shatat confirmed
Manuel Pellegrini as coach. With
"The Caretaker" in charge, it was decided to discard players of the squad and strengthen with players like centre back
Martín Demichelis and midfielder
Júlio Baptista. A record five consecutive
La Liga wins, alongside a draw against
Athletic Bilbao at
San Mamés at the start of January 2011, helped the team maintain momentum in the league, finishing the
2010–11 season in 11th place. In preparation for the
2011–12 season, the club signed with
Nike as supplier of the club's kits. Málaga also reached a collaboration agreement with
UNESCO, which became the principal sponsor of the club's kit. The more prominent signings of that season were the Dutchman
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the ex-
Lyon French midfielder,
Jérémy Toulalan, and the most expensive signing in the club's history,
Santi Cazorla, who arrived from
Villarreal in a
€21 million deal. Other less prominent players like
Isco, former
Spanish international midfielder
Joaquín and left back
Nacho Monreal, were key in the successful season which followed. For the first time in its history, the club qualified for the
Champions League after finishing the
2011–12 La Liga campaign in fourth. In the Champions League, Málaga were paired with Italian giants
Milan and reigning Belgian and Russian champions
Anderlecht and
Zenit Saint Petersburg, respectively. Málaga made it out of the group stage unbeaten, winning their matches against all three clubs. In the round of 16, the team drew Portuguese champions
Porto, losing the first away game 1–0 while winning at home 2–0, advancing to the quarter-finals. In a highly anticipated tie against German champions
Borussia Dortmund, the home game ended 0–0, leaving
Malagauistas with a reasonable chance to advance on the back of a draw in the away fixture. In a second leg marked by controversial referee decisions, the scoreboard showed 1–2 at the 90 minute mark, seemingly ensuring Málaga's place in the semi-finals, but two late goals by
Marco Reus (90+1st minute) and
Felipe Santana (90+3rd minute) turned the table in favour of the home team. Immediately after the elimination, club president
Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani announced a formal complaint would be filed with
UEFA and
FIFA. The following season, Málaga was banned by UEFA, along with other clubs for its debts. In a statement the agency declared that the club would be excluded from a subsequent competition, for which it would otherwise qualify, in the next four seasons. However, the ban was eventually downgraded to one season and the club was excluded from the
2013–14 Europa League. vs. Málaga CF. In the summer of 2013, Isco was sold to
Real Madrid, Joaquín to
Fiorentina and midfielder Jérémy Toulalan to
Monaco. The manager also changed, with
Bernd Schuster taking over from Manuel Pellegrini. Following 2013, Málaga encountered a steady decline that would result in them finishing in a lower position in the league each year. On 19 April 2018, Málaga faced Levante U.D. hoping to end their run of ten consecutive defeats that left them placed 20th in LaLiga. However, fate took a turn for the worse and Málaga conceded a goal to Levante's
Emmanuel Boateng in stoppage time to see the final score at 0–1. This loss meant that Málaga would be relegated to the Segunda División, ending a run of ten consecutive seasons in the top flight. In 2019, Málaga came close to being promoted to La Liga, finishing third in the
Segunda División, but was eliminated in the first round of the
play-offs by
Deportivo de La Coruña. For the
2019–20 Segunda División season,
Víctor Sánchez del Amo continued as coach. In early 2020, reports emerged that club owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani and his family who owe Málaga €7.3m in loans and credit lines, were buying out shares from smaller shareholders to be directed to their personal expenses and business interests, yet up to February 2022 no evidence has proven any misconduct to allow the courts to rule that a criminal case is justified. In August 2020, the court appointed administrator issued a statement that he would lay off the entire first-team squad to save the club from oblivion. In May 2023, Málaga fell into the third tier for the first time since 1998. In the first season back in
Primera Federación, the team finished in 3rd, twelve points behind the promoted
CD Castellón and seven points behind the 2nd ranked
Córdoba CF. In the first round of the play-off they knocked out
Celta B 4-3 on aggregate. The final was against
Gimnàstic de Tarragona (who had finished 2nd in the regular season). Málaga won the first leg at home 2-1. In the second leg, Gimnàstic scored early and forced extra time. After going 2-0 down, Málaga scored two goals in the second half of extra time to draw the game 2-2, winning 4-3 on aggregate and winning promotion back to the second tier of Spanish football. ==Honours==