A centenary club in the center of Axarquía
Located just above the Costa del Sol, Vélez-Málaga is one of the most prominent cities in the province of Málaga. Its football team is the province’s oldest and, thus, one of the most important Málaga clubs, despite having a less successful history than other clubs. Welcome to…Vélez.
Vélez-Málaga
Vélez-Málaga is a city of over 80,000 inhabitants, making it the most populated city in the province after Málaga and Marbella. As many Andalusian cities, Vélez-Málaga’s economy is principally about tourism, but it has also been able to maintain its agricultural tradition, producing many mangos, cherimoyas, loquats, and avocados. Moreover, Vélez-Málaga has a port vital for the city’s economy and identity.
Football in Vélez-Málaga
As Vélez-Málaga was a considerably smaller town in the first decades of the 20th century, it took some time before the first football clubs were founded. One of these was Vélez Club de Fútbol, created in 1922. The team would only play amateur matches during its first years, joining the Andalusian Football Federation in 1940.
1960 was the year in which the veleños played their first season in the Tercera División but without much success. It was years before the golden period of Vélez: the 1990s. The blancos had already returned to the Tercera towards the end of the 1980s and succeeded in winning the playoffs for promotion to the Segunda División B in 1995.
Vélez would only play two years in the bronze division, coinciding with teams like Córdoba, Recreativo, Granada, Real Jaén, Elche, Cádiz, and its big brother Málaga. Unfortunately, the veleñistas returned to the Tercera in 1997 and even went down to the Regional Preferente in 2003.
However, the supporters of Vélez did not lose hope and saw how their team was always present in the Tercera División by the 2010s. And as the centenary came closer, the results improved as well. In 2021, Vélez won the Eastern Andalusian group of the Tercera División, achieving direct promotion to the Segunda Federación. Exactly 24 years later, Vélez was back in the competition. Both in 2022 and in 2023, the whites ended above the relegation zone, breaking the club record of consecutive seasons in the Segunda Federación.
The most famous velean footballer
Many well-known footballers were born in Vélez-Málaga, like Javi Guerra, Esteban Vigo, and the Ruiz Hierro brothers. The most famous out of these three is Fernando Hierro, one of the best centerbacks in football history. He played over 600 matches for Real Madrid, as well as many matches for the Spanish national team, captaining both. At the Madrilean club, he won 18 trophies, being one of the most successful players in the club’s history.
Then, the question arises: has Fernando Hierro ever played in the white shirt of Vélez? The answer is yes. The Andalusian club trained him until his 16th birthday and taught him what football was. He is a fan favorite in Vélez-Málaga, which can be illustrated by a stadium in which Vélez temporarily had to play in the 1990s and 2000s: the Estadio Fernando Ruiz Hierro.
The future
Vélez has managed to establish itself in the Segunda Federación, partly thanks to Swedish investors who arrived at the Costa del Sol in 2020. After staying up during its centenary, the veleños believe that they can stay up for many more years, and, considering that Vélez has the seventh most valuable team of its group in 2023-24, might even dream of something bigger. This was…Vélez.
Sources
- Borchers, L. (2021). GOLAZO. Self-published.
- Borchers, L. (2022). CARA O CRUZ. Self-published.
- http://lafutbolteca.com/velez-club-de-futbol/
- https://velezcf.com/historia/
- https://www.transfermarkt.es/segunda-division-r-f-e-f-grupo-iv/startseite/wettbewerb/E4G4
Modest Spanish Football 
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