Manacor

Name evolution

• Futbol Club Manacor (1923-1934)
• Club Deportivo Nacional de Manacor (1934-1935)
• Racing Club de Manacor (1935-1937)
• Club Deportivo Manacor (1937-present)

Beginnings of football in Manacor

In 1908, football arrived to Manacor for the first time with the creation of Foot-Ballista Club Manacor, related to the local agricultural syndicate. Later, a new club was founded after splitting from the first club: Foot-Ballista Club Alfonso XII, but both clubs disappeared one year later. The members and players of both teams created Club Manacor de Foot-Ball in 1909, a club that would be active for a decade, but also ended up disappearing.

Foundation of CE Manacor (1923)

On June 23rd 2023 in the Teatre Principal in Manacor, a new club was founded: Futbol Club Manacor, which became the new representative club of the homonymous city and registered at the Catalan Football Federation. Quickly, Manacor would turn into one of the referents of football in the Part Forana (the parts of Mallorca outside of Palma), together with CE Constància from Inca.

1920s. Runners-up in the Primera Categoria and a new stadium

In the 1924-25 season, Manacor debuted in the Primera Categoria of the regional Campionat de Mallorca de futbol after one season of absence due to the lack of a stadium that complied with the competition rules. One season later, the club obtained the second place after the excision of many teams from the competition. The 1925-26 final was played against RS Alfons XIII FC (currently RCD Mallorca) in Felanitx and was won by the Palma team. It would be the only second place that Manacor would achieve in this competition.

During the second celebration of Easter in 1925, the Estadi de Na Capellera was inaugurated with a friendly against RS Alfonso XIII FC. Interestingly, Manacor played with a blue-red shirt during its first years, imitating FC Barcelona, a team that had many followers on the island.

1930s. Crisis, refoundations and war

Around 1930, Manacor started to suffer severe financial problems, leading to the club being relegated, the stadium being sold in August 1934, and the entity disappearing a few days later. That same year, Club Deportivo Nacional de Manacor was founded, formed by ex-players of the recently disappeared club. The new club changed its colours, which became red and white vertical stripes and black socks (which turned blue in the 1970s), while they maintained the stadium of the previous club. In the beginning of 1935, Nacional changed its name to Racing Club de Manacor.

Initially, it seemed like Racing would be able to return to the heights that FC Manacor had reached before, but the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War caused the temporary complete paralysation of the club's activities. In the beginnings of 1937, Francoist directors took over the club and refounded it as Club Deportivo Manacor, incorporating the base of players of Racing.

1940s. Promotion to the Tercera División

After one season in the Segunda Regional, Manacor achieved promotion to the Primera Regional in 1940-41. The club maintained that category with ease and was finished first on three occasions: 1944-45, 1945-46, and 1948-49, achieving promotion to the Tercera División after the third championship.

1950s. Consolidation and almost another promotion

With the promotion to the Tercera División, Manacor left the regional competitions behind for a long time and started to play against Catalan and Valencian teams. The fourth place, obtained in the debut season, placed Manacor above renowned Mallorcan teams like CE Atlètic Balears or CE Constància, becoming the temporary second-strongest team on the island (behind CD Mallorca, active in the Segunda División).

During the rest of the 1950s, Manacor usually finished in a high position, even being close to winning the competition during some seasons. The best season of the decade was 1959-60, in which Manacor won the league after an agonic season finale. Manacor played the play-off final for promotion to the Segunda División against Hércules CF and lost 2-0. The club would not be that close to promotion to the second tier again.

Championship of the Copa Uruguay (1958)

Parallel to the Tercera División, Manacor participated in the Copa Uruguay, an important Mallorcan tournament during the 1950s and 1960s. The club won the 1957-58 edition after surviving the group phase, eliminating CE Atlètic Balears in the semi-final (2-2, 1-1, and 6-2), and beating CE Alaró in the final (4-1).

1960s and 1970s. Many promotions and relegations

During the 1960s, Manacor only played in the Tercera División, but without participating in the promotion playoffs. In 1970, the club got relegated to the Primera Regional, a competition that would turn into the Regional Preferente two years later. The 1970s are characterised by the many promotions and relegations of Manacor. Successively, the club was relegated (1970), promoted (1973), relegated (1974), promoted (1978), relegated (1979), and finally promoted (1980). The 1979-80 season would be Manacor's last one in the regional categories during the 20th century.

1980s and 1990s. The glory era

During the 1980s, Manacor aimed for promotion to the newly-created Segunda División B for the first time. In the 1983-84 season, Manacor achieved promotion to the Segunda B despite not being crowned champion. The next season would, in a way, be the most successful season in the club's history, given that Manacor stayed up in the new third division, the only time it would achieve that goal. In 1985-86, however, the club was relegated to the Tercera División.

During the 1990s, Manacor won two championships of the Tercera División: in 1989-90 and in 1992-93. Both titles had similar outcomes: the club achieved direct promotion to the Segunda División B, but also returned to the Tercera División one year later. During these years, Manacor lived its glory era, used to fill the Estadi de Na Capellera, and was considered one of the strongest teams of the Part Forana.

2000s and 2010s. Many more seasons in the Tercera División

In the 21st century, Manacor confirmed its profile as a 'classic' team in the Tercera División, accumulating 16 seasons more during the first two decades. During the first years of the century, it seemed like the club could return to the Segunda División B, but was eliminated from the promotion playoffs every time it participated and dropped down to the Regional Preferente in 2009.

Even though the relegation had a profound impact on the club, it also led to the start of a new dynamic. With a strong team, Manacor was crowned champions twice and, subsequently, achieved two promotions, one to the Tercera División (2010) and one to the Segunda División B (2011). However, the club failed to stay up and returned to the Tercera División after one season. Between 2015 and 2017, Manacor competed in the Regional Preferente, playing all other seasons of the 2010s in the Tercera.

2020s. Playoffs and the Copa del Rey

In the 2020-21 season, affected severely by the COVID-19 pandemic, Manacor aimed for promotion for the first time since returning to the Tercera División in 2017. The club finished fourth in the first phase and third in the second phase, missing out on the promotion play-offs by one point.

Before the start of 2021-22, the Tercera División was replaced by the Tercera Federación and turned into the fifth tier of Spanish football. In this way, Manacor debuted in a new competition, even though it was practically a continuation of the previous one. Regarding the results, Manacor had a better season than the previous one, finishing in second place. In the play-off for promotion to the Segunda Federación, Manacor survived the regional phase, eliminating CE Llosetí (4-1) and UE Poblera (2-1). In the national phase, however, the club lost to AD Alcorcón B from Madrid (0-2).

The 2022-23 season would be another positive one, but with the same outcome. In a close title race with CE Andratx, SE Penya Independent, and UE Poblera, Manacor finished second, balanced on points with Andratx. In the regional play-off phase, the club lost to CE Santanyí in the first round (1-0 in Santanyí and 1-1 in Manacor) and had to continue in the Tercera Federación.

In 2023-24, Manacor qualified for the play-off for promotion to the Segunda Federación for the third consecutive time, but this time after finishing fifth in the regular league. For the second time in a row, the club was knocked out of the play-off in the first round, this time by RCD Mallorca B (1-0 in Manacor and 5-1 in Palma).

Two participations in the Copa del Rey

Thanks to the good classifications in the Tercera Federación in the seasons 2021-22 and 2022-23, Manacor entered the Copa del Rey in 2022-23 and 2023-24. In the first season, the club received FC Andorra from the homonymous state, a team active in the Segunda División, and lost 1-3. The second season, the Estadi de Na Capellera was visited by UD Las Palmas, a side from La Liga, and the Canarians won 0-3.