Marbella Fútbol Club
The local football team is Marbella Fútbol Club. It was founded in 1997 following the collapse of the 38 year old Club Athletico Marbella which had been latterly owned by independent Mayor Jesus Gil who also owned Athletico Madrid. The new club was initially called Unión Deportiva Marbella and renamed in 2013 to appeal to a wider international fan base. The club mainly plays in Segunda Division B - Group 4.
The home colours are white shirt, shorts and socks, the away colours are black shirt, shorts and socks.
For many years the club played in the old Tercera División. During the 2001-2002 season the team finished 3rd in the league, but missed out on promotion to the Segunda B after losing in the playoffs. it was promoted the following year in 2003. After a number of years of troubled finances, in 2007 Marbella was taken over by English businessmen Ian Radford and Wayne Elliott of the HI Group, a property and travel company. It returned to the Tercera División in 2010.
In 2013 Unión was renamed Marbella Fútbol Club, by the new Russian owner Alexander Grinberg. and at the end of the season, it was promoted to Segunda División B. In September 2017 Alexander Grinberg was arrested in Spain in connection with money laundering charges but was released on 750k € bail four months later. Alexander Grinberg sold his shares in El Marbella F.C. in 2018 to Mr. Zhao Zhen.
Marbella FC has enjoyed significant progress in recent seasons. In the 2023-2024 season, they achieved promotion to the Primera Federación, the third tier of Spanish football, after finishing third in Segunda Federación Group 4 and winning the subsequent play-offs.
In June 2024 an official statement, Marbella FC announced that Carlos Henrique Casemiro has become a new shareholder of the club. Former Madrid player Esteban Granero serves as president of the club.
Home games were played at the Estadio Municipal de Marbella, a 9,000 capacity stadium. However the stadium was old and is earmarked for demolition. It will be replaced by a new stadium with an investment of around 115 million euro facility for the 2025/6 season. Marbella will play the 2024/5 season at Banus Football Centre, at Dama de Noche next to the Rio Verde, Marbella
