In 1964, under the presidency of Juan Moreno de Luna, Club Deportivo Málaga agreed to the creation of two sports divisions, one for basketball and one for boxing.
Club Deportivo Málaga (Basketball)
CD Málaga’s basketball team involved a group of players mainly from Ademar Maristas, as well as other Malagueño squads such as Agustinos. The team included players such as Alfonso Queipo de Llano, Jesús Bonilla, Juan Rabaneda, Paco Llorca, Ruiz Meliveo (international youth player) and Fernando Corrales (international ‘B’ team, and coincidentally, the first Málaga player to make the jump shot), amongst others.
This team was presented on 15th January 1964 and just four days later, on 19th January, played their first match against Granada outfit, Castillo Radio. The match, played on the Hermanos Maristas school court, ended in a Malaguista victory by 39-34.
The team, coached by Manolo Jato, competed in Group IX of the Second Division 'Trofeo Gonzalo Aguirre'. CD Málaga claimed the runner-up position, behind Peritos de Jaén. Castillo Radio and Almería side, Hispania completed the group made up of just four teams.
In the 1964-65 season, the number of teams in the Second Division group increased. As such, CD Málaga competed alongside Sevilla CF, Peritos de Jaén, Firestone de Granada and Educación y Descanso de Melilla. The team continued playing its matches at Hermanos Maristas school, awaiting the opening of La Rosaleda basketball court.
During this second season, the standout signing of Ramón Guardiola was made, who was only there for one season but went on to become an international with the Spanish team. An injury stopped him from playing basketball at 25 years of age, when he was a Real Madrid player.
The team’s confirmation
Two years after the team was created, they stopped playing at the Hermanos Maristas school and finally moved to La Rosaleda basketball court, situated behind what would later become the Fondo stand. The location of the court, which was open air at the time, provided more than one anecdote, such as the matches coinciding with Atlético Malagueño games and, as the reserve team reached half-time, the football fans climbed to the top of the stands (it was just a ring back then) and when they saw the CD Málaga players score, would chant ‘GOAL’.
Playing in Group XII of the Second Division (1965-66), CD Málaga fought hand in hand with Peritos de Jaén to win the championship title, which the outfit from Jaén went on to claim. The runner-up place led CD Málaga to take part in the play-offs for First Division promotion, but didn’t manage to overcome the subsequent phases by sectors.
The 1966-67 season will forever remain in the memory of Malagueño basketball. The team, again in Second Division Group XII, came up against Málaga team Intelhorce, amongst others. At the end of the competition, and following a hard fight with Lanjarón de Granada and Peritos de Jaén they won the group championship, although they didn’t get through the promotion phase.
On 26th February 1967, CD Málaga faced Real Madrid, part of the ‘Fiestas de Invierno’, in a triangular tournament with Alhamar de Granada. This Cup also served to inaugurate the lighting on the basketball court, meaning night matches could now also be held at the Malaguista ground.
In the final, Real Madrid defeated CD Málaga by 61-46, in a match that was pretty even at half-time, 27-29. The line-up that day:
- CD Málaga: Cabrera (18), Ruiz Meliveo (10), Llorca (7), Corrales (11), Castillo, Bonilla, Gallardo, Rabaneda and Espejo.
- Real Madrid: Sevillano (6), Sainz (12), Aiken (5), Monsalve (20), Emiliano (9), Cristóbal (5) and Paniagua (4).
In addition, for the first and only time, the team participated in the 'Copa del Generalísimo', eliminating Club Natación Militar de Sevilla in the first round (34-73 and 102-23 were the results), to go on to play historic Spanish basketball side, CB Estudiantes in the second round. On 16th April 1967 (the same day CD Málaga moved up to the First Division after beating Levante UD) CD Málaga hosted the first leg of the Cup game and, despite the difference in category, CD Málaga stood up to the Madrid outfit, losing 56-65. On the Estudiantes team, a young Aíto García Reneses featured, who many years later went on to coach Unicaja de Málaga.
During the return leg, held on 23rd April at the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu pavilion, better known at the time as the ‘Nevera’, the team from Madrid was far superior to CD Málaga, with a 105-44 victory.
There was a restructuring for the 1967-68 campaign, with CD Málaga not just playing matches in Andalucía and Melilla. The geographical scope was extended to Extremadura and Murcia. The team was in Group VII of the Second Division, and went on to win the championship again, winning 17 out of 18 games. Midway through the season, Manolo Jato left his position of coach and was replaced by Jesús Bonilla, who would combine the roles of player and coach.
Promotions and relegations
In the 1968-69 season, the team moved to Second Division Group VI, ending in 4th place out of seven teams. Group champion was Club Banesto de Madrid. Málaga had to take part in a play-off against CD Vitoria, CB Ripollet and Club Educación y Descanso de Orense. One draw (50 all against EyD de Orense) and two defeats led to the team’s relegation.
For the 1969-70 season, for sponsorship reasons, Málaga was renamed CD Málaga-Cerveza Victoria. The team, that year competing in Third Division Group V, won the 12 league games, the championship and Second Division promotion in a phase of sectors held in Cartagena.
In the 1970-71 campaign, with Jesús Bonilla at the helm, the team was in Group B of the Liga Nacional de Segunda. This group was made up of 12 teams, nine from Cataluña, including RCD Español, UDR Pineda and CB Hospitalet (teams who played in the First Division for many years, as well as the subsequent Liga ACB), two teams from Valencia and CD Málaga. Due to the reforms taking place on the basketball court, the team had to play the first round games away from home.
On 31st January 1971, the basketball court cover was inaugurated, an essential requirement for the team in the case of First Division promotion, in the match against CB Pedagogium de Barcelona, which ended 50-41 for CD Málaga. The Malaguista fans nicknamed the court 'Almacenes Rodríguez López', due to its appearance and the surname of the CD Málaga president, who sadly was killed months later.
Curiously, CD Málaga-Cerveza Victoria ended the league in Group B as the team with the fewest number of points in their favour (1197), but at the same time, with the fewest points conceded (1317); however, they ended in 10th place with nine wins and 13 defeats and had to take part in a promotion fight against Club Banesto de Madrid which they ended up losing. This led to the team’s relegation to the Third Division where they would remain for the subsequent years.
Final years of the basketball section
Once again in the Third Division, the 1971-72 season presented a challenge for CD Málaga to again move up to the silver division of Spanish basketball. They were champions of Third Division Group IV 'Trofeo Padre Damián', following 14 victories against teams such as Centro de Deportes El Palo and Club San Estanislao, both from Málaga capital. The promotion phase in this sector was held in Granollers in May 1972, but the team came fourth out of six. Promotion hopes were dashed.
During the 1972-1973 season, North American player Richard, was the first foreign player with CD Málaga, with the team again competing in Third Division Group VI. That campaign, the team ended in third place (16 victories and six defeats) missing out on the top two spots that allowed them to compete in the promotion phases.
The 1974-75 season was the final one for the basketball team. The squad, mainly made up of young players coached by José María Martín Urbano, faced teams such as Ymca El Palo (undefeated champion), Hípica de Granada, Mercantil de Sevilla, and Estudiantes de la Rábida and Gil Martín from Huelva.
At the end of the campaign, the relegation of CD Málaga’s football team to the Second Division, led to the Club deciding to abandon the basketball division. After 11 years, CD Málaga no longer had a basketball team.
Club Deportivo Málaga (Boxing)
As well as the Club’s basketball division, boxing was also introduced in 1964. When this section was created, there were four professional boxers (Heredia, Zúñiga, Lozano and Yanclo) and 12 amateurs. The coaches were Antonio Rodríguez Granados (lightweight champion of Andalucía in 1943) and Alfonso Ortiz.
This section, which initially trained at the Campo de la Juventud (current Ciudad Deportiva de Carranque), finally managed to have a gym located in the corner of the Fondo and Preferencia stands at La Rosaleda.
As an anecdote, the section’s anticipated budget for 1964 was 10.000 pesetas. As it stands, little else is known about this section and when it stopped being linked to CD Málaga.
La Rosaleda Polideportiva
The La Rosaleda facilities, despite only having one field of play until the 60s (in that decade the basketball court and Annexe would be added), hosted sports demonstrations, athletics trials and even rugby matches in the 40s and 50s.
In the majority of cases, the matches were played by teams from the SEU (Sindicato Español Universitario).
This article serves as a tribute to all those athletes who defended the CD Málaga jersey in all its different sections.
