Female Team
Club Atlético Málaga was the first women’s football team founded in Andalusia, on June 30, 1991. Throughout its history, it played 15 seasons in the First Division and contributed around ten players to the Spanish National Team. Its best year came in the historic 1997/98 season, when the team won the treble—claiming the Spanish League, the Copa de la Reina, and the Spanish Super Cup. It was the first women's club to achieve this feat, thanks to standout performances from icons such as Auxi, Isa, Estrella, and Alicia, among many others. The club also added a Copa de la Reina runner-up finish in 1997 and three promotions to the First Division to its trophy cabinet.
On June 8, 2016, close to the 25th anniversary of its founding, the absorption of Club Atlético Málaga by Málaga CF was approved at an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting. This move reaffirmed Málaga CF’s commitment to women’s football—not only with the first team but also at the grassroots level, establishing a structure that includes a reserve team, a cadet team, an under-13 (infantil) team, and a player training school.
Manuel Hernández Navarrete and Isa Guerrero have been two key pillars throughout the club's journey. The team played in Group 4 of the Women’s Second Division from 2012 to 2018. Former Málaga player Raúl Iznata took on coordination and coaching duties for the women’s section in the 2016/17 season. Coach Antonio Contreras took over in 2017/18 with the goal of achieving promotion to the top flight of women’s football. After winning the regular season, Málaga CF secured promotion to the Liga Iberdrola on May 27, 2018, where they competed during the 2018/19 season. However, after a difficult year in the top division, the team was relegated on May 5, 2019, finishing second to last in the standings.
In the 2019/20 season, José Herrera from the Canary Islands was appointed head coach in the newly formed Reto Iberdrola league. It was a transitional year, with the team finishing 5th after 22 matchdays before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis. A new era began at MCFF in 2020/21, with Manolo Navarrete returning as ambassador and Iznata taking on the role of club coordinator. However, results didn’t come—neither under Nati Gutiérrez, who began the season, nor under Javi Ramos, who took over toward the end. The team was relegated to Primera Nacional—the same division where the Málaga reserve team competed—on May 16, 2021.
The 2021/22 season was historic. Under the tireless leadership of Manolo Navarrete in the sporting department, all four teams in the club's women’s section won their respective league championships. The first team, the reserves, the cadets, and the under-13 team—the latter competing in a boys’ league (a historic achievement in 11-a-side football in Andalusia)—demonstrated the strength of the academy and the club's ambition to return to the top tier in the not-too-distant future.
In recent seasons, following the restructuring of the national women’s football league system, Málaga CF has competed in Group 2 of the Segunda Federación, consistently occupying top positions in the standings, but without managing to secure promotion to the Primera Federación—neither directly nor through the playoffs.
