Atletico Baleares

For a long time, the history of the club had not been researched, which has only happened in the 21st century. That is why many still trace the origin of the club back to 1942, even though it has been proven and widely accepted that 1920 is the actual foundational year of Atlético Baleares.

The origins (1920)

Mecánico FC

On 3 April 1920, an article about the foundation of new football teams in Palma appeared in the local newspaper Última Hora. The following sentence stood out in the text:

En los talleres de la Isleña tengo noticias que se hacen preparativos para formar un team (I have news from the Isleña workshops that preparations are made to form a team).

While football used to be a sport for the middle or upper class, this was the first time a working-class group created a football team, concretely a group of workers at Isleña Marítima, complemented by naval machinists that were doing an internship at the company. This team adopted the name of Mecánico FC (in Catalan: Mecànic FC).

Their shirts were based on the colours of the company: three vertical blue stripes on a white background, inspired by the initials I-M on the blue background of the original logo of Isleña Marítima. The workers did not have to spend money on elaborating shorts, as they were able to cut their blue overalls. The members gathered in the café Can Rasca (Carrer de Sant Miquel, 67, which used to be 187, right next to the Carrer dels Oms) in Palma. The team lacked a field and played on an esplanade at the Moll de Palma, very close to the former offices of Isleña Marítima.

Fundición Carbonell (or Mallorca FC)

In the same edition of the newspaper cited earlier, another phrase stood out:

En la fundición de los señores Carbonell se organiza otro once, que promete ser un terrible rival por la corpulencia de la gente obrera que se alista. (In the foundry of the Carbonell men another eleven is organized, which promises to be a terrible rival for the bulk of the working people who enlist)

A team founded by workers of the Fundición Carbonell, a small metalworking company in the city. The team initially used the same name of the company and subsequently adopted the name Mallorca FC. The team colors consisted of a totally white T-shirt and pants. Mallorca FC had its club house in café Can Meca (Carrer Arxiduc Lluís Salvador, at cornering the Avingudes) in Palma and Carbonell played its games in a field called sa Síquia Reial, located between Avinguda del Comte de Sallent and Carrer Blanquerna in the same city.

Birth of Baleares FC (1920)

Later in 1920, Mallorca FC left its social premises and moved to Can Rasca, the clubhouse of Mecánico FC. Given their similar work and social class, the members of both clubs got along well and decided to merge to form a more powerful club. Thus, on 14 November or 20 November (depending on the source), a constitutional assembly was held, in which the fusion of Mecánico FC and Mallorca FC was approved under the name Baleares Football Club. The name was unanimously accepted by the attendees, who considered it representative of the social profile of the club. The club house of Baleares remained in the café Can Rasca. The pitch that the new club would use would be that of Mallorca FC, sa Síquia Reial. As for the kit, the white and blue striped T-shirt of Mecánico FC and the white pants of the Mallorca FC were adopted.

The new club debuted on 21 November 1920, winning 5–0 in the Tirador velodrome against Veloz Sport Balear, which was one of the most potent teams at the time.

The 1920s and 1930s. Growth and consolidation

In 1921, Baleares played its first major tournament: the Copa Ayuntamiento, organized by the Municipality of Palma, and finished second behind RS Alfonso XIII FC (currently known as RCD Mallorca). Afterward, Baleares has been a regular in local competitions.

Soon, a fierce rivalry between those two teams developed, a rivalry that transcended sports. On the one hand, RS Alfonso XIII FC was a team followed and supported by the most well-off classes, as well as by the Spanish monarchists, while on the other hand, Baleares has its origins in the humblest estates and in Republicanism. The rivalry between these teams still exists and is called the Palma derby.

Due to the growth of the club, Baleares moved to the Son Canals stadium, which opened in 1923 and remained its home for decades. Meanwhile, the club participated in the Regional Balearic Championship, first organized in 1923 by the Catalan Football Federation and since 1926 by the Balearic Islands Football Federation until its disappearance in 1940. Baleares was always in the front line of the competition: it finished as runner-up of the Mallorcan Championship on nine occasions, only surpassed by RS Alfonso XIII FC or CE Constància from Inca. It won the Mallorcan Championship in the 1927-28 season but lost the Balearic Championship final to UD Mahón, the champion of Menorca, by 1-0.

In other competitions, one of the highlights of Baleares was the triumph in the President of the Republic Cup, a tournament played by the top-tier teams of the Mallorcan Championship during the 1933-34, 1934-35, and 1935-36 seasons, with a trophy in dispute awarded by the then-president Niceto Alcalá Zamora. Baleares won the second and third editions and, consequently, the cup in dispute, as teams could obtain the cup if they would win two editions. Some days later, the club was about to participate in the People's Olympiad in Barcelona, which was supposed to be held from 19 to 26 July 1936, but the military uprising by the Francoists impeded the tournament's start and led the players to meet for a friendly in the Republican zone at the start of the Spanish Civil War.

In 1940, the name Baleares Football Club was changed to Club de Fútbol Baleares, according to the guidelines of the Francoist regime that prohibited the use of other languages besides Spanish, including in names of football clubs.

Baleares played in Primera Regional de Mallorca when, in 1940, the Regional Balearic Championship was transformed into a part of the lower divisions of the Spanish football league system. This, together with other factors, caused the decline of Baleares and almost led to relegation to the Segunda Regional de Mallorca.

Fusion with Athletic FC (1942)

In 1942, the Palma Council approved an urban planning change that forced another club from Palma, CD Atlético (until 1940 called Athletic FC), to leave its stadium, Sa Punta. The club lacked the resources to build a new stadium and contacted other clubs to discuss a possible merger. First, its directors approached CD Mallorca, but the negotiations failed because CD Atlético wanted the future club to be called CD Atlético-Mallorca, while CD Mallorca did not want any name change. Then, CD Atlético contacted Baleares, with whom they reached an agreement. The fusion agreement was signed on 27 May 1942 and consisted of the following points:

• Modification of the club's name from Club de Fútbol Baleares to Club Deportivo Atlético-Baleares.
• Maintaining the colours of Baleares (blue and white) without any variation of design.
• Maintaining the headquarters and pitch of Baleares, both located in the Son Canals stadium.
• Assuring equality of members regarding the club of origin, as well as parity in the board of directors.

The agreement was legally embodied as a merger with equality of clubs, but in practice, it was an absorption of CD Atlético by Baleares. Baleares had a much more numerous fanbase, and its working-class essence was imposed on the middle-class origins of CD Atlético. Besides, the new club inherited the rivalry of Baleares with CD Mallorca, even though CD Atlético maintained a more cordial relationship with the city's most potent club. The name CD Atlético was incorporated into the name of the new entity, but the rest of its hallmarks (colours, stadium, and badge) disappeared. Pere Serra Cladera, president of Baleares, was invested president of Atlético-Baleares (called CD Atlético Baleares by 1943) and Francesc Riera Rigo, president of CD Atlético, was appointed vice president.

The 1940s. Promotion to the Tercera División

The first season of Atlético-Baleares was 1942-43, during which the club played in the Primera Regional. It only was surpassed by CD Mallorca, but both teams still achieved promotion to the Tercera División. For the first time, Atlético Baleares would have to compete with clubs from the Iberian Peninsula, which caused logistical and financial problems. During those years, the league results of Atlético Baleares were mediocre, with the exception of the third place achieved in the 1945-46 and 1946-47 seasons, which gave them access to the playoffs for promotion to Segunda División for the first time.

The 1950s. Years of growth

In the 1950-51 season, Atlético Baleares was crowned champion of the Tercera División. The club participated in the promotion play-off, finished on top, and achieved promotion to the Segunda División for the first time in its history. Atlético Baleares participated two consecutive seasons in the second division and returned to the Tercera División in 1953. In the third division, the team achieved strong results, was league champion in 1955-56, and participated in the playoffs for promotion in 1956, 1957, and 1958, but without returning to the second tier.

Atlético Baleares was flourishing, both regarding the league and the social dimension and decided to construct a new stadium. The capacity of the old Son Canals was not sufficient anymore, and its owners threatened to evict the club, which is why the club approved the project for a new stadium in 1958. The Estadi Balear was inaugurated on 8 May 1960 with a match against Birmingham City FC, which the home team won by 2-0.

The 1960s. Years of splendour

In 1960-61, Atlético Baleares was crowned champion of the Tercera División again and achieved promotion to the Segunda División. Again, the club stayed two seasons in the second division before dropping to the third tier in 1963. Despite this relegation, Atlético Baleares maintained its considerable potential, given that it consistently finished in the top positions and qualified for the promotion playoffs in 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1968, without success.

The 1970s. Institutional and sportive crisis

Since the end of the 1960s, the club was economically declining and experienced gradually worse results in the Tercera División, until the 1972-73 season, when the club got relegated to the Regional Preferente. Atlético Baleares recovered its place in the Tercera División in 1974-75, but the subsequent classifications continued to be mediocre.

In 1977, the Segunda Division B, the new third tier, was created, and Atlético Baleares qualified for its first edition. But that season, Atlético Baleares finished bottom of the league and returned to the Tercera División (the new fourth tier), in which it repeated poor classifications. This relegation and the following decline in results led to the disappearance of direct confrontations with RCD Mallorca. The last editions of the Palma derby in the 20th century include numerous friendlies in the Nicolau Brondo Trophy and a match in the 1986-87 Copa del Rey.

The 1980s. Flying low and high

Disappointing results in the Tercera División continued until a new relegation to the Regional Preferente in the 1980-81 season. Socially and economically, there was chaos at Atlético Baleares, leading the club to remain two seasons in the amateur competition.

After returning to the Tercera División in the 1983-84 season, Atlético Baleares improved substantially and participated in the 1985-86 Tercera División play-off. Despite failing to achieve promotion, the restructuring of the Segunda División B helped the club go up a tier, being its second promotion to this competition.

The team remained three seasons in Segunda Division B: 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90. During the 1988-89 season, the team was very close to finishing on top, a place that would have provided direct promotion to the Segunda División. However, the following season, Atlético Baleares dropped to the Tercera División. Moreover, economic and institutional problems, added to the bad state of the Estadi Balear and the poor assistance to home matches, left Atlético Baleares in crisis.

The 1990s. Deceptive stability

After returning to the Tercera División in 1990, Atlético Baleares entered a bittersweet dynamic that lasted for more than a decade. The club consistently performed well in the league: between 1990 and 2002, Atlético Baleares qualified in the top four except for one season. Such classifications allowed the club to participate in playoffs for promotion to the Segunda División B. Besides, Atlético Baleares was crowned champions four times, of which three in a row (1998, 2000, 2001, and 2002).

However, the playoffs always ended unsuccessfully. The club disputed it in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 (eleven times in twelve seasons), but failed every year. In those years, all Balearic teams ended with the same fate when facing teams from the Peninsula because the Balearic group of the Tercera División had a lower level in comparison to other groups, and Atlético Baleares was no exception. This demoralized both the club and the fanbase, which took its toll.

The 2000s (I). Sinking and almost disappearing

After many failed playoffs, Atlético Baleares entered into a crisis again, fueled by institutional and economic problems. The institutional instability worsened: the relations between the club and Procampo, the community of co-owners of Estadi Balear, worsened. Moreover, players and managers were often let go quickly.

In 2002-03 and 2003-04, the classifications of Atlético Baleares were disappointing, and in 2004-05, the club collapsed. Players did not receive their salaries, and during some matches, there were only eleven players available. The club's youth academy was dismantled, and the institutional friction caused Procampo to prohibit Atlético Baleares from using the Estadi Balear. Atlético Baleares moved to the nearby Germans Escales complex and suffered an inevitable relegation to the Regional Preferente. 2005 is considered one of the darkest years in the history of the club since the entity was about to disappear after 85 years.

The 2000s (II). Recovery at all levels

Atlético Baleares managed to survive, after which the club entered a dynamic of economic and sportive regeneration. The team was crowned champion of the Regional Preferente in the 2005-06 season and returned to Tercera División. The 2006-07 season was designed as a year of consolidation in this competition, but the team performed well and was close to playing the play-off for promotion to the Segunda División B

In the 2007-08 season, Atlético Baleares aimed for promotion and qualified for the promotion play-off to the Segunda División B. First, AD Universidad de Oviedo was beaten (1-1 in Oviedo and 2-1 in Palma). Then, Atlético Baleares won against SD Gernika Club (0-0 in Gernika and 2-0 in Palma) and achieved promotion to the Segunda División B after 18 years of absence.

The 2008-09 season was a failure, and Atlético Baleares finished bottom of the league and returned to the Tercera División. The 2009-10 season started with again the aim to finish on top and achieve promotion, which it did. In the play-off, Atlético Baleares played CD Tudelano, champion of the Navarrese group of the Tercera División, and won in the Estadi Balear (1-0). Despite losing in the return in Tudela (2-1), the double value of away goals led the club to return to the Segunda División B.

The decade of 2010s (I). Consolidation in the league and conversion into SAD

Upon returning to the Segunda División B in the 2010-11 season, Atlético Baleares avoided relegation. Another highlight of the season occurred on an institutional level, with the beginning of the club's transformation into a public limited sports company (SAD).

On 5 May 2011, an extraordinary assembly of members approved the conversion of Atlético Baleares into a SAD by a vast majority, with the aim of lifting the club to the Segunda División on short term. During the assembly, the club also announced the purchase of terrains that would accommodate a future sports complex, a project that was never realized. The conversion process in SAD culminated on 27 September 2012 with the first general meeting of shareholders and the election of its first board of directors.

The 2011-12 season was marked by the objective of obtaining promotion to the Segunda División. After an excellent year, Atlético Baleares was proclaimed champion of its group of the Segunda División B. The team disputed the play-off with CD Mirandés for direct promotion but lost the tie (1-0 in Miranda de Ebro and 1-2 in Palma) and entered the second round. Then, the club played CD Lugo, which it could not overcome either (3-1 in Lugo and 0-0 in Palma), amb was eliminated from the play-off.

In 2012-13, Atlético Baleares would continue to strive to reach the Segunda División, but the team played a mediocre season and barely escaped relegation, after which the directors left the club.

The 2013-14 season was planned very differently. The institutional crisis, the departure of the main investors, and the decline in the league table forced Atlético Baleares to reduce its objective, which was to maintain the category. However, the team played a brilliant season and almost qualified for the play-off.

The decade of 2010s (II). The Volckmann era, the Copa RFEF, and many playoffs

After the main shareholders of Atlético Baleares left the club in 2013, it entered an institutional and economic crisis that even led to its judicial intervention. The situation worsened, and in April 2014, the club entered bankruptcy proceedings. On 5 May, the club faced a decisive shareholders meeting, in which a board of directors consisting of long-time members was elected, who saved the club from disappearing in extremis.

By June 2014, the club came under the control of Ingo Volckmann, a German businessman based in Mallorca, after he acquired 51% of the shareholding package. Thanks to his investments, the club left the bankruptcy proceedings in October of the same year. Since then, the economic stability of the club has been consistent, unlike previous times.

In 2014-15 and 2015-16, with the institutional crisis already resolved and the survival of the club guaranteed, Atlético Baleares finished mid-table without approaching the playoffs. In the latter season, the team performed well in another competition: the Copa RFEF, in which it won the title. After beating many clubs, Atlético Baleares faced CF Rayo Majadahonda in the final and won (2-2 in Majadahonda and 1-0 in Palma), providing the club with the first absolute Spanish title in its history.

The 2016-17 season finished in qualification of Atlético Baleares for the play-off for promotion to the Segunda División. In the first round, Atlético Baleares beat CD Toledo (1-1 in Palma and 1-2 in Toledo), but lost in the second round to Albacete Balompié (1-1 in Palma and 2-1 in Albacete). During the same season, several commemorative events of the 75th anniversary of the merger-absorption of Baleares FC and Athletic FC took place. The main act was a historical exhibition in CaixaForum Palma with a collection of photographs, objects, and trophies of Atlético Baleares, as well as references to the origin of the club in 1920.

During the 2017-18 season, Atlético Baleares could not repeat the results of the previous campaign and avoided relegation on the final matchday. The great incentive of this season was that the main rival, RCD Mallorca, had dropped down to the Segunda División B, which meant the return of the Palma derby after 38 years without league derbies. In Son Malferit, both teams tied (0-0), and in Son Moix, RCD Mallorca won (3-2).

In 2018-19, Atlético Baleares performed better and finished on top of its group. The team disputed the play-off against Racing de Santander, with direct promotion at stake, but lost (0-0 in El Sardinero and 1-1 in Son Malferit) and was forced to play the second round. Atlético Baleares first beat UD Melilla (0-0 in Melilla and 1-0 in Palma) and then lost the final round against CD Mirandés (2-0 in Miranda de Ebro and 3-1 in Palma).

The 2019-20 was promising and started well again. But after matchday 28, on 11 March 2020, the RFEF suspended the competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, first for two weeks and then indefinitely. On 6 May, the Federation confirmed the completion of the regular league and the dispute of a simplified play-off phase. Atlético Baleares had finished first in the regular league and played the play-off against FC Cartagena, another group champion, in a single match with direct promotion at stake. However, the club lost (0-0 and 4-3 loss after penalties). In the second round, UE Cornellà eliminated Atlético Baleares from the play-off (0-1).

The decade of 2020s. Sportive and institutional crisis

In 2020, the RFEF announced a restructuring of the Spanish football pyramid due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. The clubs would be divided into new leagues in the summer of 2021 based on their classifications in the 2020-21 season. The champions of the Segunda División B would achieve promotion to the Segunda División, while the other teams would be divided into two new categories: the Primera Federación (third tier) and the Segunda Federación (fourth tier). The last-placed teams would drop down to the Tercera División, now named the Tercera Federación (fifth tier).

Even though the 2020-21 season was designed for promotion to the Segunda División, Atlético Baleares qualified for the new third division, the Primera Federación. During the following season, the first edition of the Primera Federación, the club aimed for promotion again but failed again and finished mid-table.

Besides the regular, Atlético Baleares performed extraordinarily well in the 2021-22 Copa del Rey. After beating CD Calahorra (1-1 after penalties), Atlético Baleares beat two clubs from the Primera División: Getafe CF (5-0) in the round of 32 and RC Celta de Vigo (2-1) in the round of 16. Finally, the team was knocked out of the tournament in the last 16 by Valencia CF (0-1). This was the furthest Atlético Baleares had ever progressed in the Copa del Rey.

The 2022-23 season was planned with less budget and, therefore, a theoretically weaker team. The results worsened and led to a total of four different coaches who had led the team during the season. On the last matchday of a chaotic season, Atlético Baleares avoided relegation.

In 2023-24, the club announced a budget reduction again, which was reflected in the quality of the squad. Atlético Baleares experienced a tough season and was relegated to the Segunda Federación five matches before the competition's end.

Parallel to the results of the first team, which were disappointing compared to those obtained during the previous decade, the fanbase of Atlético Baleares decreased, mainly due to the scarce relationship between the ownership of the club and the supporters and the lack of participation of the latter group in the operation of Atlético Baleares. This is a common consequence of transforming a football club into a public sports limited company. These circumstances led to a gradual disaffection and lack of public in the Estadi Balear.