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| Full name | Venados Fútbol Club Yucatán | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Venados (Bucks) Astados (Horned) Ciervos (Deer) | ||
| Short name | VEN | ||
| Founded | 2 September 1988 (1988-09-02) (as Venados de Yucatán) | ||
| Ground | Estadio Carlos Iturralde Mérida, Yucatán | ||
| Capacity | 15,087 | ||
| Owner | Grupo R4 | ||
| Chairman | Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo | ||
| Manager | Nacho Castro | ||
| League | Liga de Expansión MX | ||
| Apertura 2025 | Regular phase: 9th Final phase: Did not qualify | ||
| Website | www.venadosfc.com.mx | ||
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Venados Fútbol Club Yucatán, simplified as Venados FC, is a Mexican professional football club based in Mérida, Yucatán. It competes in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football, and plays its home matches at the Estadio Carlos Iturralde. Founded in 1988 as Venados de Yucatán, the club changed its name several times throughout its history, first as Club Deportivo Atlético Yucatán (1997–2001, 2002–2003), then as Mérida Fútbol Club (2003–2011), Club de Fútbol Mérida (2011–2015) and finally changed to its current name in 2015.
History
Origins and first franchise
The club originally emerged in 1988 as Venados de Yucatán, when Jorge Arana Palma, acquired the Alacranes Rojos de Apatzingán franchise from the Segunda División de México and relocated it to Mérida, Yucatán, and it was during this stage when the colors that would identify them to this day are defined, green, yellow and white. During this first season, they were runners-up in the Segunda División de México in the 1988-89 season.
Club Deportivo Atlético Yucatán
The club was renamed as Club Deportivo Atlético Yucatán in 1997, it played in the Primera División 'A' de México. The franchise was dissolved in 2001, but it returned the following year. The club won the title in the Invierno 1998 tournament, defeating Chivas Tijuana 1–0 in Mérida, and also played the Campeón de Ascenso 1999 against Unión de Curtidores, but lost 7–1.
Mérida Fútbol Club/Club de Fútbol Mérida
Atlético Yucatán was renamed as Mérida Fútbol Club in 2003 by the brothers Arturo and Mauricio Millet Reyes, who obtained the Nacional Tijuana franchise and relocated to Mérida, Yucatán.[1]
Loss of franchise in 2005 and continuation at lower levels
After the Clausura 2005 tournament, the Millet brothers announced that they would be selling and relocating the team to Irapuato, Guanajuato renaming it Club Irapuato due to financial and economic problems, citing lackluster attendance and poor support from the local government. Nevertheless, the brothers formed a team that participated in an amateur league in Yucatán and also opened a training facility in Argentina to scout local talent. Mérida F.C. returned to the professional ranks when they participated in the Tercera División de México in 2006/07. During 2007, the brothers oversaw the construction of a training facility located at the Unidad Deportiva Tamanché. By the 2007/08 season, Mérida was participating in the Segunda División de México.[1]
Return of second level franchise with Morelia
On June 16, 2008, Arturo Millet Reyes announced that he had acquired the filial team of Monarcas Morelia.[2] Millet Reyes has stated that his intention is to maintain the team in Mérida for an extended period of time, unlike in previous years. He also received a guarantee that if the Venados were to be promoted to the Primera División de México, that the team would remain in Mérida.[3]
On November 11, 2008, the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) granted the club the certification required to be promoted to the Primera División de México.[4]
In the Clausura 2009, Mérida defeated Tijuana 1–0 on aggregate to win the Clausura title. Mérida lost the subsequent promotion play-off for the Primera División de México, after a defeat by Querétaro on penalties.
Sale of franchise to Atlante
On December 4, 2010, the brothers Arturo and Mauricio Millet Reyes announced that Mérida F.C. would no longer form part of the Liga de Ascenso de México and that Monarcas Morelia would decide if a team would stay in the city, but that talks were also underway with Atlante regarding the creation of a link with them.[5]
The Mérida franchise was subsequently sold to Atlante and they became that team's filial team for the Clausura 2011, whilst the original Atlante filial team (Atlante UTN) swapped franchises to become the subsidiary team for Morelia. The franchise would later be transferred to Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico and renamed Toros Neza.[6]
Venados Fútbol Club Yucatán
The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación announced that the Apertura 2015 tournament would be 16 teams who would play the Ascenso MX instead of 14, as it was in recent tournaments. In addition, two clubs would be changing cities and states to the next season.
Estudiantes de Altamira became Cafetaleros de Tapachula, who were headquartered at the Estadio Olímpico in Tapachula, Chiapas; while Club Irapuato became Murciélagos F.C. and changed their headquarters to the Estadio Centenario located in Los Mochis, Sinaloa.
In addition to these changes, two new franchises were added later, that of Cimarrones de Sonora, headquartered at the Estadio Heroes de Nacozari in Hermosillo, Sonora, and the FC Juárez franchise began playing in the Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.
Finally, it was announced that Mérida Fútbol Club would now be changing logo and be renamed Venados F.C. (keeping the venue in Mérida).[7]
This meant that the Venados F.C. team would be the "rebirth" of Venados de Yucatán franchise in 2015.
Personnel
Management
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman |  Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo
|
| Vice-chairman | Alberto Alcocer
|
| Director of football | Luis Miguel Salvador
|
Source: Liga MX
Coaching staff
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Nacho Castro
|
| Assistant manager | Guillermo Gómez
|
| Goalkeeper coach | Juan de Dios Ibarra
|
| Fitness coach | Víctor Belmont
|
| Physiotherapist | José Narváez
|
| Team doctor | Santiago Dorantes
|
Providers and sponsors
Current kit provider: Joma.
Current sponsors: Corona Extra, Caliente.mx, Yucatán Travel, Mérida, contigo es mejor, Boston's Pizza, Burger King, Ciudad Maderas, Nus-Káh, Electrolit, Powerade, Lapa Lapa Restaurant & Bar, Hacienda Teya, Puerto Lindo, Totalplay, Texas Roadhouse, SIMCA, Aeroméxico, Súper Aki, Grupo R4, Medio Tiempo, Coca-Cola, Sportsworld, Jack Link's, E-Stom and ADO.
Players
First-team squad
- As of 3 August 2025[8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve teams
- Progreso F.C.
- Affiliate team that plays in the Tercera División de México, the fourth level of the Mexican league system.[9]
Managers
David Patiño (2008–2010)- Mario García (2011)
- Ricardo Valiño (2011–2014)
- Juan Carlos Chávez (2014–2015)
- Daniel Rossello (Interim) (2015)
- Marcelo Michel Leaño (2016)
- José Luis Sánchez Solá (2016–2017)
- Bruno Marioni (2017–2018)
- Joel Sánchez (2018)
- Sergio Orduña (2018–2019)
- Carlos Gutiérrez (2020–2022)
- Andrés Carevic (2022)
- Bruno Marioni (2022–2023)
- Rafael Fernández (2023–2024)
- Rigoberto Esparza (2024–2025)
- Nacho Castro (2025–)
Honours
Domestic
| Type | Competition | Titles | Winning years | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion divisions | Primera División A | 2 | Invierno 1998, Clausura 2009 | — |
| Campeón de Ascenso | 0 | — | 1999, 2009 | |
| Segunda División | 0 | — | 1988–89 |
References
- ^ a b Mario Peniche Gorocica (15 February 2008). "EL MÉRIDA FC, UNA ORGANIZACIÓN". Historia de los Venados del Mérida F.C. (in Spanish). Mape Sports. Retrieved 12 February 2011.
- ^ "Retornan los Venados" (in Spanish). Diario de Yucatán. 2008-06-17.
{{cite news}}:|archive-url=is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Los Venados regresan para quedarse, dice Arturo Millet Reyes" (in Spanish). Diario de Yucatán. 2008-06-17.
{{cite news}}:|archive-url=is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Certifican a los Venados" (in Spanish). Diario de Yucatán. 2008-11-11.
{{cite news}}:|archive-url=is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Herbert O. Martínez Fuente (4 December 2010). "El Mérida FC no sigue en la Liga de Ascenso" (in Spanish). Yucatan.com.mx. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
- ^ 2010/11 Liga de Ascenso (Clausura 2011) results, table and explanation of team changes at RSSSF
- ^ Espinosa, Eduardo (7 June 2015). "Confirman cambios en el Ascenso MX".
- ^ "Venados F.C." Liga BBVA Expansión MX (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "Nace Progreso FC en Tercera División". Venados F.C. (in Spanish). 20 August 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
External links
- Official website (in Spanish)
- Club changes