CD Mensajero

Club Deportivo Mensajero is a Spanish football team based in Santa Cruz de la Palma, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 6 January 1922, it plays in Tercera Federación – Group 12, holding home games at Nuevo Estadio Silvestre Carrillo, with a capacity of 6,000 spectators.

Mensajero

Full name	Club Deportivo Mensajero
Nickname(s)	Mensa Rojinegros Plumas Rojas Los del Barranco de los Dolores
Founded	1 June 1922 (1922-06-01)
Ground	Silvestre Carrillo, Santa Cruz, La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
Capacity	6,000
President	Víctor Francisco
Head coach	Mingo Oramas
League	Tercera Federación – Group 12
2023–24	Segunda Federación – Group 5, 17th of 18 (relegated)
Home colours Away colours

History

Mensajero's history can be traced to 1922 when a group of friends in Santa Cruz de la Palma formed a youth team. It was not until 1939 that a senior club was established but, with a formation date in 1922, after an excision of players from Tenisca. The first president was Silvestre Carrillo, with two team stadia eventually being dedicated to him.

The club spent roughly 70 years playing at regional level, with various degrees of success. It won the fourth division title for the Canary Islands in 1985, arriving at the national stage seven years later, after winning promotion to the third level.

During the following ten seasons, Mensajero appeared twice in the playoffs: in the 1994–95 campaign, after 22 wins in the regular season, the promotion group consisted of Córdoba CF, CD Castellón and Sestao Sport Club; after a 6–1 home win against the second team, it entered the last round with chances of being promoted, but lost 1–3 at the Andalusians.

In 1999–2000, Mensajero finished fourth after winning 19 out of 38 in the first stage, the highlights being home wins against Caudal Deportivo (7–0, home) and Sporting de Gijón B (5–1, away). In the playoffs, it could only collect one point in six matches, against Burgos CF, Granada CF and Real Murcia.

The expense of running a relatively small club at a national level began to take its toll and with dramatic cuts in funding, Mensajero was relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season, 11 points behind the penultimate team, CD Onda, and 18 points from the safety zone. Two years later, they dropped down to the regional leagues, vacated Silvestre Carrillo grounds and set up home at the Municipal Estadio Bajamar, sharing it with neighbouring SD Tenisca.

After its grounds' improvements were finished, Mensajero returned home for the end of the 2006–07 season, before gaining promotion back to level four in June 2008 and later back to level three in June 2015. In the 2015-16 season the club managed to retain its place in Tercera División, finished 13th, 4 points away from relegation zone.

Season to season

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1948–49 5 2ª Reg. 3rd 1949–50 5 2ª Reg. 3rd 1950–51 5 2ª Reg. 1951–52 5 2ª Reg. 4th 1952–53 5 2ª Reg. 1st 1953–54 5 2ª Reg. 1st 1954–55 4 1ª Reg. 4th 1955–56 4 1ª Reg. 2nd 1956–57 4 1ª Reg. (R) 1957–58 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1958–59 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1959–60 4 1ª Reg. 3rd 1960–61 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1961–62 4 1ª Reg. 2nd 1962–63 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1963–64 4 1ª Reg. 4th 1964–65 4 1ª Reg. 8th 1965–66 4 1ª Reg. 5th 1966–67 4 1ª Reg. 5th 1967–68 4 1ª Reg. 8th

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1968–69 4 1ª Reg. 6th 1969–70 4 1ª Reg. 6th 1970–71 4 1ª Reg. 2nd 1971–72 4 1ª Reg. 6th 1972–73 4 1ª Reg. 6th 1973–74 4 1ª Reg. 5th 1974–75 4 1ª Reg. 9th 1975–76 4 1ª Reg. 12th 1976–77 5 2ª Reg. 3rd 1977–78 7 2ª Reg. 2nd 1978–79 6 1ª Reg. 12th 1979–80 6 1ª Reg. 1st 1980–81 5 Reg. Pref. 2nd 1981–82 4 3ª 18th 1982–83 5 Reg. Pref. 2nd 1983–84 4 3ª 2nd 1984–85 4 3ª 1st First round 1985–86 4 3ª 3rd Third round 1986–87 4 3ª 5th Second round 1987–88 4 3ª 6th Second round

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1988–89 4 3ª 7th 1989–90 4 3ª 12th 1990–91 4 3ª 2nd 1991–92 4 3ª 2nd Second round 1992–93 3 2ª B 11th Second round 1993–94 3 2ª B 9th Third round 1994–95 3 2ª B 2nd Third round 1995–96 3 2ª B 7th First round 1996–97 3 2ª B 8th First round 1997–98 3 2ª B 16th 1998–99 3 2ª B 6th 1999–2000 3 2ª B 4th 2000–01 3 2ª B 10th Round of 64 2001–02 3 2ª B 20th 2001–02 4 3ª 11th 2003–04 4 3ª 16th 2004–05 4 3ª 11th 2005–06 4 3ª 19th 2006–07 5 Int. Pref. 8th 2007–08 5 Int. Pref. 2nd

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 2008–09 4 3ª 4th 2009–10 4 3ª 5th 2010–11 4 3ª 13th 2011–12 4 3ª 13th 2012–13 4 3ª 5th 2013–14 4 3ª 3rd 2014–15 4 3ª 1st 2015–16 3 2ª B 13th Second round 2016–17 3 2ª B 17th 2017–18 4 3ª 2nd 2018–19 4 3ª 2nd First round 2019–20 4 3ª 12th Second round 2020–21 4 3ª 1st / 1st 2021–22 4 2ª RFEF 14th First round 2022–23 5 3ª Fed. 1st 2023–24 4 2ª Fed. 17th First round 2024–25 5 3ª Fed.

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• 12 seasons in Segunda División B
• 2 seasons in Segunda Federación/Segunda División RFEF
• 25 seasons in Tercera División
• 2 seasons in Tercera Federación

Stadium

Silvestre Carrillo Stadium

Mensajero play at Nuevo Estadio Silvestre Carrillo. Lying at the head of a valley close to the centre of Santa Cruz de la Palma, the stadium was extensively rebuilt from 2003 to 2007. Due to the steep valley-side to the south side of the pitch and the sheer drop to the north, the majority of the seating has always been found at either end of the stadium. Prior to the redevelopment in 2003, there was a covered stand at the east end of the ground. A narrow strip of terracing ran along the north side of the pitch, which joined the terrace behind the west end goal.

Following redevelopment, the basic orientation of the stadium remained unchanged. There is however, a more substantial area of seating behind the east goal and this now arcs around to the north side. The east end no longer features a roof, something, which the original redevelopment plan included, but due to the financial difficulties that the club experienced, the project was scaled down. The north terrace tapers away to a single line of seating as you head to the west. The West terrace remains relatively unaltered from the original stadium. The players changing facilities are found in a single storey building on the south side of the pitch.

Local derbies

Mensajero's historic rival is SD Tenisca. Since the reorganisation of Tercera División in 1977, the clubs have met in the league on 28 occasions, with six wins for each side and 16 draws.

In 1983, both teams played a league match that was considered to be one of the most violent in the history of Spanish football.

External links

• Official website (in Spanish)
• Futbolme team profile (in Spanish)
• Estadios de España (in English)