| Full name | Mérida Fútbol Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Venados (the Bucks), Ciervos (Deers), Astados (Horned) |
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| Founded | 2003 | |||
| Ground | Estadio Carlos Iturralde, Mérida, Yucatán, México (Capacity: 21,050) |
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| President | Arturo Millet Reyes | |||
| Manager | Ricardo Valiño | |||
| League | Liga de Ascenso | |||
| Apertura 2010 | 17th | |||
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Club de Fútbol Mérida is a Mexican football club based in Mérida, Yucatán. As of the 2010/11 season they are playing in the Liga de Ascenso, at the second tier of the Mexican football league system. For the Clausura 2011 season they became the filial team of Atlante, whilst until that point they had been the subsidiary team of Monarcas Morelia.[1]
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Mérida F.C. was founded in 2003 by the brothers Arturo and Mauricio Millet Reyes, who obtained the franchise of Nacional de Tijuana.[2]
After the Clausura 2005 tournament, the Millet brothers announced that they would be selling the team to Irapuato FC due to 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 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 Merida was participating in the Segunda División.[2]
On June 16, 2008, Arturo Millet Reyes announced that he had acquired the filial team of Morelia.[3] 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 that the team would remain in Mérida.[4]
On November 11, 2008, the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación (FMF) granted the club the certification required to be promoted to the Primera División.[5]
In the Clausura 2009 season Merida defeated Club Tijuana 1–0 on aggregate to win the Clausura title. Merida lost the subsequent promotion play-off for the Primera Division de Mexico, after a defeat by Querétaro FC on penalties.
On 4 December 2010 the brothers Arturo and Mauricio Millet Reyes announced that Mérida F.C. would no longer form part of the Liga de Ascenso and that Monarcas Morelia would decide if a team would stay in the city, but that talks were also underway with Atlante F.C. regarding the creation of a link with them.[6]
The Merida 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.[1]
The home stadium for Mérida F.C. is the Estadio Carlos Iturralde, which seats 21,050 people and was founded in June 1987. Due to the stadium undergoing renovation, the Venados played their first five home games at the Unidad Deportiva Tamanché, which only seats around 2,500 people. Plans are in place to build a new stadium in Ucú, a suburb town eight kilometers west of Mérida. The new stadium, whose construction is scheduled to begin in January 2009 and completed by 2011, will seat 28,500 fans.[7]
The clubs first crest consisted of the original colors Black, White and blue which the club used from 2003 till 2011.That same year the club was sold to the Azcárraga family and a new crest was brought in.The new crest has the city's name as well as a start which represents the Clausura 2009 Primera A championship.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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