Deportivo Rayo Zuliano is a western Venezuelan professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

. Founded in 2005, the club play in the Venezuelan Primera División, hosting their home matches at the Estadio José Pachencho Romero.

History

Founded in 2005, Deportivo Rayo Zuliano played in the 2005–06 edition of the , the third division in the country, before spending a year inactive. The club was later in the inaugural season of the

Venezuelan Tercera División Tercera División is the third tier of the Venezuelan football league system. The Venezuelan second division was established in 2007. List of champions Titles by Team Notes External links Resolución de la FVF {{DEFAULTSORT:Venezuelan ...

, narrowly missing out promotion to

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

in 2007–08 and later achieving mid-table campaigns in 2008–09 and 2009–10. In 2010, Rayo Zuliano ceased to play in the Tercera División, and only returned to a professional status in 2021, after merging with and being admitted in the year's

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. After an eighth position finish in their group in 2021, the club led their group in 2022, but were knocked out in the promotion phase. On 12 December 2022, it was announced that Rayo Zuliano would merge with

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

side

Zulia Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...

, taking their place in the top tier. The merger was officially confirmed on 28 January 2023.

Managers

* Alex García King (2021–22) * Elvis Martínez (2023–present)

References

External links

* {{Primera División Venezolana Association football clubs established in 2005 Football clubs in Venezuela 2005 establishments in Venezuela Sport in Maracaibo