Club Esportiu Constància is a Spanish football team based in

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, in the autonomous community of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

. Founded in 1922, its first men's team currently plays in the , the fifth division. Its first women's team is active in the Primera Autonómica, the fourth tier, and its first u-19 team is active in the División de Honor, the highest category. Moreover, Constància has dozens of teams in its youth academy. Constància has played 11 seasons in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

during the 20th century, becoming the second-most successful football club in the history of the

. Moreover, the club has played over 60 seasons in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

, being the Balearic team with the most seasons in this competition. Its home matches are played at the '' Nou Camp d'Inca'', in the city of

, the club's stadium since its inauguration in 1964. The stadium has a capacity of 10,000 seats, which makes it the second biggest stadium on the Balearic Islands.

History

Name evolution

* ''Constancia Foot-ball Club (1922-1941)'' * ''Club Deportivo Constancia (1941-2010)'' * ''Club Esportiu Constància (2010-present)''

Beginnings of football in Inca

The first football team in

was FC Inca (1910), the football section of the recreation organisation ''Centro Recreativo'' in the same city, but this stop ceased its activity a few months after its creation. Inca was left without a football club during many years, something that only changed in 1921 with the creation of FC Inquense, related to the same recreation organisation.

Foundation of CE Constància (1922)

Club Esportiu Constància was founded on 2 December 1922 as the football section of the provident society with the same name. Initially, there existed a rivalry between Constància and Inquense, but when the former outgrew the latter, Inquense was dissolved and many of its players joined Constància. In 1924, Constància made its debut in the Mallorcan Championship, where the club obtained much influence in the footballing panorama of

. Meanwhile, Constància developed as a club with a working-class base, given that Inca used to be a town with a high number of factories. Moreover, the club became a symbol of football in the Part Forana (the parts of

outside of Palma), being the most potent football club outside of the capital.

The 1930s. Development, titles, and war

During the

1930s File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Owens Thompson, Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central Uni ...

, Constància was already the main competitor of Alfons XIII (the current RCD Mallorca), which fueled their rivalry, accentuated by the socioeconomic and political differences between the supporters of Alfons XIII and Constància. In the same decade, Constància won the Mallorcan Championship on three consecutive occasions (1933, 1934, and 1935), while being crowned champion of the

on one occasion (1935). The outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

in 1936 had a significant influence on the club's development. According to recent investigations, Constància was one of the most retaliated football clubs in Spain, and four of its players were executed by the Francoist troops. During the war, the competities continued, and Constància won the Mallorcan Championship for the fourth time in 1939.

The 1940s. Promotion to the second tier and almost to the first one

After the end of the Civil War in 1939, the Spanish football competitions were restructured, and Constància was selected to play in the

because of its championship the season before. In 1939-40, the club was relegated, but returned for the 1941-42 season. Constància maintained the category for four consecutive seasons, of which 1943-44 stood out, as the club finished third and almost achieved promotion to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. The following season, Constància played the final match of the regular season against CD Mallorca with both teams close to the relegation zone, and the match ended in favor of Mallorca after many controversial decisions by referee Agustí Cruellas, remembered in

for decades, after which Constància had to participate in the relegation play-off. The club lost and got relegated to the

The 1950s. Hitting rock bottom

After the relegation to the Tercera División in 1945, Constància was not able to return to the second tier quickly and even had to temporarily cease its activity after a severe institutional and economic crisis. The club was relegated to the regional categories, but recovered the third division some years later.

The 1960s. Last years in the Segunda División

After a strong season, Constància achieved promotion to the

for the third time in 1962. Despite players more consecutive seasons in the second division than during the 1940s, the six seasons between 1962 and 1968 consisted of more disappointing classifications. The 1967-68 season would be the last one of the 11 seasons that Constància has played in the second tier. Another highlight of this decade, concretely on 29 August 1965, was the opening of the '' Nou Camp d'Inca'' stadium.

Rest of the 20th century. Going down and consolidation in the Tercera División

The 1968 relegation caused a new crisis at the club, which ended in another successive relegation, this time to the regional amateur competitions. Constància needed five years to go back up to the

, a competition that it has rarely escaped since. Moreover, the rivalry between Constància and

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

was lost after the 1960s because of the lack of direct confrontations and the geographical distance between Palma and

. During the rest of the 20th century, Constància only played in the Tercera División, except for one season in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

( 1987-88) and two seasons in the Regional Preferente (1990-92).

21st century. A new promotion and the centenary

The dynamics of the last decades of the 20th century did not change during the first decades of the 21st century. Constància has almost only played in the

(until 2021) and the replacing Tercera Federación (after 2021), except for two seasons in the

( 2012-13 and 2013-14), its last seasons outside of the current fifth tier of Spanish football. In 2022, the year of the celebrations of the club's centenary, Constància was awarded the Medal of Honour and Gratitude of the Island of Mallorca by the Insular Council of Mallorca. Moreover, the club designed a commemorative crest and shirt for its centenary.

Season to season

---- *11 seasons in

*3 seasons in

*59 seasons in

*4 seasons in Tercera Federación/Tercera División RFEF *9 seasons in Divisiones Regionales

Honours

Statewide tournaments

(8): 1940–41, 1961–62, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2004–05, 2011–12 * Categorías Regionales: 1952–53, 1971–72

Regional tournaments

* Mallorcan Championship (4): 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1938–39 * Balearic Championship (1): 1934–35

List of presidents

During its history, Constància has had at least 35 different presidents.

Stadium

The '' Nou Camp d'Inca'' was inaugurated on 29 August 1965 and has a capacity of 10,000 seats. It is the second-biggest football stadium of the Balearic Islands after the

Estadi de Son Moix Mallorca Son Moix Stadium is a football stadium located in Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, and serves as the home ground of Real Mallorca. It is the largest stadium in the Balearic Islands and the 26th largest in Spain. Since the 202 ...

. The surface of the playing field is natural grass, and has a size of 105x67 meters. Before, the club played in different stadiums. The first one was the '' Camp des Blanquer'' (1923-1929), and the second one was the '' Camp des Cos'' (1929-1965), which the club had to sell because of a severe economic crisis.

Notable former players

Internationals

* José Luis Riera * Tomeu Llompart * Antoni Amengual * Miguel Gual * Gonzalo Beitia * Florencio Amarilla * Faust Laguardia

Other notable former players

* Vernon De Marco * Pedro Mairata * José Luis Rondo * Adrián Salcedo * Nico Baleani * Pep Biel * Joan Femenías

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

*
FFIB team profile

Futbolme team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constancia Football clubs in the Balearic Islands Sport in Mallorca Association football clubs established in 1922 Inca, Spain 1922 establishments in Spain