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| Full name | Venados Fútbol Club Yucatán | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Venados (Bucks) Astados (Horned) Ciervos (Deer) | ||
| Short name | VEN | ||
| Founded | September 2, 1988; 37 years ago (September 2, 1988) (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 | ||
Venados Fútbol Club Yucatán, simply known asVenados, is a Mexican professionalfootball club based inMérida,Yucatán. It plays in theLiga de Expansión MX, the second level division ofMexican football. Founded in 1988 asVenados de Yucatán, the club changed its name several times throughout its history, first asClub Deportivo Atlético Yucatán (1997–2001, 2002–2003), then asMérida Fútbol Club (2003–2011),Club de Fútbol Mérida (2011–2015) and finally changed to its current name in 2015.
The club originally emerged in 1988 as Venados de Yucatán, when Jorge Arana Palma, acquired theAlacranes Rojos de Apatzingán franchise from theSegunda División de México and relocated it toMérida,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.
The club was renamed as Club Deportivo Atlético Yucatán in 1997, it played in thePrimera División 'A' de México. The franchise was dissolved in 2001, but it returned the following year. The club won the title in theInvierno 1998 tournament, defeatingChivas Tijuana 1–0 inMérida, and also played theCampeón de Ascenso 1999 againstUnión de Curtidores, but lost 7–1.
Atlético Yucatán was renamed as Mérida Fútbol Club in 2003 by the brothers Arturo and Mauricio Millet Reyes, who obtained theNacional de Tijuana franchise and relocated toMérida,Yucatán.[1]
After theClausura 2005 tournament, the Millet brothers announced that they would be selling and relocating the team toIrapuato,Guanajuato renaming itClub 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 inArgentina to scout local talent. Mérida F.C. returned to the professional ranks when they participated in theTercera División de México in 2006/07. During 2007, the brothers oversaw the construction of a training facility located at theUnidad Deportiva Tamanché. By the 2007/08 season, Mérida was participating in theSegunda División de México.[1]
On June 16, 2008, Arturo Millet Reyes announced that he had acquired the filial team ofMonarcas 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 theVenados were to be promoted to thePrimera División de México, that the team would remain in Mérida.[3]
On November 11, 2008, theFederación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación (FMF) granted the club the certification required to be promoted to thePrimera División de México.[4]
In theClausura 2009, Mérida defeatedClub Tijuana 1–0 on aggregate to win the Clausura title. Mérida lost the subsequent promotion play-off for thePrimera División de México, after a defeat byQuerétaro on penalties.
On December 4, 2010, the brothers Arturo and Mauricio Millet Reyes announced that Mérida F.C. would no longer form part of theLiga de Ascenso de México and thatMonarcas Morelia would decide if a team would stay in the city, but that talks were also underway withAtlante 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 theClausura 2011, whilst the original Atlante filial team (Atlante UTN) swapped franchises to become the subsidiary team for Morelia. The franchise would later be transferred toCiudad Nezahualcóyotl,State of Mexico and renamedToros Neza.[6]
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 becameCafetaleros de Tapachula, who were headquartered at theEstadio Olímpico inTapachula,Chiapas; whileClub Irapuato becameMurcielagos F.C. and changed their headquarters to theEstadio Centenario located inLos Mochis,Sinaloa.
In addition to these changes, two new franchises were added later, that ofCimarrones de Sonora, headquartered at theEstadio Heroes de Nacozari inHermosillo,Sonora, and theFC Juárez franchise began playing in theEstadio Olímpico Benito Juárez inCiudad 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" ofVenados de Yucatán franchise in 2015.
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman |  Rodolfo Rosas Cantillo |
| Vice-chairman | Alberto Alcocer |
| Director of football | Luis Miguel Salvador |
Source:Liga MX
| 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 |
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 andADO.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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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–)| Type | Competition | Titles | Winning editions | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion divisions | Primera División A | 2 | Invierno 1998,Clausura 2009 | – |
| Campeón de Ascenso | 0 | – | 1999,2009 | |
| Segunda División | 0 | – | 1988–89 |
