Article updated: 24/10/2025
On 24 January 2012, Sporting Mahonés announced that it was withdrawing from Group III of Segunda B, following the departure of practically all the professional squad from the club. With debts of over €230,000 and a transfer embargo in place, the club could not raise a team for the remainder of the season. It had struggled to field a side in what turned out to be its final match, when essentially a youth team represented the club in a 0-6 defeat at UE Sant Andreu. Sporting went the way of Villanueva del Fresno and Polideportivo Ejido, who also folded during the 2011-12 season.
Sporting Mahonés was a fusion of CD Menorca and UD Mahón, who joined forces in 1974, after both sides were relegated to the regional leagues. Between its formation and 1978, Sporting played at two locations close to the centre of town, starting out at the former home of CD Mahón, the Campo Municipal de San Carlos. The following season saw the club play at the Estadio Mahonés, which had been the home of CD Menorca. Both stadiums are still in working order, with San Carlos practically unchanged since Sporting last played there. Sporting then alternated between the two grounds before moving two kilometres south of the town centre to the Estadi de Bintaufa. The first official match at the new municipal stadium took place on 3 September 1978, when Sporting Mahonés lost 0-1 to CE Europa.
Sporting’s most successful period came at the end of the 1980s when it spent six seasons in Segunda B, with a best finish of fifth in 1988-89. They dropped to the Balearic Tercera in 1993 and remained there until June 2009, when they dispensed of CD Mutilvera, Burgos CF and Tenerife B in the play-offs to clinch promotion back to Segunda B. Sporting spent two seasons battling at the wrong end of the table and in 2011-12, after a fair start, form and players deserted them as they edged towards extinction. Bintaufa is an old relic of a stadium set in scrub land close to the town’s Aeronautic Club and its small airstrip. It features a simple stand with a propped cantilevered roof that is 65 metres in length and has four rows of steps with a line of private pens, or palcos, at the rear. Opposite is a boxy media booth and a narrow terrace, whilst rather uneven hard standing makes up the rest of the enclosure. The changing facilities are housed in a separate single-storey building behind the southern goal line. With a capacity of 3,000, the Estadi de Bintaufa provided adequate space for Sporting Mahohés’ meagre crowds.
In 2010, the club & local municipality announced plans to start work on redeveloping Bintaufa and develop a training centre on land just to the south of the stadium. Unfortunately, the €4.2m plans proved to be too ambitious, and following the demise of Sporting Mahonés and reduced municipal funds, focus turned to developing the training centre, rather than redeveloping the ageing Bintaufu. The municipality commenced work on the development in the summer of 2012, and little over a year later, the new development opened in time for the start of the 2013-14 season. It features a full-size artificial turf pitch, with a half-length stand on the west side, which has a capacity of 400. Offices with changing facilities are situated at the northern end of the ground. A 50-metre-long artificial pitch is in the southwest corner of the facility.
While the economic downturn following the 2008 financial crash affected clubs throughout Spain, the Balearic Islands were particularly hard-hit. Atletico Ciutadella, CF Soller, and SD Eivissa all folded, and Real Mallorca suffered financial woes throughout the 2010s. However, as sure as day follows night, a new club emerged to replace Sporting Mahones. CF Sporting de Mahon was founded in 2013 and joined the Primera Regional Preferente – Menorca (Tier 5), finishing 9th out of ten in their first season. A first title was won at the end of the 2017-18 season, but lost the playoff final to CD Murense. A second league title was won at the end of the 2024-25 season, but Sporting Mahon came up short again in the playoffs, losing to CD Serverense. The club continues to play their home matches at Bintaufa, but have played some games on the artificial turf of the annexe when the notoriously dodgy pitch at Bintaufa has proved unplayable. The Estadi Binataufa did return to the spotlight in January 2017, when Spain’s U17 team played their Italian counterparts in front of a crowd of 2,500.
The current status of Menorcan football is unrecognisable from the heights of the 1990s and the three years in the 2000s when Sporting Mahonés graced Segunda B. Following the restructuring of the Spanish football pyramid in 2021, only one team from the island plays above the sixth tier, Club Esportiu Mercadal in the Tercera Federación. All other teams from Menorca, including the reborn Sporting Mahon, are confined to fixtures on the island. You can follow the fortunes of football on the wonderful island of Menorca via the brilliant Menorca Football.
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