Club Balonmano Femenino Málaga Costa del Sol, also known as Costa del Sol Málaga for sponsorship reasons, (former Rincón Fertilidad Málaga), is a women's handball club from Málaga in Spain. Costa del Sol Málaga competes in the División de Honor, the top tier in the Spanish league system.

History Costa del Sol Málaga was founded in 1994 after the merger of the two women's clubs from Málaga at the time, Insana and Clubai. Its first president was Fernando de Irigoyen, with Carmen Morales as vice-president.

In 1995, the team was managed by Carmen until 2001, when Carmen Morales de Setién took over. In its first season, it had a senior team (which acquired the federation rights to play in the First Division), a youth team and a cadet team. In its history it has 3 promotions and 2 relegations in the years 95, 99 and 2014. At the beginning of its journey in Spanish women's handball it was led by several coaches until Diego Carrasco took over the bench in 1997.

Last ascent The Málaga Costa del Sol Women's Handball Club was last promoted to the División de Honor (with Diego Carrasco on the bench) in 2014, and has played in the elite of Spanish women's handball ever since. However, this has not been their only participation in the top category, and they have participated 6 times in the top national division at different times, with a total of 15 seasons in the elite.

The Rincón era After the promotion in 2014, a sponsor arrived at the club that would change everything: Manolo Rincón. The owner of the Clínicas Rincón (dental and fertility clinics) took over 50% of the budget needed for the club to go to the Honor Division the following season and be able to compete in Europe after qualifying for the first time to play in European competitions.

At that time, the black shirt that would lead to the nickname "Panthers" appeared. Under his patronage the club won its first top-level sporting trophies.

Post Carrasco era Diego Carrasco died suddenly in 2019 and the Malaga club had to recover from a hard moral and emotional blow. His second, Suso Gallardo, took over the bench. With the young Malaga coach, the club's greatest sporting successes were achieved. In that season (and still with the financial help of Clínicas Rincón) the club united the home-grown players, Sole and Esperanza López, with some signings that would change the history of the club (and what would be the backbone of the following sporting successes): Estela Doiro, Isabelle dos Santos, Merche Castellanos and Silvia Arderius.

2019-2023: the first titles Between 2019 and 2023, Costa del Sol Málaga has had the club's best seasons in its history, winning 1 Liga Guerreras Iberdrola, 2 Copas de la Reina, 1 EHF European Cup and 1 Spanish Super Cup, as well as 1 league runner-up position, 1 EHF European Cup runner-up position and 1 Spanish Super Cup runner-up position.

There have been five titles in seven finals in four years, titles with the block led by Silvia Arderius, Sole López, Merche Castellanos, Paula García, Isabelle Medeiros and Estela Doiro and with half of the team of Malaga origin, the club professionalized its organization and the sporting successes came from the hand of Suso Gallardo.

The first league But if the Copa de la Reina and the EHF European Cup matches were important, the 2022-23 season was the one in which the first Spanish League was achieved. Silvia, Merche, Roca, Esperanza, Estela, Isabelle and Sole López, together with Virginia, María, Elena, Rocío, Gabi, Sara, Laura, Almudena and Sol raised the trophy that accredited them as champions of the first national competition.

Europe In 2021, they were crowned European champions by winning the EHF European Cup, and the following year they reached the final again, becoming runners-up. In addition, in the second leg of the EHF European Cup final held at the Palacio de los Deportes José María Martín Carpena in Málaga, the club organized the match between Spanish clubs with the largest audience in the history of women's handball. A total of 7,183 spectators attended.

Season to season SeasonTierDivisionPos.Notes1994–952 Primera Nacional2nd (Group A)Promoted1995–962 División de Honor14thRelegated1996–972 Primera Nacional3rd (Group A)1997–982 Primera Nacional2nd (Group C)1998–992 Primera Nacional2nd (Group C)Promoted1999–002 División de Honor11th2000–011 División de Honor14thRelegated2001–022 Primera Nacional3rd2002–032 Primera Nacional3rd2003–042 Primera Nacional3rd2004–052 Primera Nacional2nd2005–062 Primera Nacional1st (Group C)2006–072 Primera Nacional3rd2007–082 Primera Nacional3rd2008–092 Primera Nacional6th2009–102 Primera Nacional7thSeasonTierDivisionPos.Notes2010–112 Primera Nacional3rd2011–122 División de Plata3rd2012–132 División de Plata3rd2013–142 División de Plata2ndPromoted2014–151 División de Honor10th2015–161 División de Honor9th2016–171 División de Honor4th2017–181 División de Honor6th2018–191 División de Honor6th2019–201 División de Honor4th2020–211 División de Honor7th2021–221 División de Honor2nd2022–231 División de Honor1st Champion2023-241División de Honor3rdAccess to the group stage of the EHF European League.

Trophies Spanish League: 1 2023 EHF European Cup: 1 2021 Copa de la Reina: 2 2020, 2022 Supercopa de España: 1 2021

Team

Current squad Squad for the 2025-26 season:

Goalkepeers 38 Mercedes Castellanos 01 Ida Wall Wingers RW 04 Nayra Solis 44 Maider Barros LW 10 Soledad López 24 Ariana Portillo

Line Players 17 Rocío Campigli 18 Martina Villalba 81 Ekaterina Zhukova

Back players LB 13 María Grasielly Pereira Brasil 15 Estitxu Berasategui 45 Nicxon Clabel CB 03 Martina Romero 27 María Sancha RB 21 Barbara Piñeira 20 Esperanza López Jiménez 28 Micaela Rodrigues

Transfers For the 2027-28 season:

Joining

Leaving

Notable players

Nuria Benzal Paula García Ávila Jennifer Gutiérrez Bermejo Elke Karsten Noelia Oncina Paula Valdivia Monserrat Soledad López Mercedes Castellanos Silvia Arderius

References

External links Official website