CE Constància

Constància

Full name	Club Esportiu Constància
Nickname(s)	Constanciers Inquers Blanc-i-negres
Founded	2 December 1922
Ground	Nou Camp, Inca, Balearic Islands, Spain
Capacity	10,000[1]
President	Valeria Bouzada
Head Coach	Guillem Llaneras[2]
League	Tercera Federación – Group 11
2023–24	Tercera Federación – Group 11, 7th of 18
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Club Esportiu Constància is a Spanish football team based in Inca, Mallorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded in 1922, its first men's team currently plays in the Tercera Federación – Group 11, 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.^[3]

Constància has played 11 seasons in the Segunda División during the 20th century, becoming the second-most successful football club in the history of the Balearic Islands. Moreover, the club has played over 60 seasons in the Tercera División, 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 Inca, the club's stadium since its inauguration in 1964.^[4] The stadium has a capacity of 10,000 seats, which makes it the second biggest stadium on the Balearic Islands.

History

Entrance gate at the Nou Camp d'Inca

Name evolution

• Constancia Foot-ball Club (1922-1941)
• Club Deportivo Constancia (1941-2010)
• Club Esportiu Constància (2010-present)^[5]

Beginnings of football in Inca

The first football team in Inca 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

In 1924, Constància made its debut in the Mallorcan Championship, where the club obtained much influence in the footballing panorama of Mallorca. 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.^[10] Moreover, the club became a symbol of football in the Part Forana (the parts of Mallorca outside of Palma), being the most potent football club outside of the capital.^[11]

The 1930s. Development, titles, and war

During the 1930s, 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 Balearic Islands on one occasion (1935).

The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War 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.^[12] 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 Segunda División because of its championship the season before. In 1939-40, the club was relegated, but returned for the 1941-42 season.^[13] 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.^[14] 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 Inca for decades, after which Constància had to participate in the relegation play-off. The club lost and got relegated to the Tercera División.^[15]

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.^[14]

Simplified Spanish version of the logo of CE Constància at the Nou Camp d'Inca

The 1960s. Last years in the Segunda División

After a strong season, Constància achieved promotion to the Segunda División 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.^[14] Another highlight of this decade, concretely on 29 August 1965, was the opening of the Nou Camp d'Inca stadium.^[16]

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 Tercera División, a competition that it has rarely escaped since.

Moreover, the rivalry between Constància and RCD Mallorca was lost after the 1960s because of the lack of direct confrontations and the geographical distance between Palma and Inca.

During the rest of the 20th century, Constància only played in the Tercera División, except for one season in the Segunda División B (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 Tercera División (until 2021) and the replacing Tercera Federación (after 2021), except for two seasons in the Segunda División B (2012-13 and 2013-14), its last seasons outside of the current fifth tier of Spanish football.^[17]

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.^[18] Moreover, the club designed a commemorative crest and shirt for its centenary.^[19]

Season to season

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1939–40 2 2ª 5th 1940–41 3 3ª 1st Second round 1941–42 2 2ª 4th 1942–43 2 2ª 3rd Round of 16 1943–44 2 2ª 3rd Round of 32 1944–45 2 2ª 12th First round 1945–46 3 3ª 2nd 1946–47 3 3ª 5th 1947–48 3 3ª 6th First round 1948–49 3 3ª 7th Second round 1949–50 3 3ª 15th 1950–51 3 3ª 14th 1951–52 DNP 1952–53 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1953–54 3 3ª 9th 1954–55 3 3ª 2nd 1955–56 3 3ª 8th 1956–57 3 3ª 5th 1957–58 3 3ª 3rd 1958–59 3 3ª 2nd

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1959–60 3 3ª 9th 1960–61 3 3ª 2nd 1961–62 3 3ª 1st 1962–63 2 2ª 12th First round 1963–64 2 2ª 10th Round of 32 1964–65 2 2ª 13th First round 1965–66 2 2ª 13th First round 1966–67 2 2ª 14th First round 1967–68 2 2ª 16th First round 1968–69 3 3ª 17th 1969–70 4 1ª Reg. 3rd 1970–71 4 1ª Reg. 4th 1971–72 4 1ª Reg. 1st 1972–73 4 Reg. Pref. 9th 1973–74 4 Reg. Pref. 2nd 1974–75 3 3ª 3rd Fourth round 1975–76 3 3ª 10th 1976–77 3 3ª 15th First round 1977–78 4 3ª 12th First round 1978–79 4 3ª 11th

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1979–80 4 3ª 4th Second round 1980–81 4 3ª 2nd 1981–82 4 3ª 2nd First round 1982–83 4 3ª 1st First round 1983–84 4 3ª 1st Second round 1984–85 4 3ª 8th 1985–86 4 3ª 5th 1986–87 4 3ª 4th First round 1987–88 3 2ª B 17th Second round 1988–89 4 3ª 8th First round 1989–90 4 3ª 17th 1990–91 5 Reg. Pref. 7th 1991–92 5 Reg. Pref. 3rd 1992–93 4 3ª 15th 1993–94 4 3ª 8th 1994–95 4 3ª 11th 1995–96 4 3ª 5th 1996–97 4 3ª 1st 1997–98 4 3ª 2nd 1998–99 4 3ª 1st

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey 1999–2000 4 3ª 2nd 2000–01 4 3ª 5th 2001–02 4 3ª 3rd 2002–03 4 3ª 2nd 2003–04 4 3ª 6th 2004–05 4 3ª 1st 2005–06 4 3ª 13th First round 2006–07 4 3ª 15th 2007–08 4 3ª 6th 2008–09 4 3ª 10th 2009–10 4 3ª 3rd 2010–11 4 3ª 3rd 2011–12 4 3ª 1st 2012–13 3 2ª B 17th Third round 2013–14 3 2ª B 19th 2014–15 4 3ª 5th 2015–16 4 3ª 4th 2016–17 4 3ª 8th 2017–18 4 3ª 8th 2018–19 4 3ª 10th

Season	Tier	Division	Place	Copa del Rey
2019–20	4	3ª	8th
2020–21	4	3ª	3rd / 5th
2021–22	5	3ª RFEF	7th
2022–23	5	3ª Fed.	6th
2023–24	5	3ª Fed.	7th
2024–25	5	3ª Fed.

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• 11 seasons in Segunda División
• 3 seasons in Segunda División B
• 59 seasons in Tercera División
• 4 seasons in Tercera Federación/Tercera División RFEF
• 9 seasons in Divisiones Regionales

Honours

Statewide tournaments

• Tercera División (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.^[20]

President	Period	President	Period
Miguel Beltrán Planas	1922-25	Juan Amer Llobera	1969-73
Bartomeu Payeras Ferrer		Jaume Moyer Martorell	1973-77
Lorenzo Marqués Ramis		Andreu Pol Bonín	1977-79
Pere Siquier Martí	1939-42	Jordi Cerdà Borràs	1979-86
Bartomeu Fluxà Mut		José García Cerdà	1986-90
Andrés Mateu Pericàs		Manuel García Alba	1990-91
Rafel Ramis		Àngel García Bonafè	1991-95
Luis Aguacil Montis		Miquel Llompart Mora	1995-98
Miguel Guasp Ferrer		Andreu Sacares Genestra	1998-99
Andreu Bestard Oliver	1952-55	Antonio Martorell Llompart	1999-2001
Pere Prast Janer	1955-56	Jorge Guirado Martínez	2001-11
Antoni Prats Balaguer	1956-57	Antonio Ramis Martínez	2011-14
Antoni Benàssar Rolando	1960-63	Gabriel Burguera Canals	2014-16
Antoni Ferrari Campaner	1963-66	Andreu Gili Biscaí	2016-17
Miquel Sastre Terrasa	1966-67	Rafel Palou Amer	2017-23
Mateu Pieras Balle	1967-68	Valeria Bouzada	2023-present
P. Siquier	1968-69
A. Melis
T. Vaquer

Stadium

Scoreboard at the Nou Camp d'Inca

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. The surface of the playing field is natural grass, and has a size of 105x67 meters.^[21]

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.^[8]

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

1. "The latest news from Constància: squad, results, table". besoccer.com. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
2. "Histórico de Guillermo Llaneras Sáez (Guiem Llaneras)". puntobalonbalear.es. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
3. "Federació Futbol de les Illes Balears - Consulta De Clubs". www.ffib.es. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
4. "Instalacions". Club Esportiu Constància (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 January 2020.
5. "Club Esportiu Constància :: La Futbolteca. Enciclopedia del Fútbol Español" (in European Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2024.
6. García Gargallo 2023, p. 5.
7. García Gargallo 2023, p. 8.
8. Dolç, Miquel (1989). Gran Enciclopèdia de Mallorca, tom III [Big Encyclopedia of Mallorca, part III] (in Catalan). Palma: Promallorca edicions. pp. 317–8. ISBN 84-86-617-02-2.
9. García Gargallo 2023, p. 9.
10. Capellà, Llorenç (1995). L'esport a les Balears (1936-1959) [Sport on the Balearic Islands (1936-1959)] (in Catalan). Palma: Council of Culture, Education, and Sport (Balearic Government). pp. 76–79. ISBN 84-86617-27-8.
11. García Gargallo 2023, p. 11.
12. García Gargallo 2023, p. 13.
13. García Gargallo 2023, p. 14.
14. García Gargallo 2023, p. 15.
15. Oca, Carlos Montes de (14 May 2013). "68 años después de Cruellas". Ultima Hora (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2024.
16. Quetglas Martorell 2022, p. 17.
17. García Gargallo 2023, p. 16.
18. "Procés participatiu: Honors i distincions". web (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 June 2024.
19. "El CE Constància presenta l'escut del centenari". Club Esportiu Constància (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 June 2024.
20. Quetglas Martorell 2022, p. 20.
21. "CLUB ESPORTIU CONSTÀNCIA - Instal·lacions". Club Esportiu Constància (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 June 2024.

Bibliography

• García Gargallo, Manuel (1 January 2023). Los 100 años del Constancia de Inca [The 100 years of Constancia from Inca]. Cuadernos de Fútbol (in Spanish). Vol. 149. CIHEFE. ISSN 1989-6379.
• Quetglas Martorell, Andreu (1982). Síntesis histórica del CD Constancia [Historic synthesis of CD Constancia] (in Spanish). Inca: Impr. Colón.
• Quetglas Martorell, Andreu (2022). 100è Aniversari de la Fundació del CE Constància d'Inca [100th anniversary of the Foundation of CE Constància from Inca] (in Catalan). Palma: Comissió de Centenari del CE Constància d'Inca. DL MP 00617-2022.
• Quetglas Martorell, Andreu (2023). Cent anys en blanc i negre [One hundred years in white-and-black] (in Catalan). Inca: Municipality of Inca.
• Quetglas Martorell, Andreu (2024). Cròniques del Nou Camp d’Inca. La casa del CE Constància 1965-2024 [Stories of the Nou Camp d'Inca. The home of CE Constància 1965-2024] (in Catalan). Inca: Municipality of Inca.

External links

• Official website (in Spanish)
• FFIB team profile (in Spanish)
• Futbolme team profile (in Spanish)