Lorca FC

Lorca Fútbol Club was a Spanish football team based in Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Preferente Autonómica de Murcia – Group 1, holding home games at Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco, which has a capacity of 8,120.

Lorca FC

Full name	Lorca Fútbol Club, S.A.D.
Founded	1 June 2003; 21 years ago (1 June 2003) (as La Hoya Deportiva Club de Fútbol)
Dissolved	2022
Ground	Francisco Artés Carrasco Lorca, Murcia, Spain
Capacity	8,120
2021–22	Preferente Autonómica – Group 2, 15th of 15 (withdrew)
Home colours Away colours

Not to be confused with CF Lorca Deportiva.

History

La Hoya Deportiva, during a match of the 2009–10 season.

Club crest used from 2010 to 2016

The club was founded in 2003 as La Hoya Deportiva Club de Fútbol by constructor Pedro Rosell, whose enterprise sponsored the team in its first years.

In 2010, the club changes its name to La Hoya Lorca Club de Fútbol in 2010, after the promotion of the club to Tercera División, but continues playing in La Hoya. Rossell resigned as president and Luis Jiménez replaced him. During these years, the team was nicknamed as El Brócoli Mecánico (The Clockwork Broccoli) after the vegetable, a major local export. In 2011, La Hoya Lorca started playing its games at Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco in Lorca.

In 2013, La Hoya Lorca won promotion to Segunda División B via the play-offs, defeating SCR Peña Deportiva on away goals after a 4–4 aggregate draw.^[1] The club previously finished the Copa Federación de España as runner-up, in the club's first success in national football.^[2]

In successive seasons, the club attracted attention for their kit which had broccoli imprinted over the entire shirt and shorts.^[3][4]

On 8 July 2016, the club changed its name to Lorca Fútbol Club when it was bought by former Chinese international player and manager Xu Genbao.^[5] When Lorca played FC Jumilla in November 2016 the match was broadcast live over the internet in China as Jumilla are also under Chinese ownership.^[6]

On 27 May 2017, the club achieved promotion to Segunda División after a 0–0 away draw against Albacete Balompié in the play-offs (1–1 on aggregate).^[7] Three weeks later, rumours about a possible transfer of the club started to appear. Xu Genbao supposedly would sell the club and its place in the second division for €9 million and the owner of Hércules CF would be interested in refounding the club from this one, as his own had serious financial trouble.^[8]

In the 2017–18 season, Lorca were relegated with 33 points in 42 matches. During the summer, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced that the team would be banned for playing in the third tier the following season for not meeting the economic requirements.^[9] At the same time, Xu decided to sell this team to a businessman.^[10]

Bankruptcy

In the 2018–19 season the club finished third in Tercera División, Group 18 with 80 points.^[11] However, they were eliminated in the first round by Alcobendas Sport, thus missing out on the opportunity for promotion. During the following summer, a controversy emerged when the Murcian team announced their search for players willing to play for free, receiving only the necessary essentials such as clothing and paid travel costs. The club owner stated that there was simply not enough money available.^[12]

The idea of recruiting players at no cost proved to be ineffective, and by the winter break, the team found themselves six points away from the promotion spots.^[13] On 4 December 2019, the club's entry into bankruptcy was approved after failing to reach an agreement to settle a debt of €700,000.^[14][15] Subsequently, on 29 December, Walter Pandiani resigned as manager and was replaced by Uruguayan manager Walter Caprile.^[13]

Following a disastrous 2020–21 campaign, where the Lorca club finished bottom of Group 13 (B) of the Tercera División, they were relegated to the Preferente Autonómica after twelve seasons competing in national tiers. In order to revitalise the project for the 2021–22 season, club president Roberto Torres appointed Murcian coach Paco Montesinos to lead the Lorca squad.^[16]

Eventually, on 4 February 2022, the club president announced their withdrawal from competition, marking their last game in the Preferente on 23 January 2022. Three weeks later, the Commercial Court nº 2 of Murcia dissolved the club due to non-compliance with the agreement made with creditors in November 2020, which was later modified in June 2021.^[17] The club had declared bankruptcy in November 2019 with debts totaling around €700,000.^[18]

Club background

• La Hoya Deportiva Club de Fútbol: (2003–2010)
• La Hoya Lorca Club de Fútbol: (2010–2016)
• La Hoya Lorca Club de Fútbol, S.A.D.: (2016–2017)
• Lorca Fútbol Club, S.A.D.: (2017–2022)

Season to season

• As La Hoya Deportiva

Season	Tier	Division	Place	Copa del Rey
2003–04	6	1ª Terr.	13th
2004–05	6	1ª Terr.	4th
2005–06	6	1ª Terr.	6th
2006–07	6	1ª Terr.	3rd
2007–08	5	Terr. Pref.	10th
2008–09	5	Terr. Pref.	15th
2009–10	5	Terr. Pref.	1st

• As La Hoya Lorca

Season	Tier	Division	Place	Copa del Rey
2010–11	4	3ª	7th
2011–12	4	3ª	4th
2012–13	4	3ª	1st
2013–14	3	2ª B	2nd	First round
2014–15	3	2ª B	13th	First round
2015–16	3	2ª B	6th

• As Lorca FC

Season	Tier	Division	Place	Copa del Rey
2016–17	3	2ª B	1st	Second round
2017–18	2	2ª	21st	Second round
2018–19	4	3ª	3rd	Third round
2019–20	4	3ª	7th
2020–21	4	3ª	11th / 10th
2021–22	6	Pref. Aut.	(R)

---

• 1 season in Segunda División
• 4 seasons in Segunda División B
• 6 seasons in Tercera División

Honours

• Segunda División B
  • Champions (1): 2016–17
• Tercera División
  • Champions (1): 2012–13

Notable players

See also: Category:Lorca FC players

The following Lorca player(s) have been capped at full international level. Years in brackets indicate their spells at the club.

• Federico Bikoro (2018)^[19]
• Deshorn Brown (2018)^[20]
• Ishan Pandita (2019–2020)^[21][22][23]

See also

• Lorca FC B (reserve team)
• List of Lorca FC players

References

1. "Crónica Promoción Ascenso 2ª Div.B: La Hoya Lorca 1 – 1 Peña Deportiva" (in Spanish). Fútbol Balear. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
2. "Sant Andreu se proclama vencedor de la Copa Federación" (in Spanish). Marca. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
3. "Broccoli football kit for Spanish football team". BBC Sport. 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
4. "Crazy! Spanish team La Hoya Lorca announce new broccoli away kit". Metro. 4 October 2013. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
5. "Nace el Lorca Fútbol Club" [Lorca Fútbol Club is born] (in Spanish). La Verdad de Murcia. 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
6. "El Jumilla-Lorca podrá ser visto en China por 300 millones de personas" [Jumilla—Lorca will be seen in China by 300 million people] (in Spanish). FC Jumilla. Archived from the original on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2016-11-13.
7. "El Lorca se convierte en nuevo equipo de Segunda de la mano de David Vidal" [Lorca become the new team of Segunda because of David Vidal] (in Spanish). Marca. 27 May 2017. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
8. "El Hércules medita comprar la plaza del Lorca FC" [Hércules contemplate buying Lorca FC's place]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
9. "OFICIAL. El Lorca FC, inhabilitado al no cumplir los requisitos económicos" [OFFICIAL. Lorca FC, excluded for not fulfilling the economic requirements] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
10. "徐根宝退出洛尔卡：财务官员涉嫌欺诈，球员全获自由身". 澎湃新闻. 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2024-10-23.
11. "Histórico Lorca FC - Tercera División G 13". www.resultados-futbol.com. Archived from the original on 2019-11-17. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
12. "Polémica con el Lorca: busca futbolistas que jueguen gratis bajo el lema '¿Quieres jugar en Tercera?'". La Sexta (in Spanish). 26 June 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
13. Re, Pedro (29 December 2019). "Pandiani deja el Lorca FC". La Verdad (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
14. "El Lorca FC entra en Concurso de Acreedores". COPE (in Spanish). 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
15. "Un juzgado de lo Mercantil aprueba el concurso de acreedores del Lorca FC". La Verdad (in Spanish). 5 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
16. "Roberto Torres elige a Paco Montesinos para su proyecto". La Opinión de Murcia (in Spanish). 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
17. "El Lorca FC se retira de la competición". COPE (in Spanish). 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
18. "El Lorca FC ya es historia: el juez liquida la sociedad". MurciaEconomía: El periódico económico regional (in Spanish). 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
19. "El Lorca FC incorporó a Bikoro, internacional con Guinea" [Lorca FC signed Bikoro, international with Guinea] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
20. "Deshorn Brown, potencia y gol para la delantera del Lorca FC – Lorca FC | Web Oficial". Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
21. "Indian football Striker Ishan Pandita and his connection with Kashmir". groundreport.in. 18 June 2022. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
22. "Five things you must know about new FC Goa signing Ishan Pandita". Khelnow. 13 October 2020. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
23. "ISL: Who is Ishan Pandita, FC Goa's exciting new recruit?". The Week. 9 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Futbolme.com profile (in Spanish)
• La futbolteca team profile (in Spanish)