Mérida AD

Asociación Deportiva Mérida, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2013 it is a successor club of CP Mérida, it currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 1.

Mérida

Full name	Asociación Deportiva Mérida, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Romanos Pecholatas
Founded	19 February 2013; 12 years ago (19 February 2013) as Mérida Asociación Deportiva
Ground	Estadio Romano, Mérida, Extremadura, Spain
Capacity	14,600[1]
Owner	Best Intentions Analytics Limited (100%)
President	Cliff Crown
Head coach	Sergi Guilló
League	Primera Federación – Group 1
2024–25	Primera Federación – Group 2, 4th of 20
Website	h admerida.es
Home colours Away colours

History

The club was founded on 19 February 2013 and six days later, it was registered in General Registry of Sports Entities of Extremadura.^[2] Mérida UD was dissolved later in 2013 and Mérida AD bought their place in Tercera División.^[3]

On 30 May 2015, the club was promoted to Segunda División B after defeating CD Laredo 2–1 on aggregate in the playoffs.^[4] On 27 August that year, the team competed in the Copa del Rey for the first time, losing 0–3 at home to Peña Sport FC in the opening round.^[5]

In 2017–18, the club were given a bye to the second round of the cup, where they lost 2–0 at CF Fuenlabrada.^[6] The season ended with relegation back to the fourth tier after a 2–2 aggregate defeat (away goals) to Coruxo FC in the relegation play-offs,^[7] but the club bounced back a year later with a penalty shootout win against UD Socuéllamos.^[8]

After a league restructuring in 2021, Mérida was placed in the new fourth-tier Segunda División RFEF. That season, they came runners-up in their group to Córdoba CF and achieved promotion via the play-offs with a 2–0 extra-time win over CD Teruel.^[9]

In 2025, the Matthew Benham-led holding group Best Intentions Analytics Limited (BIA) acquired the club.^[10]

Season to season

Season	Tier	Division	Place	Copa del Rey
2013–14	4	3ª	2nd
2014–15	4	3ª	1st
2015–16	3	2ª B	8th	First round
2016–17	3	2ª B	5th
2017–18	3	2ª B	16th	Second round
2018–19	4	3ª	1st
2019–20	3	2ª B	19th	Second round
2020–21	3	2ª B	6th / 4th
2021–22	4	2ª RFEF	2nd
2022–23	3	1ª Fed.	8th	Second round
2023–24	3	1ª Fed.	12th
2024–25	3	1ª Fed.	4th
2025–26	3	1ª Fed.

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• 4 seasons in Primera Federación
• 5 seasons in Segunda División B
• 1 season in Segunda División RFEF
• 3 seasons in Tercera División

Current squad

As of 31 May 2025.^[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ESP Juan Palomares 3 DF  ESP Nil Jiménez (on loan from Gimnàstic) 4 DF  ESP Manuel Bonaque 5 DF  ESP Luis Pareja 6 MF  ESP Miki Muñoz 7 MF  ESP Álvaro Juan 8 FW  ESP Javi Eslava 9 FW  MAR Mohamed Mizzian 10 MF  ESP Juanjo Sánchez 11 MF  ESP Carlos Doncel 12 FW  USA Jack Beer 13 GK  ESP Dani Vicente 14 FW  ESP Liberto Beltrán

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  ARG Mateo Prevedini 16 DF  ESP Edu Sánchez (on loan from Barcelona B) 17 MF  EQG Pablo Ganet 18 DF  ESP Eliseo Falcón 19 DF  ESP Pipe 20 FW  POR Herculano Nabian (on loan from Empoli) 21 MF  ESP Raúl Beneit 22 DF  KEN Ismael Athuman 23 MF  ESP Busi 24 MF  BRA Miguel Carvalho (on loan from Al Qadsiah) 26 GK  ESP Iker Maciá 28 MF  ESP Saúl del Cerro (on loan from Burgos) — DF  ARG Tomás Bourdal

Reserve team

Main article: Mérida AD B

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 27 MF  POR Tiago Leal 29 FW  ESP Raúl Caballero

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  SEN Yacouba Dabo (at Don Benito until 30 June 2025)

Stadium

Mérida plays its home games at Estadio Romano, with a capacity of 14,600 spectators.^[12]

• Google map for Estadio Romano

Managerial history

• Ángel Alcazar (2015)
• Antonio Gómez (2016)
• José Miguel Campos (2016)
• Bernardo Plaza (2016)
• Eloy Jiménez (2016–17)
• Mehdi Nafti (2017)^[13][14]
• Loren Morón (2017–18)
• Mehdi Nafti (2018)^[15][16]
• Santi Amaro (2019)
• Diego Merino (2019–20)
• Juanma (2020)
• Dani Mori (2020–21)
• Miguel Rivera (2021)
• Juan García (2021)
• Javier Álvarez de los Mozos (2021–22)
• Juanma (2022–)