Unionistas de Salamanca
Full nameUnionistas de Salamanca Club de Fútbol
Nickname(s)Unionistas
Founded26 August 2013 (2013-08-26)
GroundReina Sofía, Salamanca,
Salamanca, Spain
Capacity5,000
PresidentMiguel Ángel Sandoval Herrero
Head coachDani Ponz
LeaguePrimera Federación – Group 1
2022–23Primera Federación – Group 1, 7th of 20
WebsiteClub website

Unionistas de Salamanca Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 2013, the club plays in Primera Federación – Group 1, holding home games at Campo de Fútbol Reina Sofía with a 5,000-seat capacity.[1]

History

After UD Salamanca's dissolution, a group of supporters founded Unionistas de Salamanca Club de Fútbol, a fan-based club created mainly to preserve UDS' memory.[2][3] After the club's creation, famous people like Vicente del Bosque[4] and Dani Rovira[5] became associates. A number of British citizens resident in Spain and England are also members.[2] The fees contributed by the members of the club are a very important part of club's budget. 2,653 people who decided to become partial owners the club, all at individual title, in season 2018–2019.[6] During the first season following its foundation, the club played home games at the “Rosa Colorado” municipal stadium.[7]

On 2 September 2014, Unionistas was inscribed in Primera Provincial de Salamanca, the sixth level of Spanish football.[2][8] A day later it played its first official match, a 0–1 friendly loss against UD Santa Marta.[9]

Unionistas achieved promotion to Primera Regional in April 2015, after defeating Real Salamanca Monterrey.[10] Just one year later, it was promoted to Tercera División after defeating Onzonilla.

The first season of the club in Tercera division was successful, as it ended in the third position of the Castile and León group and qualified to the promotion play-offs to Segunda División B. The club qualified for a second attempt in the next season, after topping the group 8. This time it achieved promotion by defeating Socuéllamos in the last match, with a penalty kick scored in the 96th minute.

The first season in Segunda Division B was successful, as the team managed to finish in ninth place, avoiding relegation and qualifying for the Copa del Rey the following season.

In their debut in Copa del Rey, Unionistas reached the round of 32nd after beating Atlético Baleares and Deportivo La Coruña. In that round, they were eliminated by powerhouse Real Madrid, after losing 1–3. In the league, the season was more difficult. After first 11 league games the club was holding 19th position among 20 teams.[11] However, the club avoided relegation after leaving the last positions and following the suspension of the league due to the COVID-19 pandemic and made it to the round of 16 of the 2023-24 Copa del Rey after beating Gernika, Sporting de Gijón and Villarreal.

Club background

Season to season

Season Tier Division Place Copa del Rey
2014–15 6 1ª Prov. 1st
2015–16 5 1ª Reg. 1st
2016–17 4 3ª 3rd
2017–18 4 3ª 1st
2018–19 3 2ª B 9th Second round
2019–20 3 2ª B 16th Round of 32
2020–21 3 2ª B 2nd / 4th
2021–22 3 1ª RFEF 7th Second round
2022–23 3 1ª Fed. 7th
2023–24 3 1ª Fed.

Detailed list of seasons

SeasonTierDivisionPosPWDLFAPtsCupTop scorer(s)
2014–1561ª Prov1st20172166953Nacho Sánchez24
2015–1651ª Reg1st3427701142788Vitolo24
2016–1743ª3rd3822124772978Cristo20
2017–1843ª1st382558723480Cristo18
2018–1932ªB9th38121610393752Second roundDe la Nava /
Unai		6
2019–2032ªB16th[lower-alpha 1]288713394331Round of 32Guille Andrés7
2020–2132ªB2nd /
4th[lower-alpha 2]		241167241739De la Nava5
2021–2231º RFEF7th3816139553761Second roundJesús De Miguel12
2022–2331º Fed.7th38151112384056Iván Chapela8
  1. ↑ Season curtailed early in March 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain.
  2. ↑ Unionistas finished 2nd in the winter subgroup of their regional group (1 of 5) then 4th in the springtime 'promotion to Segunda División' subgroup and moved to the new third tier, Primera División RFEF.

Current squad

As of 1 October 2023.[12]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Spain ESP Iván Martínez
2 DF Spain ESP Sergio Camus
3 DF Spain ESP Jon Rojo
4 DF Spain ESP Ramiro Mayor
5 DF Spain ESP Erik Ruiz
6 MF Spain ESP Javi Villar (on loan from Real Madrid Castilla)
7 FW Spain ESP Mario Losada
8 MF Spain ESP Héctor Nespral
9 FW Bulgaria BUL Slavy (on loan from Real Valladolid Promesas)
10 MF Spain ESP Manu Ramírez
11 FW Spain ESP Álvaro Gómez
13 GK Spain ESP Pablo Cacharrón
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 FW Spain ESP Alfred Planas
15 DF Spain ESP Ekaitz Jiménez
16 MF Spain ESP Adri Gómez
17 FW Spain ESP Jorge Rastrojo
19 FW Scotland SCO Ewan Urain
20 MF Spain ESP Jordi Tur
21 FW Spain ESP Asier Teijeira
22 DF Spain ESP Carlos Giménez (on loan from Atlético Levante)
23 MF Spain ESP Juan Serrano (footballer)
24 FW Spain ESP Hugo De Bustos

Reserve team

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
24 FW Spain ESP Miguel Caballero
25 FW Ghana GHA Mubarak Alhassan
26 DF Spain ESP Marcos Báez
No. Pos. Nation Player
27 MF Lebanon LBN Tarek Yehya
28 GK Spain ESP César López
29 GK Spain ESP Sergio del Río

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player

Honours

Notable players

Players who have reached international status or reached 100 league matches for the club

Stadium

In its first season, Unionistas de Salamanca played its home games at Polideportivo Rosa Colorado, commonly known as La Sindical, with a capacity of 2,000 spectators.[13]

Since 2015, the club has played its games at Pistas del Helmántico (next to Helmántico Stadium), with a capacity of 3,000 spectators.[14][15]

On 11 November 2017, it was announced that a new stadium would be built in the Zurguén district, in the southern part of Salamanca. The new home of Unionistas, "Estadio Zurguén" will presumably be open for the 2019–2020 season.[16] Roughly one year later, however, the club announced an agreement with Real Salamanca Monterrey CF and the City Council to use the Reina Sofía stadium, with a planned expansion to 5,000 spectators; the transition to the new field was concluded for the 2020–21 season,[17] and was announced by the club on 5 October 2020.[18]

Rivalries

Unionistas de Salamanca has a strong rivalry with Salamanca UDS, formerly known as Salmantino. Both teams meet in their matches, called the derby of the 50 metres as their stadiums were separated by this distance.[15]

While Unionistas was born as a homage of former UD Salamanca, dissolved in 2013, Salamanca CF claims it is its continuation by using their name and their shield, despite a judicial statement established it is a completely different club.

References

  1. ↑ "Pistas del Helmantico, home to Unionistas de Salamanca, Salamanca UDS B - Football Ground Map". www.footballgroundmap.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  2. 1 2 3 "Unionistas de Salamanca: The Englishmen at the heart of Spanish club's meteoric rise". 22 May 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ↑ English summary; Unionistas de Salamanca's official website, 5 September 2013
  4. ↑ Del Bosque, socio 685 del Unionistas de Salamanca (Del Bosque, associate 685 of Unionistas de Salamanca); ABC, 2 December 2013 (in Spanish)
  5. ↑ Dani Rovira, nuevo socio de Unionistas (Dani Rovira, new associate of Unionistas); La Gaceta de Salamanca, 24 April 2014 (in Spanish)
  6. ↑ "El club". Unionistas de Salamanca CF (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  7. ↑ "El club". Unionistas de Salamanca CF (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  8. ↑ Circular nº1 - D.P. Salamanca - PLAN COMPETICIONAL TEMPORADA 2014/15 (Note number 1 – Salamanca's Provincial Dep. – Competition plan 2014/15 season); Castile-León Football Federation, 2 September 2014 (in Spanish)
  9. ↑ Ilusionante estreno de Unionistas de Salamanca (Hopeful debut of Unionistas de Salamanca); El Norte de Castilla, 4 September 2014 (in Spanish)
  10. ↑ Por el espíritu del Salamanca (For Salamanca's spirit); Marca, 13 April 2015 (in Spanish)
  11. ↑ "Clasificación Segunda División B Grupo II 2019 - 20". Marca.com (in Spanish). 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  12. ↑ "Primer equipo". Unionistas de Salamanca CF (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  13. ↑ Estadio (Stadium); Unionistas de Salamanca's official website, 12 August 2014 (in Spanish)
  14. ↑ "COMUNICADO OFICIAL: El primer equipo jugará en Las Pistas del Helmántico" (in Spanish). Unionistas de Salamanca's official website. 14 July 2015.
  15. 1 2 "Unionistas - Salamanca UDS: el derbi que separa una calle" [Unionistas-Salamanca: the derby separated by a street] (in Spanish). Marca. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  16. ↑ "El nuevo campo de El Zurguén será la 'casa de Unionistas" [The new El Zurguén park will be the 'home' of Unionistas]. Diario Noticias Salamanca 24 Horas (in Spanish). 11 November 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-03.
  17. ↑ La Gaceta de Salamanca: El Unionistas de Salamanca jugará finalmente en el Reina Sofía
  18. ↑ "ESTADIO | Unionistas de Salamanca disputará sus encuentros como local esta temporada en el Reina Sofía" [STADIUM | Unionistas de Salamanca will play their home fixtures this season at the Reina Sofía] (in Spanish). Unionistas de Salamanca CF. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.

40°59′45″N 5°39′47″W / 40.9959°N 5.6630°W / 40.9959; -5.6630

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