The history of Unionistas de Salamanca, the club refounded by its fans that hit the Copa del Rey

THE King’s Cup It is, as it is known in Spain, the tournament of “to stun”. The single-game draw gives the humbler teams the chance to face the more powerful ones and have the opportunity to make a great success. We remember Real Madrid’s defeats against him Alcoian (2-1, in 2021) or the Alcorcon (4-1, in 2009), of Atlético de Madrid against Leonese culture (2-1, in 2020) and Barcelona against Figueres (1-0, in 2001), News (3-2, in 2002) e Gramanet (1-0, in 2004). In the current edition – until now – the big blow has been given Unionists of Salamanca.

The entire First Federation (third division of Spain) won on penalties against Villarreal and achieved the most important victory in its history: it reached the round of 16 and won will face Barcelona. It was divided into two parts: the Reina Sofía Municipal Stadium (a stadium open to the public in 2021 and with a capacity of 5,000 people) suffered a power cut during extra time on Sunday evening, when in the 90s they had finished 1-1, and the batch was completed the next day.

After an uninspiring match, Villarreal seemed to have resolved the issue when, eight minutes from time, Ilias Akhomach scored to make it 1-0. However, Unionistas de Salamanca equalized three minutes later with a penalty. Alfredo Planas. Then came the cut and the suspense until the next day. This Monday the extension was completed and the equality was not changed, so it had to be defined in twelve steps.

In the penalty shootout, Alberto Moreno hit the post and then Pepe Reina blocked one to extend the definition. Kiko Femenia He raised his over the bar and the Unionists of Salamanca unleashed all their euphoria and a celebration that will be eternal.

The golden era and the demise of UD Salamanca SAD

Uniónistas de Salamanca is one of the two clubs created after the demise of Unión Deportiva Salamanca (the Argentinians Diego Latorre, Gustavo Lombardi, Carlos Casartelli, Martín Cardetti and Brian Sarmiento played there), an institution founded in 1923 and which was dissolved by judicial order dated 18 June 2013.

UD Salamanca experienced its golden period in the 1970s, when it remained in the first division for seven seasons. But in the 1980s the team fell into two categories and in June 1992 its president, Juan José Hidalgo (Spanish entrepreneur, owner of Globalia, a tourism and aviation company) transformed the club into a Sports joint-stock company for 81 million pesetas (around 500,000 euros).

The team returned to first place after two consecutive promotions led by Juanma Lillo. His elite dream didn’t last long and he fell back to Seconds, but the following season he returned to Firsts. In 97/98 he had a great sporting year with victories over Barcelona (home and away), against Atlético de Madrid and against Valencia, which earned him the nickname “Giant Assassin”.

But the following year the bubble broke and the team fell to the Second Division. And after a few years of decent performances, UD Salamanca – mired in a deep economic and institutional crisis – was relegated to Second B in the 2010/2011 season.

For this era The bankruptcy of the joint-stock company had already been declared., which had completed the bankruptcy of the creditors who administered the club. For 2013, the main creditor, the People’s Bank, didn’t show up to the meeting and dropped the entity. And its bankruptcy trustee decreed the club’s demise. The federal rights were auctioned off (worth 500,000 euros), the stadium, the anthem, the trademark rights and the rights of players with current contracts.

The support of the fans and the salvation of the unionist identity

The fans did not let their team fall and it didn’t take long for them to create a movement for an organization to address the economic problems that ended with the Sports Union. Here because, They created the Platform of Unionist Supporters (PAU)which had been built months earlier with the hope of saving his club, was the key to being able to carry forward the identity of the institution, even if it was necessary to use another nomination.

In August 2013, just two months after the club’s demise, the club was renamed and formed. “Unionists of Salamanca”the new club re-founded by around 500 fans.

“Faced with this situation of impotence, numerous trade unionists together with various components of the platform have decided to launch a team that would preserve and honor the memory of the extinct UDS without supplanting it, maintaining a season of mourning. We trust that these trade unionists will try to preserve its memory correctly, starting from 2014/15 from where every new federated team born in Salamanca must do so: the provincial category”we read on the PAU Facebook page, in a post published in 2013.

“Unfortunately it was not possible to save the club that will always be ours. For this reason we communicate the dissolution of PAU and separate it from the future of the club Unionistas de Salamanca CF, which, obviously, we hope for a very prosperous future. and, above all, very unionist”he concludes.

The 500 supporters who had formed the PAU founded the new entity and formed the Unionists’ board of directors. They elected their president and the initial investment came out of their pockets. The club is democratically managed by its fans according to the maxim “one member, one vote”; and currently has 4 thousand members who participate in the meetings to decide what the season’s clothing will be and change of the championship.