Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a

Spanish football team The Spain national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in international men's football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football i ...

based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, holding home games at the Estadio Gran Canaria, with a capacity of 32,400 seats. The club traditionally play in yellow shirts with blue shorts and socks. The club remains the only one in Spanish football to achieve back-to-back promotions to La Liga in its first two seasons. It had a 19-year run in the competition, ending in 1982–83. They have been promoted to La Liga on three additional occasions since that time (a total of eight additional seasons), most recently from

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. Its main rivals are Tenerife from said neighbouring island. Las Palmas and Tenerife contest the

Canary Islands derby The Canary Islands derby is any football match contested between Spanish sides UD Las Palmas and CD Tenerife, who are regarded as the top two sides in the Canary Islands. World Soccer Magazine rated it as one of the 50 greatest rivalries in the w ...

. The two clubs are among the most isolated professional football clubs in Europe, since they play their away games on the distant Spanish mainland.

History

Foundation and early years

Even though the club registered with the

Royal Spanish Football Federation The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

on 6 June 1949, UD Las Palmas was officially founded on 22 August of that year, as the result of a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

between all five clubs on the island: ''Club Deportivo Gran Canaria'', ''Atlético Club de Fútbol'', ''Real Club Victoria'', ''Arenas Club'' and ''Marino Fútbol Club''. The union was to create a club strong enough to keep Canarian players on the island and not to seek a better career on the mainland. Debate was held on the name of the club, which it was agreed would not include the names of any of its predecessors. An early option, ''Deportivo Canarias'', was scrapped due to referring to the Canary Islands on a whole rather than the island of Gran Canaria. The name ''Las Palmas'' by itself was also put forward, and then rejected due to the name having already been taken by a defunct club in the city; ''Unión Deportiva Las Palmas'' was finally chosen due to its connection to the union which created the team, and its home city of Las Palmas. The first training session at the new club was held on 16 September 1949. Las Palmas finished second in their first season in the Tercera División (1949–50), ranking third in the following year's Segunda División to reach La Liga for the first time ever, and became the first Spanish club to achieve consecutive promotions in its first two years of existence. The first season in the top flight ended, however, in relegation, but the team returned to the category in 1954, going on to enjoy a six-year spell.

Top-flight success

After Las Palmas returned to La Liga at the end of the 1963–64 season, again as champions, the club went on to have their most successful spell in the competition. Managed by Vicente Dauder, they finished third in 1967–68 behind

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and FC Barcelona, and four club players made the Spain squad which hosted and won the UEFA Euro 1964 tournament; the following season the team fared even better and only lost the league to Real Madrid, and thus qualified for European competition for the first time in its history, appearing in the

1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was the 12th Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal over two legs in the final against Anderlecht. It was the first of Arsenal's two European trophies, the other being the European Cup Winn ...

and being knocked out in the first round by Germany's

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charl ...

(0–0 home draw, 0–1 away loss). Las Palmas player

Juan Guedes ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanis ...

died suddenly on 9 March 1971 at the age of 28. The next season,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

coach

Pierre Sinibaldi Pierre Sinibaldi (29 February 1924 – 24 January 2012) was a French football player and manager. In the 1960s and again in the early 1970s, he coached R.S.C. Anderlecht with whom he previously won four Belgian Championships between 1962 and 19 ...

led the club to the fifth place, with subsequent qualification for the UEFA Cup: after disposing of Torino F.C. and ŠK Slovan Bratislava, the Spaniards bowed out to Dutch club FC Twente; at the end of 1974–75 another team player,

Tonono Antonio Afonso Moreno (25 August 1943 – 9 June 1975), known as Tonono, was a Spanish footballer who played as a sweeper. Club career Born in Arucas, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Tonono made his professional debut with hometown's UD Las Palmas, ...

– a defender who played with Guedes – died of a liver infection. Las Palmas' third appearance in European competition came with the

1977–78 UEFA Cup The 1977–78 UEFA Cup was won by PSV Eindhoven on aggregate over Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Ca ...

, where they defeated FK Sloboda Tuzla of Yugoslavia in the first round before falling to the English side Ipswich Town. Under the management of Miguel Muñoz, and with players such as Argentines Miguel Ángel Brindisi,

Daniel Carnevali Daniel Alberto Carnevali (born 4 December 1946) is a former Argentine football goalkeeper who played for the Argentina national team in the 1970s. Club career During his club career he played for a number of clubs, most notably Rosario Centra ...

(the first to arrive in 1973),

Carlos Morete Carlos Manuel Morete Markov (born 14 January 1952), commonly known as Carlos Morete, is a retired Argentine football striker. He was born in the city of Munro in Greater Buenos Aires, and is one of the few players to have played for and won tit ...

and

Quique Wolff Enrique Ernesto "Quique" Wolff (born 21 February 1949) is an Argentine journalist and former football defender. He represented Argentina at the 1974 World Cup. Playing career Wolff, born in Victoria, Buenos Aires, began his career with Ra ...

, the club also reached their first final of the Copa del Rey in that year, losing on 19 April to Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (1–3). From the 1990s onwards, Las Palmas played mainly in the

, but also spent six years in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

– the new third level created in 1977 – and, from 2000 to 2002, competed in the top flight. On 3 October 2001 the side managed a 4–2 home win against Real Madrid, with youth product Rubén Castro scoring two goals for the hosts, but the season ended nonetheless in relegation. On 22 December 2001, Las Palmas played its 1,000th game in La Liga. In the 2009–10 season in Segunda División the club finished 17th, just one point away from being relegated to Segunda División B. On 21 June 2015, Las Palmas was promoted back to La Liga after defeating Real Zaragoza on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

Ciudad deportiva

The Ciudad Deportiva UD Las Palmas, also known as Barranco Seco, is the training ground of UD Las Palmas. Occupying a total area of 70,000 m², the complex is located in the area known as ''Barranco Seco'' at the southern outskirts of the city of Las Palmas.

History and construction

The current land in Barranco Seco was acquired by UD Las Palmas during the 1960s by the efforts of then club director Manuel Betancor. During the 1970s, there was only a single training pitch used by the reserve and junior teams of the club. In 1982, when the ground was upgraded to be used as a training field by the first team. In June 2015, the ''Ciudad Deportiva'' project was initiated. However, works did not start until 2017. After around 2 years of construction works, the complex was finally opened on July 8, 2019. It was designed by architect Juan Palop-Casado, who assured that the construction of this project was "an attempt that has been made to build with the greatest possible sustainability". The construction was executed by "Construcciones Alex y Nadal, S.L.", involving around 380 workers, 10,000 tons of sand, nearly 300 tons of steel, almost 2,000 cubic meters of concrete and beams of approximately 1,600 meters. Being only the first phase of the entire sports city project, the club invested 22.5 million euros of its own funds to carry out the construction works of the current facilities. The construction of a multifunctional service building is scheduled in the second phase. The eventual area of the complex will become 70,000 m² after the completion of the second phase.

Facilities

The new complex has modern changing rooms, a meeting hall, a gym with physiotherapy facilities, a dining room, a press room, in addition to two parking spaces designated for 130 vehicles. The Ciudad Deportiva is home to 3 regular size training pitches: *Ernesto Aparicio training field of natural grass. * David García Santana training field of natural grass. *Manuel Betancor training field of artificial turf, designated for the training sessions of UD Las Palmas Atlético and

UD Las Palmas C Unión Deportiva Las Palmas C is the second reserve team of UD Las Palmas, club based in Las Palmas, in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It plays in Tercera División – Group 12, holding home games at ''Anexo del Estadio Gran Ca ...

; the reserve teams of the club.

Seasons

Season to season

---- *34 seasons in La Liga *33 seasons in

*6 seasons in

*1 season in Tercera División

Recent seasons

European cup history

Current squad

Reserve team

Out on loan

Current technical staff

Honours

* La Liga :''Runners-up (1):'' 1968–69 *

: Winners (4): 1953–54, 1963–64, 1984–85, 1999–00 *

: Winners (2):

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, 1995–96 * Copa del Rey :''Runners-up (1):''

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Former players

List of coaches

Satur Grech Saturnino Grech Pomares (6 June 1914 – 31 July 2001) was a Spanish retired footballer and manager. Coaching career He coached Las Palmas, Sevilla, Hércules, Mallorca, Atlético Baleares Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico ...

(1953–57) *

Luis Molowny Luis Molowny Arbelo (12 May 1925 – 12 February 2010) was a Spanish football midfielder and coach. He amassed La Liga totals of 175 matches and 90 goals during 12 seasons, with Real Madrid and Las Palmas. He went on to work as a manager with th ...

(1957–58) *

Baltasar Albéniz Baltasar Albéniz (6 January 1905 in Eibar – 29 November 1978 in Pamplona) was a Spanish football manager. He coached Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid twice (1946–1947 and 1950–1951), winning the Copa del Rey, 1950–51 Copa del Rey. He late ...

(1958–59) *

(1959) * Marcel Domingo (1959–60) * Paco Campos (1961–62) *

Rosendo Hernández Rosendo Hernández González (11 March 1922 – 3 August 2006) was a Spanish football forward and manager. Club career Born in Santa Cruz de La Palma, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Hernández started playing football with local Canary I ...

(1962–63) * Vicente Dauder (1963–66) *

(1968–70) *

(1970) * Héctor Rial (1970–71) *

(1971–75) * Heriberto Herrera (1975–76) * Roque Olsen (1976–77) * Miguel Muñoz (1977–79) * Antonio Ruiz (1979–80) * Heriberto Herrera (1982) * Walter Skocik (1982–83) *

Héctor Núñez Héctor Núñez Bello (8 May 1936 – 19 December 2011) was a Uruguayan footballer and manager. He was manager of the Uruguay squad that won Copa América 1995. Playing career Núñez was born in Montevideo and started his playing career at ...

(1983–84) * Roque Olsen (1984–85) * Ferenc Kovács (1986–87) * Roque Olsen (1988) *

Paquito Paquito is a given name, may refer to: *Paquito Cordero (1932–2009), Puerto Rican comedian *Paquito Diaz, (1937–2011), veteran Filipino actor and movie director *Paquito D'Rivera (born 1948), Cuban clarinetist and saxophonist *Paquito Oc ...

(1989–90) *

Manolo Cardo Manuel Cardo Romero, known as Manolo Cardo (born 16 April 1940) is a Spanish former professional football player and manager. Career Born in Coria del Río, Cardo has managed club sides including Sevilla Atlético, Sevilla, Cádiz, Recreat ...

(1990–91) * Roque Olsen (1991), (1991–92) * Miguel Ángel Brindisi (1991–92) *

Iñaki Sáez José Ignacio "Iñaki" Sáez Ruiz (born 23 April 1943) is a Spanish former football player and manager. A defender, he spent the vast majority of his professional career with Athletic Bilbao, which he later also coached in various levels, ap ...

(1993–94) *

Paco Castellano Francisco "Paco" Castellano Rodríguez (born 17 November 1944) is a Spanish football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means ...

(1994–95) *

(1995) * Ángel Cappa (1996–97) *

(1997) * Mariano García Remón (1997–98) *

(1998–99) *

Sergije Krešić Sergije Krešić (born 29 November 1946) is a Croatian retired football manager and former player. Krešić coached a number of lower level sides in Spain, where he is known by the name Sergio Kresic. Playing career He joined Hajduk Split you ...

(1999–01) * Fernando Vázquez (2001–02) * Josu Uribe (2002–03) *

Juan Manuel Rodríguez Juan Manuel Rodríguez (31 December 1771 – 1847) was a Salvadoran revolutionary against Spain and later president of the State of El Salvador within the Federal Republic of Central America (briefly in 1824). He was born in San Salvador to ...

(2003) * David Vidal (2003–04) * David Amaral (2004) * Carlos Sánchez Aguiar (2004–05) * Josip Višnjić (2005–06) * Carlos Sánchez Aguiar (2006) * Juanito (2006–07) *

(2007–08) *

Javier Vidales Francisco Javier Rodríguez Vidales (born 14 September 1965) is a Spanish football coach. Football career Born in Astorga, Province of León, Vidales was in the youth ranks of Sporting de Gijón but never played senior football. He became man ...

(2008–09) *

(2009) *

(2009–10) * Paco Jémez (2010–11) *

(2011–12) * Sergio Lobera (2012–14) *

Josico José Joaquín Moreno Verdú (born 6 January 1975), known as Josico, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. His 16-year professional career was mainly associated with Las Palmas and Villarreal ...

(2014) *

Paco Herrera Francisco "Paco" Herrera Lorenzo (born 2 December 1953) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and is a manager. His managerial career of over a quarter of a century was spent mostly in Segunda División, where he led 13 ...

(2014–15) * Quique Setién (2015–17) *

Manolo Márquez Manuel "Manolo" Márquez Roca (born 7 September 1968) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Hyderabad. Playing career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Márquez repre ...

(2017) *

Pako Ayestarán Francisco Martín "Pako" Ayestarán Barandiarán (born 5 February 1963) is a Spanish football manager and coach, who is currently the assistant manager at Premier League club Aston Villa. He spent 11 years as assistant to Rafael Benítez at c ...

(2017) * Paco Jémez (2017–2018) * Manolo Jiménez (2018) *

(2018–2019) * Pepe Mel (2019– 2022)

Affiliated teams

Las Palmas has used farm teams since 1954, but its official B-team, Las Palmas Atlético, was founded in 1976. A

third side Third Side is a liberal political party in Hong Kong which claims to offer a "third road" to democracy, positioned between the pro-democracy camp and the pro-Beijing camp. It is led by Tik Chi-yuen, who was a co-founder and longtime member of t ...

was founded in 2006 and reached the highest division of regional football, the ''Preferente'', before folding in 2010 and being re-created the following season. The club also had a

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

in the top division between 2009 and 2011. In 2010 Las Palmas founded an indoor football team for the Liga de Fútbol Indoor, staging matches at the ''

Centro Insular de Deportes Centro Insular de Deportes is an indoor arena in Las Palmas, Spain. It was the home arena of the Spanish ACB League professional basketball team Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-p ...

''.La UD Las Palmas crea un equipo de Fútbol Indoor (UD Las Palmas creates Indoor Football team)
; Las Palmas' official website, 23 September 2010

Crest

Las Palmas' badge is a blue shield with yellow scrolls on top with the club's name, city and archipelago. The municipal arms, granted by the city's mayor, feature in the centre of the design. Underneath lie the five crests of the clubs which united in 1949 to create the club: from left to right – Victoria, Arenas, Deportivo, Marino and Atlético; a smaller white scroll above them displays the city motto ''Segura tiene la palma''. In Spanish football, many clubs possess royal patronage and thus are permitted to use the prefix ''Real'' in their name and use an image of the Spanish crown. Las Palmas does not have such patronage, but tops its crest with the Spanish crown due to the patronage held by Real Club Victoria. The crest is the central emblem of the club flag, a horizontal bicolour with yellow on top and blue underneath. The flag of the island of Gran Canaria uses these colours diagonally.

References

External links

*
Futbolme team profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Las Palmas Association football clubs established in 1949 Football clubs in the Canary Islands Segunda División clubs Sport in Las Palmas 1949 establishments in Spain La Liga clubs