Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

, on the island of

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

in the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

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 Estadio Gran Canaria is a football stadium in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain. It is currently used for football matches and is home to UD Las Palmas. It was opened in 2003 as a multi-purpose stadium to become the successor of the old Estadio In ...

, 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 Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

from said neighbouring island. Las Palmas and Tenerife contest the Canary Islands derby. 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 Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

(1949–50), ranking third in the following year's Segunda División to reach

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

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 Vicente Dauder Guardiola (25 November 1924 – 9 February 2001) was a Spanish football goalkeeper and manager. Honours Player ;Atlético Madrid *La Liga: 1950–51 * Eva Duarte Cup: 1951 Manager ;Las Palmas *Segunda División: 1963–64 ;Sa ...

, 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 Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

, and four club players made the

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

squad which hosted and won the

UEFA Euro 1964 The 1964 European Nations' Cup was the second edition of the UEFA European Championship. The final tournament was held in Spain. It was won by the hosts 2–1 over the defending champions, the Soviet Union. The tournament was a knockout compet ...

tournament; the following season the team fared even better and only lost the league to Real Madrid, and thus qualified for

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...

for the first time in its history, appearing in the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and being knocked out in the first round by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 died suddenly on 9 March 1971 at the age of 28. The next season, French coach Pierre Sinibaldi led the club to the fifth place, with subsequent

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

: after disposing of

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), commonly referred to as Torino or simply Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont. They currently play in Serie A. Founded as ''Foot-Ball Club Torino'' in 1906, Torino are among the mos ...

and

ŠK Slovan Bratislava ŠK Slovan Bratislava (, "Bratislava Slav") is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, that plays in the Slovak Super Liga. Founded as 1. ČsŠK Bratislava in 1919, the club changed its name to Slovan Bratislava in 1953. Slovan is the mo ...

, the Spaniards bowed out to

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

club

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese ...

; at the end of 1974–75 another team player, Tonono – a defender who played with Guedes – died of a

liver The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...

infection. Las Palmas' third appearance in European competition came with the 1977–78 UEFA Cup, where they defeated

FK Sloboda Tuzla Fudbalski klub Sloboda Tuzla ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Слободa Tyзла; English: Football Club Sloboda Tuzla) is a Bosnian professional football club based in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The English translation of the tea ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in the first round before falling to the English side

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. Under the management of

Miguel Muñoz Miguel Muñoz Mozún (19 January 1922 – 16 July 1990) was a Spanish football player and manager. A midfielder, he spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid before going on to coach the club, where he is widely considered one of the mos ...

, and with players such as

Argentines Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

Miguel Ángel Brindisi Miguel Ángel Brindisi de Marco (born 8 October 1950) is an Argentine football coach and former player. An attacking midfielder, he played for the Argentina national team at the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Playing career Born in the Almagro neig ...

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 and Quique Wolff, the club also reached their first final of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

in that year, losing on 19 April to Barcelona at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...

(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 Rubén Castro Martín (; born 27 June 1981) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Málaga CF mainly as a striker but also as a winger. He represented mainly Las Palmas and Betis during his career, appearing in 282 matches in L ...

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 Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

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

*33 seasons in

*6 seasons in

*1 season in

Recent seasons

European cup history

Current squad

Reserve team

Out on loan

Current technical staff

Honours

:''Runners-up (1):'' 1968–69 *

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

: Winners (2): 1992–93, 1995–96 *

:''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 (1953–57) * Luis Molowny (1957–58) * Baltasar Albéniz (1958–59) * Luis Molowny (1959) *

Marcel Domingo Marcel Domingo Algara (15 January 1924 – 10 December 2010) was a French football goalkeeper and manager of Spanish origin. He spent part of his career in Spain. Domingo coached RCD Espanyol, UD Las Palmas, UE Lleida, Pontevedra CF, Córdob ...

(1959–60) * Paco Campos (1961–62) * Rosendo Hernández (1962–63) *

(1963–66) * Luis Molowny (1968–70) * Rosendo Hernández (1970) *

Héctor Rial José Héctor Rial Laguía (14 October 1928 – 24 February 1991) was a footballer who played as a forward for Real Madrid between 1954 and 1961, and was part of the team that won five consecutive European Cups. He played professional footbal ...

(1970–71) * Pierre Sinibaldi (1971–75) *

Heriberto Herrera Heriberto Herrera Udrizar (24 April 1926 – 26 July 1996) was a footballer and manager who played international football for both Paraguay and Spain as a defender. Career Herrera played for Club Nacional of Paraguay and for several Spanish t ...

(1975–76) *

Roque Olsen Roque Germán Olsen Fontana (9 September 1925 – 15 June 1992), commonly known as Roque Olsen, was an Argentine football player and manager. Playing career Olsen started his playing career in the local leagues of Parana, Entre Ríos. In 1949 ...

(1976–77) *

(1977–79) * Antonio Ruiz (1979–80) *

(1982) *

Walter Skocik Walter Skocik (born 6 September 1940 in Schwechat) is a former Austrian international footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are associatio ...

(1982–83) * Héctor Núñez (1983–84) *

(1984–85) * Ferenc Kovács (1986–87) *

(1988) * Paquito (1989–90) * Manolo Cardo (1990–91) *

(1991), (1991–92) *

(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, a ...

(1993–94) * Paco Castellano (1994–95) *

(1995) *

Ángel Cappa Ángel Alberto Cappa Polchi (born September 6, 1946) is an Argentine football manager and former player. Playing career Cappa played for Olimpo and in Villa Mitre in the 1960s and 1970s, in Bahía Blanca. His career was undistinguished. Coachi ...

(1996–97) * Paco Castellano (1997) *

Mariano García Remón Mariano García Remón (born 30 September 1950) is a Spanish retired football player and coach. A former goalkeeper, he is best known for his spell at Real Madrid, which he helped to six La Liga and three Copa del Rey trophies. He subsequentl ...

(1997–98) * Paco Castellano (1998–99) * Sergije Krešić (1999–01) *

Fernando Vázquez Fernando Vázquez Pena (born 24 October 1954) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently a manager. Managerial career Born in the village of Castrofeito, O Pino, Galicia, Vázquez was an English teacher in L ...

(2001–02) *

Josu Uribe Jesús Uribesalgo Gutiérrez (born 25 May 1969), commonly known as Josu Uribe, is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager. Club career Born in Gijón, Asturias, Uribe began coaching at the age of 21, manag ...

(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 David Vidal Tomé (born 2 August 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. Football career Vidal was born in Porto do Son, A Coruña, Galicia. After an unassuming career (the central defender never pl ...

(2003–04) *

David Amaral David Gil Amaral is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Davis, United States, and since 1998 has been the research director at the M.I.N.D. Institute, an affiliate of UC Davis, engaged in interdisciplinary research into ...

(2004) * Carlos Sánchez Aguiar (2004–05) *

Josip Višnjić Josip Višnjić ( Cyrillic: Jocип Bишњић; born 17 November 1966) is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and a coach. His first name has also been spelled as Josif. After starting out at Radnički Niš, he ...

(2005–06) * Carlos Sánchez Aguiar (2006) *

Juanito Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include: Professional footballers * Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward * Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forwa ...

(2006–07) *

(2007–08) * Javier Vidales (2008–09) * Paco Castellano (2009) * Sergije Krešić (2009–10) *

Paco Jémez Francisco "Paco" Jémez Martín (born 18 April 1970) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a central defender. He is the manager of Iranian club Tractor. Over 11 seasons, he played 269 La Liga matches in representation o ...

(2010–11) *

(2011–12) *

Sergio Lobera Sergio Lobera Rodríguez (born 16 January 1977) is a Spanish professional football manager who is the current manager of China League One club Sichuan Jiuniu. Football career Lobera was born in Zaragoza, Aragon. After impressing with Dosa Sal ...

(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 Enrique "Quique" Setién Solar (; born 27 September 1958) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is the current manager of La Liga club Villarreal. As a player, he was nicknamed ''El Maestro'', an ...

(2015–17) * Manolo Márquez (2017) * Pako Ayestarán (2017) *

(2017–2018) * Manolo Jiménez (2018) *

(2018–2019) *

Pepe Mel José "Pepe" Mel Pérez (born 28 February 1963) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He amassed Segunda División totals of 215 matches and 78 goals over eight seasons, for Real Madrid Castilla, Castell ...

(2019– 2022)

Affiliated teams

Las Palmas has used

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s since 1954, but its official B-team, Las Palmas Atlético, was founded in 1976. A

third side Third Side is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Hong Kong, political party in Hong Kong which claims to offer a "third road" to democracy, positioned between the Pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong, pro-democracy camp and the pro-B ...

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 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''.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 Football is the most popular sport in Spain. Spain has some of the most important teams in Europe (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Seville, Valencia, and others). It also has a high number of players (most of them being unprofession ...

, 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