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Unión Magdalena () commonly known as El Unión, and nicknamed as El Ciclón Bananero (The Banana Cyclone) and also Los Samarios (The Samarios), is a Colombian football club from the city of Santa Marta, capital of the department of Magdalena, founded on April 19 1953. They currently play in the Primera A, first division of the Dimayor. Founded on 10 March 1951 as ''Deportivo Samarios'', the club was re-founded as Unión Magdalena on 19 April 1953. The original playing squad was largely composed of Hungarians who were touring Colombia when their club, the Hungaria FbC Roma, was disbanded.


History

Unión Magdalena was founded as ''Deportivo Samarios'' on 10 March 1951. The team was founded with the help of José Eduardo Gnecco Correa and Eduardo Dávila Riascos and was formed by the squad of the Hungaria FbC Roma when it was disbanded after a tour in South America. The first team consisted in 10 Colombians, 8 Hungarians, 2 Yugoslavs, 1 Austrian, 1 Argentine, 1 Italian and 1 Romanian. Deportivo Samarios debuted on league that same year and placed 14th. That season, the team achieved the record of the biggest win in the Colombian league against Universidad, with a score of 12–1. The club was re-founded as Unión Magdalena on 19 April 1953. Unión has only won one championship, in
1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
playing against
Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...
in the final, thus becoming the first football club of the
Caribbean region of Colombia The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...
, born in Santa Marta and one of the most famous Colombian footballer, started his career in this club. Relegated in 2005 after losing 3–0 to
Deportivo Pereira Deportivo Pereira is a professional Colombian football team based in Pereira, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium. History Early years While there are several am ...
, Unión earned automatic promotion to the
2019 Categoría Primera A season The 2019 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2019 Liga Águila season for sponsorship reasons) was the 72nd season of Colombia's top-flight football league. The season began on 25 January and concluded on 7 December. Junior ente ...
, after playing 13 years in the second division football league. Despite qualifying for the semifinals of the 2019 Apertura, Unión's performance in the Finalización tournament was poor and the club ended up being relegated on 29 October after losing 3–1 to Once Caldas. Red and blue stripes compose the traditional shirt of the team, and its design is inspired by the Argentine club
San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football tea ...
.


2021 controversy and promotion

On 4 December 2021, the last matchday of the semi-final Group B of the second tournament of the 2021 Primera B season, Unión Magdalena sealed their promotion to
Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is th ...
after coming back from a 1–0 deficit against
Llaneros A (, ‘plainsman’) is a South American herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela. During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in both ar ...
in
Villavicencio Villavicencio () is a city and municipality in Colombia. Capital of Meta Department, it was founded on April 6, 1840. The city had an urban population of approximately 531,275 inhabitants in 2018.https://www.dane.gov.co/files/varios/informacion ...
with a couple of goals in quick succession in stoppage time to win the game by a 2–1 score and get promoted at the expense of
Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the ...
, who were clinching promotion with the score in Villavicencio despite losing their final match to
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...
at the same time. However, video footage of Unión Magdalena's winning goal appeared to show the Llaneros players backing off and failing to make an effort to prevent their rivals from scoring. The events sparked outrage both within the country and abroad, with Colombian internationals
Juan Cuadrado Juan Guillermo Cuadrado Bello (born 26 May 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Colombia national team. He is known for his direct style of play, including his pace (both on and off the ball) as wel ...
and Mateus Uribe expressing their displeasure, calling them "a lack of respect" and "an embarrassment for Colombian football", whilst President of Colombia
Iván Duque Márquez Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulga ...
stated it was a "national disgrace". In response to the growing backlash, as well as calls from Fortaleza to get the match annulled and Unión Magdalena's promotion reversed, Dimayor chairman Fernando Jaramillo ordered the opening of an inquiry on the match events while also requesting the
Office of the Attorney General of Colombia The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia ( es, Fiscalía General de la Nación; literally "General Prosecutorial Office of the Nation") is the Colombian institution part of the Colombian judicial branch of Government with administrative a ...
to investigate whether any criminal offenses had been committed, but on 7 December 2021, Jaramillo stated that the tournament would not be paused and Unión Magdalena's promotion would not be overturned while due process was completed. However, amid the ongoing inquiries, the Torneo II's final match between Cortuluá and Unión Magdalena, which was originally scheduled to be played on 11 December 2021 in
Tuluá Tuluá (), is a city located in the heart of Valle del Cauca, Colombia. A major industrial and commercial center, it is the region's fourth-largest city after Cali—the department capital— Buenaventura and Palmira. Founded around 1741 by Juan ...
was postponed until further notice. On 30 December 2021 Dimayor's disciplinary commission closed the investigation on Unión Magdalena as it found no evidence implying that members of the aforementioned club had been responsible for the events that occurred in the match against Llaneros, thus confirming their promotion to Primera A for the 2022 season.


Uniform

The club uniform is directly inspired by the colors of the flag of the Magdalena Department since the founding of the team in 1953, although for many years it played with a white uniform. For the 2012 season, his uniform continued with the traditional
San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football tea ...
vertical stripes, and he again used the clothes of the Bogota company ''FSS'' with whom he had signed in past seasons. With the change of the shield, the gray color was added to the vertical and horizontal lines, therefore, the averages of the banana set are of such color.


Kit manufacturers


Sponsor Kit


Stadiums

The Eduardo Santos Stadium, inaugurated in 1951, was the highest sports venue for Magdalenes, located in the Olympic Village of Santa Marta. It served for the Unión Magdalena local games but since its inauguration, it has not only been the headquarters of the Unión Magdalena soccer club, it also witnessed the birth of prominent Colombian soccer figures such as the former Colombian team captain, Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama. It currently has a capacity of 23,000 spectators. On 3 March 2013, Unión Magdalena played its last game at the stadium against Llaneros F.C., in compliance with the final closure order of the Eduardo Santos Stadium. The team had a tour of venues around Riohacha (La Guajira) at the Federico Serrano Soto Stadium and then in the Magdalena municipality of Ciénaga, at the "Luis Tete Samper" Municipal Stadium, with a capacity of 5,000 spectators. After the inauguration of the Sierra Nevada Stadium for the 2017 Bolivarian Games, the Union Magdalena made the agreement with the mayor of Santa Marta official to return to the city from the 2018 season.


Players


Current squad


Players with dual citizenship

* Carlos Bejarano


First Team (Deportivo Samarios – 1951)


Honours


Domestic

* Campeonato Profesional/Categoría Primera A: ::Winners (1):
1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...
*
Categoría Primera B Categoría Primera B, commonly referred to as Torneo BetPlay Dimayor due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay (formerly ''Torneo Águila''), is the second-division football league in Colombia. Format DIMAYOR has applied a new form ...
: ::Winners (1): 2021–II ::Runners-up (2):
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
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 ...
*
Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equi ...
: ::Runners-up (1):
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...


Performance in CONMEBOL competitions


Notable players

*
Gyula Zsengellér Gyula Zsengellér (27 December 1915 – 29 March 1999) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker. A legend of Újpest FC, he is most famous for his part in taking the Hungarian national team to the 1938 World Cup Final. He was that to ...
(1951–53) *
Georg Hanke Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 * Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) George is a surname of Irish, English, Welsh, South Indian Christian, Middle Eastern Christian (usually Lebanese), French, o ...
(1951) *
György Marik György Marik, also known as Jorge Marik (4 April 1924 – 20 December 1988), was a Hungarian football player and manager. Marik fled Hungary in 1949 and later spent most of his career in Mexico. Career Marik was born in Hungary on 4 April 1924 a ...
(1951–1952) * Gabriel Rakosky (1952) * Kalman Lami (1952) * Ladislao Magyar (1952) * Nicolás Hrotko (1952) *
Bruno Gerzelli Bruno Gerzeli (October 3, 1925 – November 8, 1982) was an Italian professional football player. Career Born in Monfalcone, Gerzeli, a winger, inside forward and centre-forward, started his career in the Serie C side C.R.D.A. Monfalcone, wh ...
(1952) *
Corrado Contin Corrado "Dino" Contin (7 January 1922 – 16 November 2001) was an Italian professional football player. He played for 4 seasons (65 games, no goals) in the Serie A for A.S. Roma. He played for Deportivo Samarios in Colombia Colombia (, ...
(1952) *
Manuel Rossi Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...
(1965) * Arístides Del Puerto (1973) *
Luis Giribet Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
(1976) *
Víctor Solar Víctor is a Spanish masculine given name, equivalent to Victor in English and Vítor in Portuguese. Notable people with the given name include: * Víctor Cabrera (Argentine footballer) * Víctor Cabrera (Chilean footballer) *Víctor Hugo Cabrera, ...
(1977) *
Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...
(1981–84) * Alfredo Arango (1965–1972) (1973–1974) (1978–1980) *
Carlos Arango Carlos Arango Medina (Santa Marta, 31 January 1928 - Los Angeles, 19 August 2014) was a Colombian people, Colombian Association football, football Forward (association football), forward, often known as "El Maestro". Career Born in Santa Marta, ...
(1950) (1960–1961) * Aurelio Palacios *
Nixon Perea Nixon Perea (born August 15, 1973) is a Colombian football player. He has played for LD Alajuelense (Costa Rica), Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia), Atlético Nacional (Colombia), and Vegalta Sendai (Japan). He played for the Colombia national ...
(1993) *
Erwin Carrillo Erwin Albeiro Carrillo Fragozo (born June 25, 1983) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for LDU Loja as a striker. He is known as "a powerful, no-nonsense striker. In January 2010 arrived to the Chilean football club Everton. He ...
(2004–2005) (2007–2009) (2012–2014) (2018) * Abel Aguilar (2018–2020) * David Ferreira (2018–2019)


Personnel


Current technical staff


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Magdalena Football clubs in Colombia Association football clubs established in 1950 Santa Marta 1950 establishments in Colombia Categoría Primera A clubs Categoría Primera B clubs