Unión Magdalena
Full nameUnión Magdalena
Nickname(s)El Ciclón Bananero (The Banana Cyclone)
Los Samarios (The Samarios)
Founded10 March 1951 (1951-03-10) (as Deportivo Samarios)
19 April 1953 (1953-04-19) (officially)
GroundEstadio Sierra Nevada
Capacity16,000
ChairmanEduardo Dávila
ManagerÁlvaro Hernández
LeagueCategoría Primera B
2023Primera A, 17th of 20 (Relegated by average)
WebsiteClub website

Unión Magdalena (Spanish pronunciation: [uˈnjom maɣðaˈlena]) 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 B, second division of the Colombian football league system.[1]

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.[2]

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.[2] 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 playing against Deportivo Cali in the final, thus becoming the first football club of the Caribbean region of Colombia to win a football championship in history. Carlos Valderrama, 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, Unión earned automatic promotion to the 2019 Categoría Primera A season, after playing 13 years in the second division football league.[3] 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.[4]

Red and blue stripes compose the traditional shirt of the team, and its design is inspired by the Argentine club San Lorenzo de Almagro.

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 after coming back from a 1–0 deficit against Llaneros in Villavicencio 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, who were clinching promotion with the score in Villavicencio despite losing their final match to Bogotá 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.[5] The events sparked outrage both within the country and abroad, with Colombian internationals Juan Cuadrado 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 stated it was a "national disgrace".[6][7][8]

In response to the growing backlash, as well as calls from Fortaleza to get the match annulled and Unión Magdalena's promotion reversed,[9] 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 to investigate whether any criminal offenses had been committed,[10][11] 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.[12] 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 was postponed until further notice.[13]

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.[14]

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.

Periode Stadium
1951 - 1991Estadio Eduardo Santos
1991Estadio Jaime Morón León
1992 - 2013Estadio Eduardo Santos
2013Estadio Federico Serrano Soto
2014Estadio Cortes Campomanes (Julia Turbay Samur)
2014 - 2015Estadio Municipal "Luis Tete Samper"
2016Estadio Federico Serrano Soto
2017Estadio Diego de Carvajal
2018–presentEstadio Sierra Nevada

Players

Current squad

As of 18 July 2023[15][16]

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 Equatorial Guinea EQG Carlos Bejarano
2 DF Colombia COL Jefrey Trujillo
3 MF Colombia COL Jairo Palomino
4 DF Colombia COL Éder Munive
5 DF Colombia COL Nicolás Gil
6 MF Venezuela VEN Freddy Molina
7 FW Colombia COL Daiver Vega
8 MF Colombia COL Jean Carlos Colorado
9 FW Colombia COL Isaac Camargo
12 GK Colombia COL Ramiro Sánchez
13 MF Colombia COL Alexander Mejía
14 MF Colombia COL James Castro
16 DF Colombia COL Brayan Correa
17 FW Argentina ARG Gonzalo Lucero
18 MF Colombia COL Ronaldo Lora
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW Colombia COL Ricardo Márquez
22 GK Colombia COL Efraín Ustariz
26 MF Colombia COL Arneth González
27 FW Colombia COL Ruyery Blanco
28 DF Colombia COL José Mercado
29 FW Colombia COL Joel Contreras
30 MF Argentina ARG Gianfranco Baier
31 FW Colombia COL Wilder Guisao
33 DF Colombia COL Alain Guerrero
— DF Colombia COL Juan Camilo Angulo
— DF Ecuador ECU Anthony Bedoya
— DF Colombia COL Jahir Scott
— MF Colombia COL Carlos Rodríguez
— FW Colombia COL Ethan González

Players with dual citizenship

First Team (Deportivo Samarios – 1951)

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Hungary HUN Ernest Sabeditch
— GK Colombia COL Rubén Rocha
— GK Colombia COL Jaime de la Spriella
— GK Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia YUG Zvonko Monsider
— DF Colombia COL Víctor Lanao
— DF Romania ROU Alexandru Negrescu
— DF Hungary HUN Sándor Török
— MF Hungary HUN Gerro Hinduliak
— MF Hungary HUN József Samu
— MF Colombia COL Enrique Ortiz
— MF Colombia COL Nelson Pérez
— MF Colombia COL Rómulo Barrios
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Colombia COL Felipe Fernández
— MF Argentina ARG Rafael Botto
— FW Hungary HUN György Marik
— FW Hungary HUN Joseph Kajml
— FW Hungary HUN Gyula Zsengellér (also Manager)
— FW Colombia COL Orlando Granados
— FW Hungary HUN László Füzesi
— FW Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia YUG Milos Dragolovich
— FW Austria AUT Rudolf Strittich
— FW Colombia COL Antonio Carrasquilla
— FW Italy ITA Alessandro Adam
— FW Colombia COL Apolinar Pérez

Notable players

Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama

Notable fans

Honours

Domestic

Campeonato Profesional trophy replica from 1968

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Pen.
1969 Copa Libertadores GS Colombia Deportivo Cali 2–2 1–3 —
Venezuela Deportivo Italia 3–0 0–2 —
Venezuela Deportivo Canarias 0–1 1–0 —

Personnel

Current technical staff

Position Staff
Head coach Argentina Claudio Rodríguez
Assistant manager Colombia David Ferreira
Physical Trainer Colombia Waldir Manga
Goalkeeping coach Colombia Diego Rojas
Psychologist Colombia Joaquín Valdés
Doctor Colombia Pedro Larios
Colombia Luis Mendoza
Kinesiologist Colombia Norman Royero

Last updated: 30 April 2018
Source: Unión Magdalena

References

  1. ↑ "Summary of the last extraordinary assembly of the Dimayor 2021". Dimayor (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 Ascencio, Jose Orlando (5 November 1999). "A la tierra del olvido" [To the land of oblivion] (in Spanish). El Tiempo.
  3. ↑ "Unión Magdalena pone fin a su larga odisea en la B". El Tiempo. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  4. ↑ "Balance de Unión Magdalena: el 'ciclón' perdió su fuerza en la Liga". Futbolred. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Anger in Colombia after suspicious goal decides promotion". Sportstar. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Juan Cuadrado slams suspicious goal that decided promotion in Colombia". ESPN. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "Escándalo en FPC es noticia mundial: así hablan del ascenso de Unión" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  8. ↑ "How a suspicious soccer goal turned into a matter of state in Colombia". El País. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "Carlos Barato, presidente de Fortaleza: "Solicitamos la nulidad de Unión Magdalena vs Llaneros"" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Comunicado: Presidente de La Dimayor Frente a Lo Sucedido en El Partido Llaneros FC vs Unión Magdalena" (in Spanish). Dimayor. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Match-fixing inquiry ordered after bizarre Colombian match between Llaneros, Union Magdalena". ESPN. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "Fernando Jaramillo: "El torneo sigue, con Unión Magdalena ascendido y se jugará la final"" (in Spanish). Gol Caracol. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "Aplazada la final Unión Magdalena vs Cortuluá: ¿se aproxima fallo?" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  14. ↑ "Archivan investigación contra Unión Magdalena por el juego contra Llaneros" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  15. ↑ "Unión Magdalena". Dimayor. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  16. ↑ "finalizado el contrato de los siguientes jugadores". Twitter.com. Union Magdalena. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
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