Unión Magdalena


Unión Magdalena commonly known as El Unión, and nicknamed as El Ciclón Bananero, is a professional Colombian football club based in Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia. The club is currently playing in the Categoría Primera B. The club's home ground is the Sierra Nevada Stadium, which it moved in 2018.
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 playing against Deportivo Cali in the final. The first football club of the Caribbean region of Colombia to win a football championship in history. Carlos Valderrama, one of the most famous Colombian footballers, started his career here.
Relegated in 2005 after lost 3–0 against Deportivo Pereira, Unión earned automatic promotion to the 2019 Categoría Primera A season, after playing 13 years in the second division football league. Unfotunately the club was relegated on 29 October 2019 after losing 3–1 to Once Caldas.
Red and blue stripes compose the traditional shirt of the team, and its design is inspired by Argentine club San Lorenzo de Almagro.

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 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 March 3, 2013, Unión Magdalena played its last game at the stadium against Llaneros FC, in compliance with the final closure order of the Eduardo Santos Stadium.
The team had a tour of venues around Riohacha 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.
PeriodeStadium
1951 - 1991Estadio Eduardo Santos
1991Estadio Jaime Morón León
1992 - 2013Estadio Eduardo Santos
2013Estadio Federico Serrano Soto
2014Estadio Cortes Campomanes
2014 - 2015Estadio Municipal "Luis Tete Samper"
2016Estadio Federico Serrano Soto
2017Estadio Diego de Carvajal
2018 - presentEstadio Sierra Nevada

Players

Current squad

First Team (Deportivo Samarios – 1951)

Honours

Domestic

SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayPen.
1969Copa LibertadoresGS Deportivo Cali2–21–3—
1969Copa LibertadoresGS Deportivo Italia3–00–2—
1969Copa LibertadoresGS Deportivo Canarias0–11–0—

Notable players

Current technical staff