UD Almería

Almería
Full name Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D.
Nickname(s) Rojiblancos, La Unión, Almeriensistas, UDA, Indálicos
Founded 1989 (1989)
Ground Juegos Mediterráneos,
Almería, Andalusia,
Spain
Ground Capacity 21,350
Chairman Alfonso García
Manager Néstor Gorosito
League Segunda División
2014–15 La Liga, 19th (relegated)
Website Club home page

Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1989 as Almería Club de Fútbol it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, with a 22,000-seat capacity.

History

AD Almería was a team that played in La Liga between 1979–81, but disappeared in 1982, and was arguably UD Almería's predecessor. In 1989, a club named Almería Club de Fútbol was born, but in 2001 was renamed Unión Deportiva Almería. After playing one season in the second division, it was relegated to the third and the fourth divisions.

After spending several seasons in the second level, Almería side was first promoted to the top flight after finishing runner-up in the 2006–07 season. After some outstanding performances, the team achieved a final 8th league place in 2007–08. At the club's helm was coach Unai Emery, as striker Álvaro Negredo finished team topscorer with 13 goals.

After Emery left for Valencia CF, Gonzalo Arconada stepped in, but was sacked on 21 December 2008, after a string of poor results, albeit without ever reaching the last three. Mexican Hugo Sánchez took the job, and fared slightly better, for a final mid-table position.

In 2010–11, Almería reached the semifinals of the Copa del Rey for the first time ever. In the league, however, the club was finally relegated after a four-year spell in the top flight; in November 2010, coach Juan Manuel Lillo was fired after a 0–8 home loss against FC Barcelona (precisely the team that ousted the Andalusians in the domestic cup's last-four, with the same score, but on aggregate), and his successor José Luis Oltra met the same fate, in April 2011.

After two seasons in the second level, Almería returned to the main category of Spanish football on 22 June 2013, after defeating Girona FC in the play-offs. After the departure of manager Javi Gracia, the club appointed their former player and manager of the reserves at the time Francisco; the team eventually managed to survive in 2013–14, finishing 16th.

Francisco was sacked in December 2014, after only managing two points out of 24, and was later replaced by Juan Ignacio Martínez. "JIM" also only lasted until April of the following year, and even with new manager Sergi Barjuán, the club was relegated after finishing 19th.

Season to season

Season Level Division Place Copa del Rey
1989/90 5 Regional 1st
1990/91 5 Regional 3rd
1991/92 5 Regional 2nd
1992/93 4 3ª 2nd
1993/94 3 2ªB 11th
1994/95 3 2ªB 2nd
1995/96 2 2ª 16th
1996/97 2 2ª 17th
1997/98 3 2ªB 7th
1998/99 3 2ªB 18th
1999/00 4 3ª 4th
2000/01 3 2ªB 11th
2001/02 3 2ªB 3rd
2002/03 2 2ª 18th Round of 32
Season Level Division Place Copa del Rey
2003/04 2 2ª 13th Round of 32
2004/05 2 2ª 16th Second round
2005/06 2 2ª 6th First round
2006/07 2 2ª 2nd Third round
2007/08 1 1ª 8th Round of 32
2008/09 1 1ª 11th Round of 16
2009/10 1 1ª 13th Round of 32
2010/11 1 1ª 20th Semifinals
2011/12 2 2ª 7th Round of 32
2012/13 2 2ª 3rd Round of 32
2013/14 1 1ª 17th Round of 16
2014/15 1 1ª 19th Round of 16
2015/16 2 2ª — Round of 32

Current squad

As of 1 February 2016[1]

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

No. Position Player
1 Spain GK Julián Cuesta
2 Brazil DF Michel Macedo
3 Spain DF Fran Vélez
4 Spain DF Ximo Navarro
5 Spain DF Carlos Cuéllar
6 Montenegro DF Esteban Saveljich (on loan from Racing Club)
7 Spain MF Iago Díaz
8 Ghana MF Mohammed Fatau (on loan from Granada)
9 Spain FW Quique González
10 Spain FW José Ángel Pozo
11 Argentina MF Juan Ramírez (on loan from Colorado Rapids)
12 Spain FW Chuli
No. Position Player
13 Spain GK Casto
14 Nigeria FW Kalu Uche
15 Uruguay DF Ernesto Goñi
16 Argentina DF Sebastián Dubarbier (vice-captain)
17 Spain FW Antonio Puertas
18 Nigeria MF Ramon Azeez
19 Burkina Faso MF Jonathan Zongo
20 Spain MF José Ángel
21 Spain DF Jorge Morcillo
22 Spain MF Iván Sánchez
23 Spain MF Fernando Soriano (captain)
25 Chile MF Lolo Reyes (on loan from Betis)

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
 — Spain DF Míchel Zabaco (on loan at Cultural Leonesa)

Notable players

Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.

see also Category:UD Almería players

Uniform

Almería's uniform in the 2011–12 season.
Years Manufacturers Sponsors
2001–07 Cejudo Obrascampo
2007–08 UDA
2008–10 None1
2010–12 Rasán Estrella Damm
2012– Nike

1 The shirt contained messages such as Isla del Fraile or Corredor de Vida.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Primer equipo" [First team] (in Spanish). UD Almería. Retrieved 31 January 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, May 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.