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União de Leiria

Full name	União Desportiva de Leiria
Nickname(s)	Os Lis (The ones from the Lis river)
Founded	6 June 1966; 58 years ago (1966-06-06)
Ground	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa
Capacity	23,888
Chairman	Armando Marques
Manager	Filipe Cândido
League	Liga Portugal 2
2023–24	12th of 18
Website	www.uniaodeleiria.pt
Current season

União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (pronounced [uniˈɐ̃w dɨ lɐjˈɾiɐ]), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, with a 23,888-seat capacity.

History

Leiria's biggest rivals in Portugal are Beira-Mar, Associação Naval 1º de Maio and Académica de Coimbra, which belong to the same geographical region. In 1979–80, the club first competed in the top division, finishing in 13th position and being the first team inside the relegation zone.

A heavy contender in the battle to reach European competitions in the 2000s, the club was relegated in 2007–08 to the second level, after finishing last. The team would be immediately promoted back, coming in second after champions Olhanense.

On 23 August 2004, União de Leiria reached the UEFA Intertoto Cup final with Lille. After getting a 0–0 draw in France in the first leg, the whole city thought it would be possible for the club to win a European competition. However, in the second leg, after another 0–0 draw at their home stadium, the team would lose the game in extra time by 0–2, mostly due to the excessive fatigue. For the history, it was the first Portuguese team to reach the final of this competition.

The 2011–12 season was lived amongst serious financial difficulties, with the squad not being paid their wages for several months, as three coaching moves also happened during the campaign and president João Bartolomeu resigned amongst accusations of ingratitude towards the players. On 29 April 2012, after most of the squad rescinded their contracts, only eight players took the pitch for the league match at home against Feirense in an eventual 0–4 home loss. The side played the last two matches, against Benfica and Nacional, with a complete team, but three players came from the juniors. After failing to meet the deadline to register the team in Division Two, Leiria were automatically relegated to the third level. Overwhelmed with the task of rebuilding a squad from scratch, the organization hired several players in an attempt to return to the professionals, as a second senior team also begun competing in the Leiria regional leagues, coached by former club player Luís Bilro. On 28 June 2013, the UD Leiria SAD was declared bankrupt in a meeting of creditors, which demanded the payment of a debt amounting to €13.5 million, with the Portuguese state abstaining for demanding a debt of over €3.6 million. The second senior team that competed in the regional league took the place of the SAD by buying their sports rights for €1,000, with the club returning to the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa after playing their home matches at other grounds for two seasons.

In February 2015, at an extraordinary general assembly, UD Leiria would vote for the creation of another SAD, opening doors to the arrival of Alexander Tolstikov, who after João Bartolomeu would become the new "Lord" of Leiria. The club would have already had a SAD between 1999 and 2013, having been extinguished in the face of its high debt value. The SAD's initial share capital is 40% owned by UD Leiria and 60% owned by DS Investment LLP, of which Alexander Tolstikov is one of those responsible. Thus, DS Investment started to control the main football team and also the junior team.

Players

Current squad

As of 1 October 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  POL Paweł Kieszek 3 DF  ESP Marc Baró 4 DF  POR Bura 5 DF  GNB Víctor Rofino 6 DF  POR Marco Baixinho 7 MF  BRA Ryan Guilherme (on loan from Fortaleza B) 8 MF  POR Arsénio 9 FW  ESP Juan Muñoz 10 MF  NED Jordan van der Gaag 11 FW  BRA Jair Silva 14 DF  BRA Zé Vitor 15 DF  POR Kaká 17 MF  ARG Lucho Vega 18 MF  BRA Crystopher

No. Pos. Nation Player 23 DF  POR Tiago Ferreira 25 MF  POR Diogo Amado (captain) 26 FW  POR João Resende 27 FW  BRA Alisson Santos (on loan from Figueirense) 28 MF  NZL Sarpreet Singh 29 GK  POR Fábio Ferreira 30 FW  POR Matheus Alessandro 42 MF  CIV Dje D'avilla 52 DF  CIV Habib Sylla 72 DF  POR Vasco Oliveira 77 FW  POR Martim Ribeiro 88 MF  UKR Vladyslav Kobylyanskyi 99 FW  BRA Daniel dos Anjos

Out on loan

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

League and cup history

Honours

• Segunda Divisão/Liga Portugal 2: 1980–81, 1997–98
• Liga 3: 2022–23
• UEFA Intertoto Cup co-winners: 2007
• Taça de Portugal runners-up: 2002–03
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira runners-up: 2003

Stadium

The Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa was built for UEFA Euro 2004 in 2003, hosting during the competition Croatia's matches against Switzerland (0–0) and France (2–2). It also hosted the 2006 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira final between FC Porto and Vitória de Setúbal, as well as the following (Sporting CP 1–0 Porto).

The architect who designed the stadium was Tomás Taveira, who also designed stadiums for Euro 2004, including Beira-Mar's Estádio Municipal de Aveiro and Sporting CP's Estádio José Alvalade. The grounds belong to the municipality of Leiria.

Due to an excessive rent, Leiria relocated to the Estádio Municipal in the nearby town of Marinha Grande, for 2011–12. For the following season, the club moved to Campo da Portela in Santa Catarina da Serra, home of U.D. Serra.

After the SAD bankruptcy, the club returned to play its home matches at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa.

Managers

• Vieira Nunes (1989–90)
• Luís Campos (1992–93)
• Manuel Cajuda (1993–94)
• Vitor Manuel (1994–96)
• Eurico Gomes (1996)
• Quinito (1996–97)
• Vitor Manuel (1997)
• Vítor Oliveira (1997–98)
• Mário Reis (1998–99)
• Manuel José (1999–01)
• José Mourinho (2001–02)
• Mário Reis (2002)
• Vítor Pontes (2002)
• Manuel Cajuda (2002–03)
• Vítor Pontes (2003–05)
• José Manuel Gomes (2005)
• Jorge Jesus (2005–06)
• Domingos (2006–07)
• Paulo Duarte (2007)
• Vítor Oliveira (2007–08)
• Paulo Alves (2008)
• Manuel Fernandes (2008–09)
• Lito Vidigal (2009–10)
• Pedro Caixinha (2010–11)
• Vítor Pontes (2011)
• Manuel Cajuda (2011–12)
• José Dominguez (2012)
• Ricardo Moura (2012–2013)
• Luis Bilro (2012–2013)
• Rui Rodrigues (2013–2014)
• Jorge Casquilha (2014–2016)
• Siarhei Kabelski (2016)
• Kata (2016–2017)
• Serghei Cleșcenco (2017)
• Rui Amorim (2017–2018)
• Luís Pinto (2018)
• Tiago Vicente (2018)
• Filipe Cândido (2018–2020)
• Carlos Delgado (2020)
• Hélder Pereira (2020–2021)
• Filipe Cândido (2021)
• Bino (2021–2022)
• Vasco Botelho da Costa (2022–2024)
• Filipe Cândido (2024–present)

Fans

União's fans are called Leirienses or Unionistas, and their main group of supporters is Armata Ultra ("Armata Ultra").

See also

• Apito Dourado

References

1. João Bartolomeu: "Se não conseguirmos pagar aos jogadores, paciência" (João Bartolomeu: "If we can't pay the players, tough luck") Archived 2015-04-27 at the Wayback Machine; Relvado, 9 December 2011 (in Portuguese)
2. Presidente da SAD confirma ordenados em atraso e saída do diretor geral (Chairman confirms due wages and departure of general manager); SAPO Desporto, 9 December 2011 (in Portuguese)
3. Uniao de Leiria swap coaches... again Archived November 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine; PortuGOAL, 26 September 2011
4. Cajuda out, Dominguez in at Leiria; PortuGOAL, 14 March 2012
5. João Bartolomeu demitiu-se: "São 25 anos a aturar isto" (João Bartolomeu resigned: "It's 25 years putting up with this"); Diário de Notícias, 13 April 2012 (in Portuguese)
6. Vieira, Dominic. "União de Leiria, the first club to play a 4–3–0". About a Football Report. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
7. Situação leiriense correu o Mundo (Leiriense plight talked abroad) Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine; Record, 30 April 2012 (in Portuguese)
8. Benfica-U. Leiria, 1–0 (crónica) (Benfica-U. Leiria, 1–0 (report)); Mais Futebol, 5 May 2012 (in Portuguese)
9. U. Leiria-Nacional, 2–3 (destaques) (U. Leiria-Nacional, 2–3 (highlights)); Mais Futebol, 12 May 2012 (in Portuguese)
10. U.Leiria fora dos Campeonatos profissionais (U. Leiria out of professional competitions) Archived 2012-09-03 at the Wayback Machine; Record, 25 May 2012 (in Portuguese)
11. Reforços para Leiria SAD (Reinforcements for Leiria SAD); O Derbie, 7 August 2012 (in Portuguese)
12. Duo no Leiria (Duo joins Leiria); O Derbie, 25 August 2012 (in Portuguese)
13. Clube chegou a acordo com o treinador Ricardo Moura (Club reaches agreement with coach Ricardo Moura); SAPO Desporto, 24 July 2012 (in Portuguese)
14. Clube inscreve equipa nas distritais (Club signs team in regional divisions) Archived 2012-06-22 at the Wayback Machine; SAPO Desporto, 19 June 2012 (in Portuguese)
15. "Abstenção do Estado decisiva para liquidação da SAD da União de Leiria" [State abstention decisive in the bankruptcy of SAD]. desporto.sapo.pt. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013.
16. "SAD declara insolvência e clube sobe ao Nacional de Séniores" [SAD declares bankruptcy and club climbs to Campeonato Nacional]. rr.sapo.pt. 18 July 2013.
17. "União de Leiria garante direitos desportivos da SAD por mil euros" [União de Leiria assures sports rights from SAD for 1000 euros]. agentedesportivo.com. 17 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013.
18. "Plantel" (in Portuguese). UD Leiria.
19. The UEFA Intertoto Cup: Past Winners. Listed are all 11 teams that won the Intertoto Cup, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
20. U. Leiria SAD jogará no Campo da Portela (U. Leiria SAD will play in Campo da Portela); O Derbie, 1 August 2012 (in Portuguese)

External links

• Official website (in Portuguese)
• U.D. Leiria at ZeroZero

• U.D. Leiria
• Football clubs in Portugal
• Association football clubs established in 1966
• 1966 establishments in Portugal
• Sport in Leiria
• Primeira Liga clubs
• Liga Portugal 2 clubs