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Almería

Full name	Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D.
Nickname(s)	Rojiblancos La Unión Almeriensistas UDA Indálicos
Founded	26 July 1989; 35 years ago (1989-07-26) as Almería Club de Fútbol
Ground	UD Almería Stadium
Capacity	17,400
Owner	Turki Al-Sheikh
President	Turki Al-Sheikh
Head coach	Rubi
League	Segunda División
2023–24	La Liga, 19th of 20 (relegated)
Website	www.udalmeriasad.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. (Spanish pronunciation: [uˈnjon depoɾˈtiβ(a) almeˈɾi.a]) is a Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as Almería Club de Fútbol until 2001, when it was renamed Unión Deportiva Almería. The club currently plays in the Segunda División, and plays their home games at the 17,400-seat capacity UD Almería Stadium.

History

The first football club in Almería was founded in 1909: el Almería Foot-Ball Club. Since then, several Almería football clubs appeared and disappeared. One of them was AD Almería, a team that played in La Liga between 1979 and 1981, 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. On 19 January 2001 the mayor of Almería Santiago Martínez Cabrejas announced in the city council that the new club UD Almería had been formed after the merger of two city teams - Polideportivo Almería and Almería CF. But UD Almería was not official until 28 June 2001, when Almería CF approved at the General Meeting of Shareholders the renaming. 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, as the away win against Deportivo de La Coruña 3–0 in the first La Liga match, 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. He was replaced by Roberto Olabe.

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 Javier Rodríguez Vílchez; 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.

In the 2018–19 season, Almería finally escaped the tough fight for the permanence in Segunda División until the last matches as during 3 previous seasons. This time they were closer to the promotion play-offs to La Liga, and finished 10th from 22 teams participated.

On 2 August 2019, Turki Al-Sheikh became the owner of the club, replacing Alfonso García Gabarrón. He appointed Mohamed El Assy as general director, Dario Drudi as sporting director, who replaced Miguel Ángel Corona, and manager Óscar Fernández was replaced by Pedro Emanuel. On 5 November 2019, it was announced Guti replaced Emanuel. On 26 June 2020, he was ceased and replaced by Mario Silva, who was himself replaced by José Gomes on 27 July.

In August 2021, UD Almería (Mohamed El Assy) and the Ayuntamiento de Almería [es] (Ramón Fernández-Pacheco Monterreal [es]) agreed to a lease on the operation of the municipally-owned Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos for a 25-year period. In June 2022, the club achieved promotion to the first division by sealing a 1st position in the table, respectively, on the very last match day of the season, after spending seven years in the second tier.

In the 2023-24 season, Almeria started the season with record of 28 league games without a win between 11 August 2023 to 11 March 2024. At last, the club secured a victory against Las Palmas οn 17 March 2024. However, they were relegated to second division after a 1–3 loss to Getafe on 27 April 2024, ending their two-year stay in top tier.

Season to season

• 8 seasons in La Liga
• 17 seasons in Segunda División
• 6 seasons in Segunda División B
• 2 seasons in Tercera División
• 3 seasons in Categorías Regionales

Players

As of 20 November 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  POR Luís Maximiano 2 MF  ESP Arnau Puigmal 3 DF  ESP Edgar González 4 DF  BRA Kaiky 5 MF  ARG Lucas Robertone (captain) 6 MF  SEN Dion Lopy 8 MF  ESP Gonzalo Melero 9 FW  COL Luis Suárez 10 MF  ESP Nico Melamed 11 MF  ESP Sergio Arribas 12 FW  BRA Léo Baptistão 13 GK  ESP Fernando Martínez 15 MF  GHA Iddrisu Baba

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF  SRB Aleksandar Radovanović 17 DF  ESP Álex Pozo 18 DF  ESP Marc Pubill 19 FW  SRB Marko Milovanović 20 DF  ESP Álex Centelles 21 DF  ESP Chumi 24 DF  MOZ Bruno Langa 26 DF  ESP Paco Sanz 27 MF  POR Gui Guedes 28 FW  MAR Rachad Fettal 31 GK  ESP Bruno Iribarne 36 FW  MNE Marko Perović

Reserve team

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 29 DF  ESP Nacho Vila 30 FW  ESP Valen Gómez 33 MF  ESP Saif El Aamari

No. Pos. Nation Player 34 MF  ESP Rubén Quintanilla 35 FW  ESP Loren Sánchez

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.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ESP Arnau Solà (at Villarreal B until 30 June 2025) — DF  GNB Houboulang Mendes (at Troyes until 30 June 2025) — MF  ESP Adrián Embarba (at Rayo Vallecano until 30 June 2025) — MF  BRA Lázaro (at Palmeiras until 31 December 2024) — MF  ESP Marcos Peña (at Marbella until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ENG Arvin Appiah (at Nacional until 30 June 2025) — FW  ESP Carlos Rojas (at Murcia until 30 June 2025) — FW  MLI Ibrahima Koné (at Al-Okhdood until 30 June 2025) — FW  GNB Marciano Sanca (at Betis Deportivo until 30 June 2025)

Technical staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Rubi
Assistant coach	Jaume Torras
Chief of fitness coach	Xavi Gil
Fitness coach	Manel García Víctor Fortes
Goalkeeping coach	Diego Tuero Ricardo Molina
Technical assistant	Joan Ferrer Joan Carrillo
Rehab fitness coach	Álvaro Cano
Kit man	Mateo Ruiz Juan Ventaja Bernardo Hernández
Kit woman	Mari César Herminia César
Chief of medical services	Sebastián Jiménez
Physiotherapy coordinator	Cid Andrade
Physiotherapist	Pedro Serrano Carlos Fernández Edu Antequera
Nutritionist	José González

Last updated: 20 November 2024
Source: UD Almería (in Spanish)

Notable players

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

• Sofiane Feghouli
• Hernán Bernardello
• Pablo Piatti
• Óscar Ustari
• Diego Valeri
• Diego Alves
• Paulo Jamelli
• Felipe Melo
• Michel Macedo
• Jonathan Zongo
• Modeste M'bami
• Hans Martínez
• Lorenzo Reyes
• Fabián Vargas
• Luis Suárez
• Thievy Bifouma
• Mate Bilić
• Michael Jakobsen
• Sena
• Henok Goitom
• Iddrisu Baba
• Ferenc Horváth
• Tomer Hemed
• Ibrahima Koné
• Sander Westerveld
• Ramon Azeez
• Kalu Uche
• Diego Barreto
• Peque Benítez
• Santiago Acasiete
• Miguel Rebosio
• Hélder Barbosa
• Nélson Marcos
• Constantin Gâlcă
• Veljko Paunović
• Dion Lopy
• Srđan Babić
• Bruno
• Álvaro Cervera
• Juan Cervián
• Corona
• Albert Crusat
• Esteban
• Esteban Navarro
• Fernando
• Francisco
• Carlos García
• Julio
• López Rekarte
• Luna
• Mané
• Álvaro Negredo
• José Ortiz
• Juanma Ortiz
• Juan Portillo
• Raúl Sánchez
• Fernando Soriano
• Ángel Trujillo
• Verza
• Aleix Vidal
• Teerasil Dangda
• Julio Álvarez
• Darwin Núñez
• Ivica Barbarić

World Cup players

The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup Finals, while playing for Almería.

• Kalu Uche (2010)
• Ramon Azeez (2014)
• Srđan Babić (2022)

Uniform

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

Honours

• Segunda División
  • Champions (1): 2021–22

See also

• UD Almería B – Almería's B team
• AD Almería
• List of managers
• List of statistics

References

1. "Estadio Juegos del Mediterráneo" (in Spanish). UD Almería.
2. "Un club joven con un gran futuro". UD Almeria SAD (in Spanish). 2007. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
3. "Estadio Juegos del Mediterráneo". UDA Almeria SAD (in Spanish). Retrieved January 18, 2018.
4. "Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos". Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved January 18, 2018.
5. "1909: el año en el que nace el primer club de fútbol almeriense". Ideal. 28 May 2017.
6. ^ "La historia del Club | Almería - Web Oficial". La historia del Club | Almería - Web Oficial (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-10-16.
7. Europa Press (1 July 2008). "Gonzalo Arconada firma como nuevo entrenador del Almería para las dos próximas temporadas". Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
8. EFE (21 December 2008). "Gonzalo Arconada, destituido como entrenador del Almería". Diario de Almería (in Spanish). Grupo Joly. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
9. EFE (20 November 2010). "Juan Manuel Lillo es destituido como entrenador del Almería". 20 Minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
10. Europa Press (23 November 2010). "Lillo se despide, junto a sus ayudantes, de la plantilla del Almería". Marca (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
11. "El Almería se encomienda a Oltra". ABC (in Spanish). Vocento. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
12. EFE (5 April 2011). "La UD Almería destituye a José Luis Oltra para salvarse en ocho jornadas". Cadena SER (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 July 2020.
13. EFE (5 April 2011). "Roberto Olabe sustituye a José Luis Oltra como técnico de la UD Almería". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Titania Compañía Editorial, S.L. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
14. "Francisco Javier Rodríguez, nuevo entrenador del Almería". El Economista (in Spanish). Editorial Ecoprensa, S.A. EcoDiario. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
15. "2013/14 Spanish Liga BBVA Table / Table". ESPN FC. 2013–2014. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
16. "Clasificación Liga BBVA - Temporada 2013/2014.Jornada 7". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. Liga BBVA. 2013–2014. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
17. Espino, Rafa (9 December 2014). "El Almería destituye a Francisco". AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
18. Europa Press (11 December 2014). "Juan Ignacio Martínez, nuevo entrenador del Almería hasta final de temporada". 20 Minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
19. Europa Press (5 April 2015). "El Almería destituye a Juan Ignacio Martínez". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
20. EFE (6 April 2015). "Sergi Barjuán, nuevo entrenador del Almería". Diario de Navarra (in Spanish). Grupo La Información. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
21. "Clasificación Liga BBVA". Liga BBVA (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
22. "El Almería retira el recurso y acaba la Liga con 29 puntos". Super Deporte (in Spanish). Prensa Ibérica. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
23. "2018-2019 La Liga 2 Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
24. Góngora, Rafa; Miralles, Carlos (2 August 2019). "Turki Al-Sheikh ya es el dueño del Almería". La Voz de Almería (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2019.
25. "Su excelencia Turki Al-Sheikh, nuevo propietario de la UD Almería". Unión Deportiva Almería (in Spanish). 2 August 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
26. "Pedro Emanuel, Darío Drudi, Mohamed El Assy, los hombres fuertes del proyecto de Al-Sheihk". Diario de Almería (in Spanish). Joly Digital. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
27. Góngora, Rafa (2 August 2019). "Pedro Emanuel sería el nuevo entrenador del Almería". La Voz de Almería (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 August 2019.
28. de Rivas, Eduardo (5 November 2019). "Guti, nuevo entrenador del Almería". ABC (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
29. "Guti, cesado como entrenador del Almería". Sport.es. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
30. Aguilera, Juanjo (26 June 2020). "Mario Silva dirige la primera sesión de trabajo post-'Guti'". Ideal (in Spanish). Vocento. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
31. "La UD Almería da el primer paso para la construcción de su estadio "Champions"". Cadena COPE. 9 August 2021.
32. "Plantilla Unión Deportiva Almería SAD - Jugadores" (in Spanish). UD Almería. Retrieved 20 November 2024.

External links

• Official website (in Spanish)
• Futbolme team profile (in Spanish)
• BDFutbol team profile
• Almeria on kouragoal site

• UD Almería
• Football clubs in Andalusia
• Segunda División clubs
• Association football clubs established in 1989
• 1989 establishments in Spain
• La Liga clubs