Unió Esportiva Lleida was a Spanish football team based in Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It was founded as Lérida Balompié-AEM on 30 October 1939, and became Unión Deportiva Lérida in 1947, after a merger with CD Leridano. It held home matches at Camp d´Esports, with a 13,500-seat capacity. It was dissolved in 2011 due to debts of €28 million, then acquired by a local entrepreneur and renamed Lleida Esportiu.
Lleida adopted the Catalan version of its name in 1978. The club spent most of its history in the lower divisions, but in the early 1950s and early 1990s, the club won promotion to La Liga.
During the 1990s the club was managed by Mané, Juande Ramos and Víctor Muñoz, all of whom subsequently became successful managers with other clubs. From 1987 the club organised its own summer trophy, the Ciutat de Lleida Trophy.
History
Early Lleida football clubs Football was first introduced to Lleida in 1910 by Manuel Azoz, a Barcelona business man. Among the earliest clubs in the city were Montserrat, founded in 1913 by Marist Brothers, and FC Lleida founded in 1914. Both played their early games in the district of Pla d’en Gardeny. In 1915, the Associació Cultural Lleidatana was founded by Catalan nationalists.
By 1917 two other clubs, Club Colonial and , began playing at the Camp de Mart. In 1918 FC Joventut was formed by left-wing Catalan republicans and during the 1920s they emerged as the city's strongest side.
In 1919, Lleida became the first club to use the Camp d´Esports, but this team was dissolved in 1927. Other clubs of the 1920s included AE Lleida Calaveres, Lleida Sport Club and AEM Lleida, all of which disappeared during the 1930s.
Lérida Balompié and CD Leridano After the Spanish Civil War, former members of AE Lleida Calaveres, Lleida Sport Club and AEM Lleida formed Lérida Balompié-AEM. After playing in regional leagues for four seasons they made their debut in the fourth division in 1943. The following year, the club split into two clubs, Lérida Balompié and AEM.
Meanwhile, in 1941 Spanish nationalists formed CD Leridano, and a local rivalry developed between that club and Lérida Balompié. On March 9, 1947, these two sides merged to become Unión Deportiva Lérida. The new team retained both the blue and white colours and club shield of Lérida Balompié, the first president of the new club being Eduard Estadella.
First golden era UD Lérida enjoyed a golden age in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when they progressed from the third to the first division in just three seasons. In 1949, they won the third-tier and, the following season, 1949–50, they made their debut in Segunda División.
In the 1949–50 season the club achieved their biggest league victory in their history with a 9–2 win against CD Lugo, along with finishing second in the league achieving promotion to the topflight for the first time ever. However, during its debut season, it was heavily defeated on several occasions: 9–0 to CD Málaga, 10–1 to Deportivo de La Coruña and 10–0 to Athletic Bilbao, being ultimately relegated back. Lleida's first eleven in the first division was: Rivero, Rigau, Telechea, Carrillo, Esquerda, Roca, Gausí, Pellicer, Ramón, Bidegain and Fustero.
The Mané era In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lleida enjoyed a second solid moment, under coach Mané. He joined the club in 1988 and took it from Segunda División B to La Liga.
1993–94 was the second topflight experience for the club; in spite of a 1–0 win over the FC Barcelona Dream Team at the Camp Nou, and another against Real Madrid, 2–1 at home, Lleida only won seven times altogether and was relegated once again.
The 1994–95 season saw the club finish third in the second division, with a subsequent promotion play-off defeat against Sporting de Gijón. In 2001, the team returned to level three and, in 2004–05 and the following campaign, played again in the second division. From 1996 and during an entire decade (with some interruptions), legendary player Miguel Ángel Rubio served as its manager.
Liquidation On 10 May 2011, Lleida was placed in a liquidation auction due to a €28 million debt.El juez abre el proceso de subasta de la Unió Esportiva Lleida (Judge starts liquidation of Unió Esportiva Lleida) ; La Vanguardia, 10 May 2011 On 12 July, the team's seat was acquired by local entrepreneur Sisco Pujol,El juez resuelve a favor de Sisco Pujol la adjudicación de la UE Lleida (Judge rules UE Lleida's allocation in favor of Sisco Pujol) ; La Vanguardia, 12 July 2011 with the new club being named Lleida Esportiu.
Season to season
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1939–4062nd1940–4161st1941–4241st1942–4336th1943–4433ª9thFourth round1944–4533ª9thDNP1945–4633ª10thDNP1946–4733ª3rdDNP1947–4833ª4thFifth round1948–4933ª1stSecond round1949–5022ª2ndFirst round1950–5111ª16thDNP1951–5222ª7thDNP1952–5322ª6thSecond round1953–5422ª3rdDNP1954–5522ª10thDNP1955–5622ª12thDNP1956–5722ª20thDNP1957–5833ª2ndDNP1958–5933ª7thDNP
SeasonTierDivisionPlaceCopa del Rey1959–6033ª6thDNP1960–6133ª6thDNP1961–6233ª6thDNP1962–6333ª4thDNP1963–6433ª2ndDNP1964–6533ª2ndDNP1965–6622ª11thRound of 321966–6722ª12thRound of 321967–6822ª12thFirst round1968–6933ª5thDNP1969–7033ª10thFirst round1970–7141stDNP1971–7233ª5thSecond round1972–7333ª4thSecond round1973–7433ª11thThird round1974–7533ª15thDNP1975–7633ª5thDNP1976–7733ª9thThird round1977–7832ª B16thSecond round1978–7932ª B11thThird round
SeasonDivisionTierPlaceCopa del Rey1979–8032ª B6thThird round1980–8132ª B10thSecond round1981–8232ª B14thFirst round1982–8332ª B10thDNP1983–8432ª B8thFirst round1984–8532ª B6thSecond round1985–8632ª B4thRound of 161986–8732ª B2ndFirst round1987–8822ª6thThird round1988–8922ª19thRound of 321989–9032ª B1stFirst round1990–9122ª6thThird round1991–9222ª5thFourth round1992–9322ª1stRound of 161993–9411ª19thFifth round1994–9522ª3rdRound of 16
SeasonDivisionTierPlaceCopa del Rey1995–9622ª11thSecond round1996–9722ª11thRound of 161997–9822ª5thSecond round1998–9922ª11thThird round1999–200022ª5thRound of 162000–0122ª22ndSecond round2001–0232ª B9thRound of 322002–0332ª B8thFirst round2003–0432ª B1stDNP2004–0522ª15thRound of 162005–0622ª19thFourth round2006–0732ª B14thSecond round2007–0832ª B13thDNP2008–0932ª B8thDNP2009–1032ª B11thDNP2010–1132ª B5thDNP
2 seasons in Primera División 24 seasons in Segunda División 19 seasons in Segunda División B 22 seasons in Tercera División (until 1976–77 as third level)
Honours
Official Segunda División: 1992–93 Segunda División B: 1989–90, 2003–04 Tercera División: 1948–49 Regional Preferente: 1970–71 Primera B Regional: 1940–41 Segunda Regional: 1939–40 Copa Catalunya: Runner-up 1991–92, Runner-up 1998–99
Friendly Nostra Catalunya Trophy: 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1990 Ciutat de Lleida Trophy: 1987, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
Records
Club Best league performance: 16th, La Liga, 1950–51 Best cup performance: Last 16 (six times), 1986, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005 Most league points: 68, 2003–04 (three points for a win) 60, 1957–58 (two points for a win) Most league goals: 102, 1957–58 Most league wins in one season: 26, 1957–58 Best league win home: 9–0 v. Calella, 30 November 1941 Best league win away: 8–1 v. Europa, 22 February 1942 Best cup win: 7–0 v. Sant Andreu, 19 December 1985
Player Most league appearances: 460, Miguel Rubio (1982–96) Most league goals: 82, Mariano Azcona (1984–91) Most league goals in a season: 25, Mariano Azcona (1989–90) Most league goals in a match: 5, Mariano Azcona 6–1 v. Fraga, 15 October 1989 and Vallejo 7–1 v. Alavés, 23 May 1965 Most international appearances: 12, Miguel Mea Vitali (Venezuela) (2000–01)
Top goalscorers by season SeasonTop scorerGoals2011–12 Asier Eizaguirre102010–11 Rubén Rayos192009–10 Marc Sellarés122008–09 Mikel Álvaro132007–08 Keko7 Fernando Esparza7 Luismi Gracia72006–07 Luis Tevenet142005–06 Mate Bilić182004–05 Nakor Bueno132003–04 Nakor Bueno162002–03 Nano152001/02 Raúl Caballero112000–01 Renaldo81999–00 Josemi151998–99 Josemi121997–98 Óscar Arias8 Vicente Fernández81996–97 Estefan Juliá81995–96 Paco Salillas101994–95 Paco Salillas181993–94 Nikola Milinković61992–93 Xabi Gracia131991–92 José Emilio Amavisca141990–91 James Cantero171989–90 Mariano Azcona261988–89 Mariano Azcona6 Álvaro Sánchez Pose61987–88 Mariano Azcona131986–87 Mariano Azcona16 Ignacio Alcelay161985–86 Mariano Azcona91984–85 José María Serna171983–84 José García Juárez101982–83 Javier Lozano131981–82 Ramón Clotet151980–81 Luis Alonso211950–51 Ignacio Bidegain8
Appearance records
La Liga appearances Mauro Ravnic: 37 Urbano Ortega: 36 Virgilio Hernández: 35 Miguel Ángel Rubio: 35 Jaime Quesada: 34 Txema Alonso: 34 Gonzalo Arguiñano: 32 Guillermo Ramón: 28 Sebastián Herrera: 27 Nikola Milinković: 26
Goalscoring records
La Liga goals Ignacio Bidegain: 8 Luis Pellicer: 7 Nikola Milinković: 6 Juan Manuel Martínez: 5 Guillermo Ramón: 5 Francisco Nogués: 4 Virgilio Hernández: 4
Selected former players Only international players or UEFA Champions League winners. Flags represent national teams player appeared for.
Tito Vilanova (1997–98) José Emilio Amavisca (1991–92) Estanislao Basora (1955–56) Carles Busquets (1999–2002) Canito (1975–76) Enric Gensana (1954–56) Marià Gonzalvo (1955–56) Tomás Hernández (1955–56) Eladio Silvestre (1960–61) Raúl Tamudo (1999) Unai Vergara (2005–07) Ali Benhalima (1990–93) Renaldo (2000–01) Mate Bilić (2005–06) Søren Andersen (1993–94) Goran Stanić (1998–2000) Michael Emenalo (1997–98) Carlos González (2000–01) Melanio Olmedo (1956–57) Ilija Stolica (1998–00) Dmitri Kuznetsov (1994–95) Julio Rodríguez (1995–98) Gustavo Matosas (1993–94) Manny Lagos (1991–92) Miguel Mea Vitali (2000–01) Boban Babunski (1994–96) Jovan Stanković (2004–05) Mauro Ravnić (1992–94)
Selected former coaches Mané (1988–95) Víctor Muñoz (1999–2000) Juan José Nogués (1954–55) Juande Ramos (1997–98) Manuel Ruiz Sosa (1971–72) Marcel Domingo (1962–63) Nicolae Simatoc (1959–60)
Presidents
Sebastià Tàpies: 1939–40 Joan Porta: 1941–47 Eduard Estadella: 1947–51 Llorenç Agustí: 1951–54 Josep Servat: 1954–57 Antoni Rocafort: 1957 Laureà Torres: 1957–60 Antoni Teixidó: 1960–62 Ramon Vilaltella: 1962–67 Josep Jové: 1967–68 Pere Roig: 1968–69 Manel Rosell: 1969–70 Miquel Martínez: 1970–72 Josep Montañola: 1972–74 Lluís Nadal: 1974–77 Josep Esteve: 1977–79 Joan Planes: 1979–82 Antoni Gausí: 1982–86 Màrius Durán: 1986–96 Josep Lluís González: 1996–97 Màrius Durán: 1997–98 Antoni Gausí: 1998–2002 Miquel Pons: 2002–06 Xavier Massana: 2006–07 Ignasi Rivadulla: 2007–10 Anabel Junyent: 2010–11
See also List of UE Lleida records and statistics
References
External links
Futbolme team profile Unofficial website Unofficial website #2