U.D. Leiria

União de Leiria
Full name União Desportiva de Leiria
Nickname(s) Os Lis
(The ones from the Lis river)
Founded 1966
Ground Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa
Ground Capacity 24,000
Chairman Alexander Tolstikov
Manager Rui Amorim
League Campeonato de Portugal
2015–16 Promotion Groups, South, 5th

União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (pronounced [uniˈɐ̃w̃ dɨ lɐjˈɾiɐ]), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, with a 24,000-seat capacity.

History

Leiria's biggest rivals in Portugal are S.C. 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, it was however relegated in 2007–08 to the second level, after finishing last. The team would be immediately promoted back, coming in second after champions S.C. Olhanense.

The 2011–12 season was lived amongst serious financial difficulties, with the squad not being paid their wages for several months,[1][2] as three coaching moves also happened during the campaign[3][4] and president João Bartolomeu resigned amongst accusations of ingratitude towards the players.[5] On 29 April 2012, after most of the squad rescinded their contracts, only eight players took the pitch for the league game at home against C.D. Feirense in an eventual 0–4 home loss;[6][7] the side played the last two matches, against S.L. Benfica and C.D. Nacional, with a complete team, but three players came from the juniors.[8][9]

After failing to meet the deadline to sign the team in division two, Leiria was automatically relegated to the third level.[10] Overwhelmed with the task of rebuilding a squad from scratch, the organization hired several players in an attempt to return to the professionals,[11][12][13] as a second senior team also begun competing in the Leiria regional leagues, coached by former club player Luis Bilro.[14] On 28 June 2013, the UD Leiria SAD was declared bankrupt in a meeting of his creditors, with the Portuguese state abstaining for demanding a debt of over 3.6M €.[15] The second senior team that competed in the regional league took the place of the SAD by buying his sports rights for 1000 €, with club returning to Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa after 2 seasons playing in other fields.[16][17]

Current squad

As of 11 April 2017[18]

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

No. Position Player
1 Portugal GK Wilson Soares
4 Brazil DF Anilton
5 Portugal MF Pepo Santos
6 Moldova DF Dénis Marandici
7 Cape Verde FW Hernâni
8 Portugal MF Afonso Caetano
11 Gabon FW Serge Kevyn
13 Portugal GK Ricardo Neves
15 Portugal DF Kaká
20 Ghana FW Ernest Antwi
22 Russia DF Anatoli Nikolaesh
23 Portugal MF João Coimbra
No. Position Player
24 Russia MF Maksim Martusevich
26 Portugal MF João Morgado
27 Portugal MF Fábio Pereira
28 Portugal DF Filipe Brigues
29 Portugal GK Fábio Ferreira
31 Guinea-Bissau MF Helistano Manga
42 Cape Verde MF Tony Correia
43 Brazil DF Alexandre Pereira
50 Brazil MF Éder Diego
66 Portugal DF João Silva
90 Ukraine DF Artem Yarmolenko

League and cup history

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Europe Notes
1970–71 2DN 3 261187 403430
1971–72 2DS 3 301479 502935
1972–73 2DS 5 301758 502739
1973–74 2DS 7 3816913 524941
1974–75 2DS 13 38121016 505634
1975–76 2DS 17 38111215 425234
1976–77 2DC 11 3010812 263128
1977–78 2DC 8 3011811 344230
1978–79 2DC 1 302064 562046 Promoted
1979–80 1D 13 306915 264921 Relegated
1980–81 2DC 1 301974 562145 Promoted
1981–82 1D 16 308418 255020 Relegated
1982–83 2DC 3 3017103 441744
1983–84 2DC 9 3010812 352528
1984–85 2DC 2 301776 422741
1985–86 2DC 9 3010812 334928
1986–87 2DC 12 3010713 284027
1987–88 2DC 4 3818119 644347
1988–89 2DC 10 3491312 424431
1989–90 2DC 3 342095 611849
1990–91 2H 9 38141311 453541
1991–92 2H 8 3413912 343235
1992–93 2H 8 3413813 363734
1993–94 2H 2 341978 461945 Promoted
1994–95 1D 6 34131011 414436
1995–96 1D 7 341455 385047 IC GS
1996–97 1D 17 348620 255330 Relegated
1997–98 2H 1 3420104 733270 Promoted
1998–99 1D 6 34141010 362952 last 16
1999–00 1D 10 34101212 313542
2000–01 1D 5 3415118 464156 Best classification ever
2001–02 1D 7 3415109 523555
2002–03 1D 5 34131011 494749 final IC 1st round
2003–04 1D 10 34111211 434545 last 16 UC 1st round
2004–05 1D 15 3481412 293638 last 32 IC runner-up
2005–06 1D 7 3413813 444247 last 64 IC 3rd round
2006–07 1D 7 3010119 252741 last 32
2007–08 1D 16 303720 255316 last 32 IC
UC		 Winner
1st round		 Relegated
2008–09 2H 2 281596 462953 last 64 Promoted
2009–10 1D 9 309813 354135 last 32
2010–11 1D 10 309813 253835 last 64
2011–12 1D 16 305421 255619 last 64 Relegated
2012–13 2DS 7 3013710 363146 last 32
2013–14 3 3 321787 433324 last 64
2014–15 3 3 301677 573539 2nd rd

Honours

Stadium

Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa

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 received the 2006 Portuguese Supercup final between F.C. Porto and Vitória de Setúbal, as well as the following (Sporting Clube de Portugal 1–0 Porto).

The architect who designed the stadium was Tomás Taveira, who also designed stadiums for Euro 2004 which include Beira Mar's Estádio Municipal de Aveiro and Sporting'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. In the following season the team moved to Campo da Portela in Santa Catarina da Serra, home of U.D. Serra.[20]

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

Notable former players

Managers

Fans

União's fans are called Leirienses, and their main group of supporters is Frente Leiria ("Leiria Front").

See also

References

  1. ↑ João Bartolomeu: "Se não conseguirmos pagar aos jogadores, paciência" (João Bartolomeu: "If we can't pay the players, tough luck"); 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); 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); 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); 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.
  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.
  18. ↑ "Squad". Zerozero.
  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)
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