Unión Deportiva Melilla is a

Spanish football team The Spain national football team () has represented Spain in men's international football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. Spain is one of eight nationa ...

based in the autonomous city of

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in , holding home matches at ''

Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro The Estadio Álvarez Claro is a stadium in Melilla, Spain. It is currently used for football (soccer), football matches and it is the home venue of UD Melilla. It was inaugurated on 29 September 1945. It is owned by the autonomous city of Melilla, ...

'', with an 8,000 capacity venue.

History

Founded in 1976 as ''Gimnástico Melilla Club de Fútbol'' after a merger of

Melilla CF Melilla Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1946 as ''Club Deportivo Tesorillo'' and dissolved in 1976, it played for four consecutive seasons in Segunda División. History Founded in 19 ...

and ''Club Gimnástico de Cabrerizas'', the club immediately took Cabrerizas' place in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. Renamed ''Unión Deportiva Melilla'' (as an honour to the club founded in the 1940s) in 1980, it reached

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

in 1987. Melilla reached the last 32 of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

where they were eliminated 4–2 on aggregate by

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

, having won the first leg 1–0 at home via a Fernando Velasco

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

. Six years later, at the same stage, the team were beaten 10–1 on aggregate by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. Melilla's 34-year run in the third tier ended following the

2020–21 Segunda División B The 2020–21 Segunda División B season was the 44th since its establishment and the last as the third tier. A total of 102 teams participated, and were distributed in three groups of 20 teams each and two groups of 21, with eight subgroups of te ...

, when the team were put in the new fourth-level

Segunda Federación Segunda Federación, previously called Segunda RFEF, also officially known as Segunda B, is the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system containing 90 teams divided into five groups. It is administered by the Royal Spanish Football Fede ...

after a league restructuring. In April 2023, following two years at that level, the team won automatic promotion as champions.

Club background

*''Juventud Español'' — ''(1940–43)'' *''Melilla Fútbol Club'' — ''(1921–43)'' * ''Unión Deportiva Melilla'' — ''(1943–56)'' * ''Club Deportivo Tesorillo'' — ''(1940–56)'' * ''Melilla Club de Fútbol'' – ''(1956–76)'' *''Club Gimnástico de Cabrerizas'' – ''(1973–76)'' * ''Sociedad Deportiva Melilla'' – ''(1970–76)'' *''Gimnástico Melilla Club de Fútbol'' – ''(1976–80)'' *''Unión Deportiva Melilla'' – ''(1980–)''

Other clubs from Melilla

*''Club Deportivo Real Melilla'' — ''(1939–)'' *''Club de Fútbol Melilla Industrial'' – ''(1968–74)'' *''Club de Fútbol Industrial Melilla'' – ''(1975–85)'' *''Melilla Fútbol Club'' — ''(1985–91)''

Rivalry

The Ceuta-Melilla derby was between Melilla and

AD Ceuta Asociación Deportiva Ceuta was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Ceuta. Founded in 1996, its last season was 2011–12 in Segunda División B, holding home matches at '' Estadio Alfonso Murube'', with a capacity of 6,500. ...

, who were dissolved in 2012. The two clubs travelled to face each other via the Spanish mainland to avoid entering Morocco.

Season to season

---- *1 season in

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administe ...

*34 seasons in

*3 seasons in

/Segunda División RFEF *11 seasons in

Current squad

Notable players

* Alberto Bernardo *

Aritz Solabarrieta Aritz Solabarrieta Aranzamendi (born 22 July 1983) is a Spanish former footballer who played mainly as a right midfielder, currently manager of Tercera Federación club CD Calahorra B. Playing career Club Born in Ondarroa, Basque Country and ...

* Constantino Errazquin * Chota * Totó * Dorronsoro * Pepillo

Notable managers

Juan Ramón López Caro Juan Ramón López Caro (; born 23 March 1963) is a Spanish football manager. He managed Real Madrid and Levante in La Liga, as well as Celta and Real Madrid Castilla in the Segunda División. After a spell in charge of Spain under-21 he mov ...

Juan Antonio Anquela Juan Antonio Albacete Anquela (born 11 September 1957) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a winger. Playing career Born in Linares, Jaén, Anquela spent the better part of his 17-year senior career in the lower leagu ...

Reserve team

Their reserve team, UD Melilla B, played for several years in ''Primera Autonómica Melilla'' and in

before ceasing activities in 2012. In 2013, Casino del Real CF became their reserve side, and was subsequently renamed to Melilla B in 2014.

References

External links

*
Futbolme team profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melilla Football clubs in Melilla Association football clubs established in 1976 1976 establishments in Spain Segunda División clubs