Wiki: UE Lleida - upcScavenger

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 language 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 La Liga 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 Euro28 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

1939–40	6		2nd !style="background:#efefef;"
1940–41	6		1st !style="background:#efefef;"
1941–42	4		1st !style="background:#efefef;"
1942–43	3		6th !style="background:#efefef;"
1943–44	3	3ª	9th !style="background:#efefef;"	Fourth round
1944–45	3	3ª	9th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1945–46	3	3ª	10th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1946–47	3	3ª	3rd !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1947–48	3	3ª	4th !style="background:#efefef;"	Fifth round
1948–49	3	3ª	1st !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1949–50	2	2ª	2nd !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
1950–51	1	La Liga	16th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1951–52	2	2ª	7th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1952–53	2	2ª	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1953–54	2	2ª	3rd !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1954–55	2	2ª	10th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1955–56	2	2ª	12th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1956–57	2	2ª	20th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1957–58	3	3ª	2nd !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1958–59	3	3ª	7th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP

1959–60	3	3ª	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1960–61	3	3ª	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1961–62	3	3ª	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1962–63	3	3ª	4th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1963–64	3	3ª	2nd !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1964–65	3	3ª	2nd !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1965–66	2	2ª	11th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 32
1966–67	2	2ª	12th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 32
1967–68	2	2ª	12th !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
1968–69	3	3ª	5th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1969–70	3	3ª	10th !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
1970–71	4		1st !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1971–72	3	3ª	5th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1972–73	3	3ª	4th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1973–74	3	3ª	11th !style="background:#efefef;"	Third round
1974–75	3	3ª	15th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1975–76	3	3ª	5th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1976–77	3	3ª	9th !style="background:#efefef;"	Third round
1977–78	3	2ª B	16th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1978–79	3	2ª B	11th !style="background:#efefef;"	Third round

1979–80	3	2ª B	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	Third round
1980–81	3	2ª B	10th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1981–82	3	2ª B	14th !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
1982–83	3	2ª B	10th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
1983–84	3	2ª B	8th !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
1984–85	3	2ª B	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1985–86	3	2ª B	4th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 16
1986–87	3	2ª B	2nd !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
1987–88	2	2ª	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	Third round
1988–89	2	2ª	19th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 32
1989–90	3	2ª B	1st !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
1990–91	2	2ª	6th !style="background:#efefef;"	Third round
1991–92	2	2ª	5th !style="background:#efefef;"	Fourth round
1992–93	2	2ª	1st !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 16
1993–94	1	La Liga	19th !style="background:#efefef;"	Fifth round
1994–95	2	2ª	3rd !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 16

1995–96	2	2ª	11th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1996–97	2	2ª	11th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 16
1997–98	2	2ª	5th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
1998–99	2	2ª	11th !style="background:#efefef;"	Third round
1999–2000	2	2ª	5th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 16
2000–01	2	2ª	22nd !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
2001–02	3	2ª B	9th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 32
2002–03	3	2ª B	8th !style="background:#efefef;"	First round
2003–04	3	2ª B	1st !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
2004–05	2	2ª	15th !style="background:#efefef;"	Round of 16
2005–06	2	2ª	19th !style="background:#efefef;"	Fourth round
2006–07	3	2ª B	14th !style="background:#efefef;"	Second round
2007–08	3	2ª B	13th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
2008–09	3	2ª B	8th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
2009–10	3	2ª B	11th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP
2010–11	3	2ª B	5th !style="background:#efefef;"	DNP

2 seasons in La Liga
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. CE 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. UD 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