Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club currently compete in Segunda División, the 2nd tier of the Spanish football league system following their relegation from La Liga in the 2024–25 season. Nicknamed Los Amarillos, the club was founded on 22 August 1949 as a result of a merger between five clubs in the Canary region. The club initially played in the Estadio Insular before beginning hosting their home matches at the Estadio Gran Canaria in 2003.
Las Palmas have been Segunda División champions four times, in 1953–54, 1963–64, 1984–85 and 1999–2000, and have won the Segunda División B twice, in 1992–93 and 1995–96. They have been runners-up in La Liga once, in 1968–69, and runners-up in the Copa del Rey, in 1977–78. Las Palmas is the only side in Spanish football to achieve back-to-back promotions to La Liga in their first two seasons. They had a 19-year run in the competition, ending in 1982–83 and has been promoted to La Liga on four additional occasions since that time, achieving it recently in 2022–23.
Since its foundation, the club has played with yellow and blue as their primary and secondary colours. They have a fierce rivalry with neighbouring island Tenerife, with whom they contest the Canary Islands derby. The two clubs are among the most isolated professional football clubs in Europe since they play their away games on the distant Spanish mainland.
Contents
History
Foundation
A decade after the Spanish Civil War, football in Las Palmas faced numerous challenges and difficulties. The financial situations of Las Palmas’ five biggest clubs, Real Club Victoria, Marino FC, CD Gran Canaria, Atlético Club, and Arenas Club, were deteriorating rapidly due to their financial strength of being able to compete for players against Spain's top clubs. A new registration law by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, which limited players to a maximum of a two-year contract, resulted in the clubs in Las Palmas being unable to retain their academy players for extended periods. Consequently, many players relocated to the Spanish mainland to continue their football careers in national competitions. As a result, Eufemiano Fuentes Díaz, president of Marino CF, went to a meeting in Madrid to change the legislation of contracts to a minimum of four years. A different proposal was also presented, stating that all Spanish clubs were prohibited from signing players in the Canary region with the exception if they were first-team players who had already passed the stage of being academy players. These proposals were delayed and denied by the RFEF.
During this time, clubs continued to see their debts increase, leading to the possibility of defunction. The Vice President of the Las Palmas Football Federation, Manuel Rodríguez Monroy, proposed a merger of the five teams comprising the regional competition, aiming to compete in national competitions and resolve the economic situation as a result. The purpose of this proposal was to present a compelling case to the RFEF for allowing the Canary Islands to participate in national competitions, enabling Canarian footballers to compete without relocating to the Spanish mainland. This proposal was presented towards the president, Adolfo Miranda Ortega, who among other board members agreed. On 4 February 1949, a letter was sent to the presidents of the five clubs, proposing a potential merger to compete in the national competitions. The first meeting was held on 28 February 1949 in Alameda de Colón, Las Palmas with the representatives of the five merging clubs attending. Gran Canaria, Atlético and Arenas promptly agreed to the proposal due to their finances whilst Marino and Victoria remained wary of the repercussions it could have on the club and its fans. From there, the representatives agreed to meet every Monday and create a collaborative group that would be known as the Fusion Presentation.
After more than a month of deliberations, Miranda and Monroy were delegated the role of requesting a transfer into the Spanish Second Division via a letter to the RFEF. The letter was sent on 4 April 1949 but the proposition was rejected for being to detriment for the other teams and that it would alter the regulation of promotions. However, Ricardo Cabot, a secretary in the RFEF, resumed the proposition towards the board members and, on 6 June 1949, following a meeting in Madrid that Miranda and Monroy attended, it was announced by telegram that Canary Islands football was accepted into the third division of Spanish football. The acceptance allowed the merger of Arenas Club and CD Gran Canaria, both of whom gave up their headquarters and trophies, to form under the name Unión Deportiva Las Palmas as the first phase for total integration.
1949–1963
In their debut competitive season, the club secured 2nd place in a group that included CD Tenerife, Imperial de Murcia, SD Ceuta, CD Toledo, and UD Melilla, earning promotion to the Second Division. Las Palmas played their first derby match against Tenerife on 30 April 1950, at the Santa Cruz Stadium, winning 2–1. Their first away match outside the islands was on 21 May 1950, against Toledo at the Palomarejos Stadium, resulting in a 5–2 victory. However, on 25 June 1950, Las Palmas suffered a 2–0 defeat in their last league match against Melilla, which initially threatened their chances of promotion. Fortunately, Imperial de Murcia, who sat third in the table, also faced defeat, securing Las Palmas' certified promotion to the Second Division. One of Las Palmas' first signed players and starter, Antonio Vieira, died from illness on 4 April 1951. His funeral was held in the Church of San Pablo and a tribute match was held with locals in which Las Palmas won 3–1. In the club's participation in the 1950–51 Second Division, the club achieved a second consecutive promotion to the First Division, following a 4–1 victory over Málaga on 8 July 1951 that sent the club to first place of the table. Las Palmas became the first club in Spanish football to gain promotion twice consecutively to the First Division despite being two years old at the time. By the end of the season, Las Palmas’ first goalkeeper, Manolo Montes, was sold to Atletico Madrid in 1951 for a fee of 375,000 Pt. Nicknamed "El Patrón", Montes made 55 official appearances for Los Amarillos and became the first player to be sold by the club.
The following season saw Las Palmas relegated down to the Second Division after coming 15th with 9 wins, 4 draws and 17 losses. In the club's first match of the season, Las Palmas would lose 4–1 to Real Madrid at the newly inaugurated Insular Stadium on 9 September 1951. A hat-trick from Pahiño and a goal from Luis Molowny sealed Madrid's win whilst Juan Cedrés scored the first goal in the division for Las Palmas. The following games saw defeat to Celta (5–2), Sevilla (5–0) and Deportivo La Coruña (3–1) before the club earned their first point to Racing Santandar after a 1–1 draw on 23 September 1951. The poor run of form convinced the club's personnel to sign more experienced players with Manolo Torres and Beneyto, both signing from Málaga on 14 October 1951 for a combined total of 1,000,000 Pt. The club achieved their first win of the season two days later, defeating Atlético Tetuán 4–1 with two goals from Torres on his debut and another two from Tacoronte. Additionally, the first foreign player for Las Palmas, Jean Luciano, who signed from Real Madrid, made his debut on 16 December 1951 in a 6–0 defeat to Real Zaragoza at Torrero Stadium.
Top-flight success
After Las Palmas returned to La Liga at the end of the 1963–64 season, again as champions, the club went on to have their most successful spell in the competition. Managed by Vicente Dauder, they finished third in 1967–68 behind Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and four club players made the Spain squad which hosted and won the UEFA Euro 1964 tournament; the following season the team fared even better and only lost the league to Real Madrid, and thus qualified for European competition for the first time in its history, appearing in the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and being knocked out in the first round by Germany's Hertha BSC (0–0 home draw, 0–1 away loss).
Las Palmas player Juan Guedes died suddenly on 9 March 1971 at the age of 28. The next season, French coach Pierre Sinibaldi led the club to the fifth place, with subsequent qualification for the UEFA Cup: after disposing of Torino F.C. and ŠK Slovan Bratislava, the Spaniards bowed out to Dutch club FC Twente; at the end of 1974–75 another team player, Tonono – a defender who played with Guedes – died of a liver infection.
Las Palmas' third appearance in European competition came with the 1977–78 UEFA Cup, where they defeated FK Sloboda Tuzla of Yugoslavia in the first round before falling to the English side Ipswich Town. Under the management of Miguel Muñoz, and with players such as Argentines Miguel Ángel Brindisi, Daniel Carnevali (the first to arrive in 1973), Carlos Morete and Quique Wolff, the club also reached their first final of the Copa del Rey in that year, losing on 19 April to Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (1–3).
From the 1990s onwards, Las Palmas played mainly in the Segunda División, but also spent six years in Segunda División B – the new third level created in 1977 – and, from 2000 to 2002, competed in the top flight. On 3 October 2001 the side managed a 4–2 home win against Real Madrid, with youth product Rubén Castro scoring two goals for the hosts, but the season ended nonetheless in relegation. On 22 December 2001, Las Palmas played its 1,000th game in La Liga. In the 2009–10 season in Segunda División the club finished 17th, just one point away from being relegated to Segunda División B. On 21 June 2015, Las Palmas was promoted back to La Liga after a 13-year hiatus by defeating Real Zaragoza on the away goals rule.
On 27 May 2023, Las Palmas achieved promotion to the first division by sealing a 2nd position in the table, respectively, on the very last match day of the season, after spending five years in the second tier.
Ciudad deportiva
The Ciudad Deportiva UD Las Palmas, also known as Barranco Seco, is the training ground of UD Las Palmas. Occupying a total area of 70,000 m2, the complex is located in the area known as Barranco Seco at the southern outskirts of the city of Las Palmas.
History and construction
The current land in Barranco Seco was acquired by UD Las Palmas during the 1960s by the efforts of then club director Manuel Betancor. During the 1970s, there was only a single training pitch used by the reserve and junior teams of the club. In 1982, when the ground was upgraded to be used as a training field by the first team.
In June 2015, the Ciudad Deportiva project was initiated. However, works did not start until 2017. After around 2 years of construction works, the complex was finally opened on July 8, 2019. It was designed by architect Juan Palop-Casado, who assured that the construction of this project was "an attempt that has been made to build with the greatest possible sustainability". The construction was executed by "Construcciones Alex y Nadal, S.L.", involving around 380 workers, 10,000 tons of sand, nearly 300 tons of steel, almost 2,000 cubic meters of concrete and beams of approximately 1,600 meters.
Being only the first phase of the entire sports city project, the club invested 22.5 million euros of its own funds to carry out the construction works of the current facilities. The construction of a multifunctional service building is scheduled in the second phase. The eventual area of the complex will become 70,000 m2 after the completion of the second phase.
Facilities
The new complex has modern changing rooms, a meeting hall, a gym with physiotherapy facilities, a dining room, a press room, in addition to two parking spaces designated for 130 vehicles. The Ciudad Deportiva is home to 3 regular size training pitches:
Ernesto Aparicio training field of natural grass.
David García Santana training field of natural grass.
Manuel Betancor training field of artificial turf, designated for the training sessions of UD Las Palmas Atlético and UD Las Palmas C; the reserve teams of the club.
Seasons
Season to season
36 seasons in La Liga
35 seasons in Segunda División
6 seasons in Segunda División B
Current squad
As of 1 September 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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.
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.
Honours
La Liga
Runners-up (1): 1968–69
Segunda División
Winners (4): 1953–54, 1963–64, 1984–85, 1999–2000
Segunda División B
Winners (2): 1992–93, 1995–96
Copa del Rey
Runners-up (1): 1978
Teide Trophy
Winners (2): 1987, 2006
Former players
Pedri
List of coaches
Since its founding, Unión Deportiva has had 79 coaching changes (including interim coaches). Among those 79, several have coached the team on more than one occasion. In total, 61 different coaches have held the position in the club's history. Pierre Sinibaldi is the coach who has led the most matches with 166 in four full seasons. He is followed by Roque Olsen with 135, Luis Molowny with 130, Juan Manuel Rodríguez with 125, Sergio Krešić with 120, Satur Grech with 113, Paco Castellano with 108 and Vicente Dauder with 104 matches. In terms of sporting achievements, the Gran Canaria team has 9 promotions (7 to Primera and 2 to Segunda). The first promotion was achieved by Arsenio Arocha. The promotions to Primera were chronologically achieved by Arsenio Arocha, Jesús Navarro, Vicente Dauder, Roque Olsen, Sergio Krešić, Paco Herrera, and the most recent by Francisco Javier García Pimienta. The promotions to Segunda were achieved by Pacuco Rosales and Juanito Rodríguez. Regarding the nationalities of the coaches of Unión Deportiva, Spanish coaches predominate, although 9 other different nationalities have occupied the bench.
Affiliated teams
Las Palmas has used farm teams since 1954, but its official B-team, Las Palmas Atlético, was founded in 1976. A third side was founded in 2006 and reached the highest division of regional football, the Preferente, before folding in 2010 and being re-created the following season.
The club also had a women's team in the top division between 2009 and 2011. In 2010 Las Palmas founded an indoor football team for the Liga de Fútbol Indoor, staging matches at the Centro Insular de Deportes.
Crest
Las Palmas' badge is a blue shield with yellow scrolls on top with the club's name, city and archipelago. The municipal arms, granted by the city's mayor, feature in the centre of the design. Underneath lie the five crests of the clubs which united in 1949 to create the club: from left to right – Victoria, Arenas, Deportivo, Marino and Atlético; a smaller white scroll above them displays the city motto Segura tiene la palma.
In Spanish football, many clubs possess royal patronage and thus are permitted to use the prefix Real in their name and use an image of the Spanish crown. Las Palmas does not have such patronage, but tops its crest with the Spanish crown due to the patronage held by Real Club Victoria.
The crest is the central emblem of the club flag, a horizontal bicolour with yellow on top and blue underneath. The flag of the island of Gran Canaria uses these colours diagonally.