UD Melilla
| UD Melilla | |||
| Basic data | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Surname | Union Deportiva Melilla | ||
| Seat | Melilla | ||
| founding | 1976 | ||
| president | Luis Manuel Rincon | ||
| Website | udmelilla.es | ||
| First soccer team | |||
| Head coach | Manuel Herrero Galaso | ||
| Venue | Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro | ||
| Places | 10,000 | ||
| league | Segunda Division B | ||
| 2016/17 | 6th place | ||
|
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Union Deportiva Melilla is a Spanish football club from the Melilla exclave .
history
UD Melilla was founded in 1976, but goes back to clubs that had existed since the 1940s and were later dissolved - including a club of the same name that existed between 1943 and 1956. In the same year, the team began playing in the Tercera Division , which was still third class at the time , but was downgraded to fourth division the following year as part of a league reform and the associated introduction of Segunda División B. In 1987 it rose to where it began with varying degrees of success in the following decades. In 1990 the club missed promotion to the Segunda División as runner-up behind Albacete Balompié . In 1999 UD became champions, in the meanwhile introduced promotion games the club finished last in their group after only one win in six games behind FC Elche , UD Las Palmas and Burgos CF. Later, the team qualified again several times for the promotion games, but failed early in each case.
Between 1996 and the dissolution of the opponent in 2012, UD Melilla played in the Segunda División B derbies against AD Ceuta , but the supporters had to travel via Spain to get there.
UD Melilla plays its home games in the Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro , which opened in 1945 and can seat over 10,000 spectators.