• Report: History of a rivalry

«You can change your face, home, family, work, even woman or religion, but there is one thing that no matter how hard you try you can never give up. You can't change your passion, the passion for a soccer team ». This phrase, fundamental in the Oscar-winning Argentine film The secret of his eyes, perfectly reflects the raison d'être of a club, the Unionistas de Salamanca , the rival that yesterday's Cup draw assigned to Real Madrid . The phrase of the novelist Eduardo Sacheri has its explanation on a date and in the following days. More specifically on June 18, 2013, when the Salamanca Sports Union was dissolved by judicial resolution. That day the chronicle of an announced death was certified, that of a historical club that was 90 years old, in which Jorge D'Alessandro, Víctor Soler, Pauleta or a youthful Carlos Vela played and competed 12 seasons in the First Division , reaching being seventh in 1975. A historic club that the Night of Kings of 1998 defeated in the Cup 4-3 to Barcelona, ​​a feat that he would repeat on May 17 of the same year winning at Camp Nou 1-4 to achieve permanence.

An illusion followed that death of the Salamanca Sports Union. That of some fans who, tired of the bad management suffered, decided to honor the club of their loves. And they did it in an unusual way: creating a new team to honor the memory of the one they saw disappear, the same one that the last presidents, including Juan José Hidalgo , mistreated moved by personal interests until causing it to disappear, and then try to buy without Success a place in Second B.

Among these founding fans was Javier Tejedor , president until 2017 and now executive vice president of a club created from a clear beginning: that of not supplanting the disappeared but only honoring him, as indicated by statutes that also establish that the decisions and symbols of the club They must be adopted by their partners. Serve as an example his shield, chosen by popular vote and that has a bull and a ball as protagonists. The horned as a symbol of the province and the classic ball as a longing for a romantic football, with two slogans: In Memoriam UDS 1923-2013 and Ad Astra per Áspera (To the stars by the most complicated road) with nine stars, symbol of the city and the nine decades of life of the Salamanca Sports Union.

What they probably could not imagine even the fans who founded it was that this romantic spirit was going to lead to a project as successful as exemplary and as transparent as solid. This is demonstrated by the brief and brilliant history of Unionistas, a sporting success that began in the lowest category of amateur football and now has the social recognition of the entire province. Since its founding in August 2013, it took only a year for Unionists to start playing in the provincial division of Salamanca.

After the promotion of the category, the City Council authorized the club to play their matches at the Ciudad de Salamanca Stadium , popularly known as Las Pistas del Helmántico, annex to the city's historic stadium. The season ended with a new ascent, from Regional to Third Division , a category in which he played two years until he achieved the coveted landing in Second B, on June 23, 2018 . The debut in the third category of Spanish football came with a double prize: the permanence, with a very creditable ninth place, and access to the new Copa del Rey, where after overcoming two rounds, eliminating last Sunday at Deportivo, it will be measured at Real Madrid next Wednesday.

Parallel to the sporting successes, the social success of a club has arrived that with only six years of existence already has 2,800 members and has even clubs abroad , for example one in the English town of Bath. This important draft in Salamanca is also reflected in the quarry, since Unionistas has 20 teams from prebenjamines to youth . It is also part of the Popular Soccer Club, a phenomenon that is characterized by bringing together teams that intend to democratize and bring soccer practice and management closer to the fans.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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