Article updated: 08/07/2026
Growing dissatisfaction with many aspects of the modern game has contributed to the rise of supporter-owned clubs across Europe. Whether driven by concerns over football’s increasing commercialisation or frustration at a particular club’s financial mismanagement, the growing number of “one member, one vote” clubs suggests that a significant section of supporters has sought a more democratic alternative. Spanish football has experienced more than its fair share of financial crises over the years, but until relatively recently, the only major clubs to retain member-owned structures were FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Athletic Club and CA Osasuna, which were exempt from the 1990 requirement for professional clubs to convert into public limited sports companies. These institutions operate on an entirely different financial and sporting scale from the supporter-owned clubs that have emerged over the past fifteen years
One group of fans to turn up their noses at the excesses of the modern game was that of Unión Deportiva Salamanca. Left without a team to follow after the club’s liquidation in 2013, they founded Unionistas de Salamanca Club de Fútbol. The members made clear their objectives from the outset: the new team would not try to pass itself off as the former team, it would be ruled by the concept of “one member, one vote”, and the most important decisions would be taken democratically. Well, that certainly impressed Vicente del Bosque, as the former UD Salamanca reserve team forward (he also won a few trophies elsewhere!) became an associate of Unionistas.
On 2 September 2014, Unionistas were admitted into the Primera Provincial de Salamanca, the sixth and lowest semi-professional level of Spanish football. A day later, it played its first official match, losing 0-1 to UD Santa Marta. Home for that first-ever season was the Campo Rosa Colorado, or La Sindical, as it is known locally. That first season saw Unionistas cruise to the league title and defeat Real Salamanca Monterrey in the playoffs. With growing support, the local municipality allowed Unionista to use the Estadio Las Pistas del Helmántico, literally a short pass from UD Salamanca’s old haunt. Just one year later, the Primera Regional title was won, and victory over Onzonilla in the playoffs saw Unionistas reach the Tercera. The first season in the fourth tier saw the club finish third, but forward momentum was halted following defeat to Olímpic de Xàtiva in the second round of the playoffs. The 2017-18 season saw continued success with a first Tercera title and eventual promotion to Segunda B, defeating UD Socuéllamos with a 96th-minute penalty kick.
Unionistas’ stay at the Estadio Las Pistas del Helmántico was a marriage of convenience. It allowed all of its not-inconsiderable support to watch the club in relatively comfortable but rather uninspiring surroundings. Opened in 1970, it has always played ugly sister to the smart and impressive Estadio Helmántico. In fact, probably the most interesting aspect of the stadium was that between 1993 and 2000, it was officially known as the Estadio Javier Sotomayor. This was in recognition of the Cuban high jumper breaking the world record at the stadium on 29 July 1993. The stadium’s only spectator structures of note are on the west side of the stadium, where two cantilevered covers hang over concrete bench seating. Changing facilities are found in a three-tiered building in the southwest corner of the stadium. Five steps of terracing follow the line of the athletics track on the remaining side of the enclosure.
In January 2020, Unionistas drew Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. True to their word, the club resisted the temptation to move the tie next door to the Estadio Helmántico or elsewhere, and whilst they lost 1-3, they were rewarded with national television coverage and a raised profile across the globe. However, Unionistas’ future lay elsewhere. The southwestern suburbs of Salamanca, to be precise. In November 2017, the local municipality committed to renovating the Estadio Reina Sofía stadium in the barrio of Zurguén, close to new housing & industrial units.
The decision was met with some resistance, with some asking why public funds were being used to rebuild a stadium when, in reality, there were two solutions in the north of the city at the Helmántico complex. However, the project gained momentum when another local club, Real Monterrey CF, agreed to share the facility with Unionistas. At a cost of €1.5m, the renovation saw the addition of three covered stands, raising the capacity to 4,895. New floodlights, an artificial surface and new changing & media facilities were also added. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the project, but eventually, Unionistas played their first match at the Estadio Reina Sofía on 26 September 2020. Fate dictated that the first opponents at the new stadium would be Unionistas’ first-ever opponents, UD Santa Marta. On 18 January 2024, Unionistas hosted FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey. Whilst the Catalans won the tie 1-3, a new attendance record of 6,246 was set at the Estadio Reina Sofía, thanks to the addition of temporary seating.
With the 2020-21 regular season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Unionistas took advantage of the condensed calendar to earn a place in the newly formed Primera Federación. In their first five seasons at this level, the club has recorded four top-ten finishes.
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