Unión Deportivo Salamanca soccer club folds after 90 years

The financial crisis in Spain, which has left scores of soccer clubs in the hands of the receivers, claimed its first fatality on Tuesday. “Today it can be said that Unión Deportivo Salamanca is dead,” said Máximo Mayoral, one of the club’s administrators after a meeting with creditors failed to achieve the required quorum.

As a consequence, a process of liquidation was instigated against Salamanca, which has debts of 23 million euros. The club’s assets will be auctioned off on June 20, with its Helmántico stadium valued at 14.7 million euros and the players currently in contract at around 200,000 euros, according to the Mercantile Registry.

Salamanca was founded in 1923 and spent a total 12 seasons in the top-flight Primera División, most recently in the late 1990s. Among former players are current Spain coach Vicente del Bosque and Portugal’s all-time leading scorer Pauleta. The club spent most of its recent history in the second division, winning the title on three occasions, but was relegated to Segunda B in 2011.

There is a possibility that the club will be re-launched to compete in the non-professional regional leagues.