HI Group Aquire Second Division Spanish Club "UD MARBELLA"
22-10-07
HI Group are pleased to announce they have invested in Marbella UD and see this as an excellent acquisition and adds perfectly to the growing company.
Unión Deportiva Marbella - 2ª Division 'B'
The City
The city of Marbella is Situated on the western coast of the Costa del Sol, in Andalucia approximately 60 kilometres from Malaga. Marbella is the Spanish answer to St Tropez. This elegant holiday resort is a favourite holiday destination for the rich and famous.
With a varied assortment of top class restaurants, bars, clubs and resorts it's easy to understand why this holiday destination has been the number one choice for over 4 decades. And even though the city has changed through the years it has never forgotten it's Spanish culture, and the wonderfully picturesque neighbourhoods can still be found and enjoyed, sitting alongside the modern, fashionable shops that line the streets of Marbella.
Marbella is one of the most important beach resorts of the Costa del Sol. The town is famous for being a playground for the famous and super-rich. Marbella is internationally recognised as a favourite destination for extremely wealthy tourists from Northern Europe, in particular the UK, Ireland and Germany. The area around Marbella is particularly popular with those who like sports especially golf. Millions of travellers visit Marbella every year and with an uncensored population said to be around 300,000 made up of mostly foreign residents it has become quite an important city.
The Club
Unión Deportiva Marbella was founded in 1997 by Mr. Antonio J. Pérez Ramos, our current President. The club started life in the Regional Preferente league in the 97/98 season. After a tremendous first season UD Marbella won promotion to the Spanish Third Division.
Since then the club has come on leaps and bounds currently playing in the 2ª Division ‘B’ (the third tier of Spanish Football). The club however got to the point where it needed some help to move on in a more professional manner.
In September 2007 that help arrived thanks to an association of two companies G-2 Producciones a Spanish company based in Malaga (MD Mr. Alfredo Guerisoli) & HI Group a British company based in Marbella (MD Mr. Ian Radford).
These two companies bring a wealth of experience to the Club as they have both been heavily involved in football in the area for over 20 years not only on the playing side but more importantly on the marketing side which is what the Club has been lacking until now. A very bright future is predicted both on and off the field.
One of the first things that had to be done was to bring in a high profile manager that the players would respect, want to play for and improve the teams performances on the pitch. Oliverio ‘Oli’ Jesús Álvarez Gonzalez was chosen to be that man and thanks to the ex-Spanish Internationals efforts the team has started to play with the old flair again.
| Season 98/99 Third Division |
Finished 8th |
| Season 99/00 Third Division |
Finished 9th |
| Season 00/01 Third Division |
Finished 1st but missed out on promotion via the play-offs |
| Season 01/02 Third Division |
Finished 6th |
| Season 02/03 Third Division |
Finished 2nd (on goal difference) (Won promotion to Second ‘B’ Division (third tier of Spanish football) via play-offs) |
| Season 03/04 Second ‘B’ Division |
Finished 15th |
| Season 04/05 Second ‘B’ Division |
Finished 5th, qualified for ‘la Copa del Rey’ |
| Season 05/06 Second ‘B’ Division |
Finished 12th |
| Season 06/07 Second ‘B’ Division |
Finished 7th |
The Stadium
Name: Estadio Municipal de Marbella Address: Avda Ricardo Lucena Sola s/n
Year Built: 1975
Capacity: 9.000
Dimensions: 105 x 72 m. Grass Pitch
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Download this complete article in PDF format (373KB) |
| Visit the Official Union Deportiva Marbella web site |
