# Unión de Santa Fe

Club Atlético Unión (Spanish pronunciation:; mostly known as Unión de Santa Fe) is a sports club from Santa Fe, the capital city of the Santa Fe Province, in Argentina. The club was founded on 15 April 1907. Unión is mostly known for its football team and currently plays in the Argentine Primera División.
Other sports practised at the club include basketball, futsal, gymnastics, field hockey, swimming, karate, rugby union, roller skating, and volleyball. The basketball team competes in Liga Nacional de Básquet, the top division of basketball in Argentina.

## History

The club was established by a group of fourteen former members of Santa Fe Foot-ball Club, on April 13, 1907 after a meeting held in the Baragiola family on Catamarca street. Guillermo Drenner was appointed as president of the institution. Initially the club was named "Club United" after a proposal from founding member Cayetano Bossi, who alleged that the club should represent the friendship ties of the founders. The name changed to "Unión Foot-Ball Club" in 1907, remaining until 1918 when it was translated to "Club Atlético Unión" in Spanish language.
The first shirt worn was white with black collar. In 1907 a meeting was held with the purpose of choosing the club colors. Some of the models proposed were a red, white and black striped, while other members proposed a white and red striped shirt (inspired on legendary Alumni Athletic Club uniform), which finally won after being voted by the majority.
The first match played by the team was vs a San Carlos Centro on 15 May 1907, won by Unión 4–1. Unión was also a founding member (along with Argentine, Central Santa Fe, Brown, Red Star, Sarmiento, San Justo Football Club y Estudiantes de Comercio) the "Liga Regional Santafesina", where the team won the title four consecutive times. In 1910 the club moved their field to a land on Boulevard Pellegrini and San Jerónimo. In 1911 Unión requested affiliation to "Liga Rosarina de Football" which would allow them to play with stronger teams and more competitive tournaments so teams of Liga Rosarina participated in national cups with teams from Buenos Aires. The LRF accepted the request in 1912, and Unión debuted there vs. Argentino (3–3 tie). The first win in Liga Rosarina was vs Aprendices Rosarinos with the following line-up: José Luis Peíteado; Saúl Galetti, Domingo Pallavidini; José Ayala, Alfredo González, Domingo Gómez; Gregorio Aguirre, Arturo Pérez, Manuel Montenegro, Elías Pieretti, Domiciano Roa.
On 26 November 1966, Unión was promoted to the Primera División for the first time, after defeating Talleres (RE) 3–0 and winning the 1966 Segunda División title.
Unión's supporters are called "unionistas", "tatengues", while the squad is usually nicknamed "El Tate". The colours of the club consist of red and white vertical stripes.
Managed by Juan Carlos Lorenzo in 1975, Unión made a great campaign in the 1975 championship with a group of notable players such as goalkeeper Hugo Gatti, midfielders Victorio Cocco and Rubén Suñé and forwards Ernesto Mastrángelo and Leopoldo Luque among others.
In 1979 Unión played the final matches of the Nacional championship, but lost at the hands of River Plate, because the goal scored by River in the first match (with a final score of 1–1) ended up in an average over Union according to the away goals rule applied to that tournament.
Amongst the most famous footballers who played for Unión are Leopoldo Luque, World Cup winner with Argentina in 1978, and Nery Pumpido, the goalkeeper of the national team that won the World Cup in Mexico 1986.

## Rivalry

Unión and Colón are the two largest football clubs in Santa Fe. The Clásico Santafesino has been played since 1913 and is known as one of football's fiercest and most important rivalries in Argentina. Unión and Colón have played 147 games all time against each other in the Amateur and Professional Era, with Unión winning 48, Colón winning 43, 51 draws and 5 no contest (there are no records for those matches, which took place between 1913 and 1917).

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 24 January, 2025.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ARG | Matías Tagliamonte |
| 3 | DF | ARG | Claudio Corvalán (captain) |
| 7 | FW | ARG | Franco Fragapane |
| 8 | MF | SYR | Ezequiel Ham |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Lionel Verde |
| 13 | DF | ARG | Valentín Fascendini |
| 14 | DF | ARG | Bruno Pittón |
| 16 | MF | ARG | Mauricio Martínez (on loan from Rosario Central) |
| 18 | FW | ARG | Lucas Gamba |
| 19 | FW | ECU | José Angulo |
| 20 | MF | ARG | Mateo Del Blanco |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | DF | ARG | Francisco Gerometta |
| 24 | DF | ARG | Rafael Profini |
| 25 | GK | URU | Thiago Cardozo |
| 26 | DF | ARG | Juan Pablo Ludueña |
| 28 | MF | ARG | Mauro Pittón |
| 30 | FW | ARG | Jerónimo Dómina |
| 32 | DF | ARG | Nicolás Paz |
| 34 | DF | ARG | Franco Pardo |
| 35 | DF | ARG | Lautaro Vargas |
| 40 | GK | ARG | Lucas Meuli |
| — | MF | ARG | Julián Palacios |
| — | DF | ARG | Gastón Arturia |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ARG | Diego Cristaldo (at Germinal until 31 December 2024) |
| — | DF | ARG | Franco Godoy (at Aldosivi until 31 December 2024) |
| — | MF | ARG | Gianfranco Cabrera (at Germinal until 31 December 2024) |
| — | MF | ARG | Ezequiel Cañete (at Banfield until 31 December 2024) |
| — | FW | ARG | Tomás González (at Quilmes until 31 December 2024) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ARG | Daniel Juárez (at Barracas Central until 31 December 2024) |
| — | FW | PAR | Junior Marabel (at Palestino until 31 December 2024) |
| — | FW | ARG | Mariano Meynier (at Patronato until 31 December 2024) |
| — | FW | ARG | Pablo Palacio (at Palestino until 31 December 2024) |
| — | FW | ARG | Franco Troyansky (at Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP) until 31 December 2024) |

### Records
#### Most goals

| No. | Player | Goals |
| 1 | Francisco Valiente | 129 |
| 2 | Fernando Alí | 85 |
| 3 | Orlando Ruiz | 81 |
| 4 | Carlos Verga | 73 |
| 5 | Mario Gervé | 72 |
| 6 | Rodolfo Milessi | 64 |
| 7 | José Luis Marzo | 63 |
| 8 | Julio Mir | 62 |
| 9 | Carlos Castillo | 60 |
| 10 | Julio Enrique Ávila | 59 |
Top 10 all-time goalscores at clubaunion.com.ar

#### Most appearances

| No | Player | App. |
| 1 | Pablo de las Mercedes Cárdenas | 364 |
| 2 | Fernando Alí | 348 |
| 3 | Mario Eduardo Alberto | 327 |
| 4 | Hugo Ismael López | 326 |
| 5 | Víctor Bottaníz | 313 |
| 6 | Darío Cabrol | 272 |
| 7 | Eduardo Roberto Sánchez | 266 |
| 8 | Ariel José Donnet | 255 |
| 9 | Nereo Fernández | 240 |
| 10 | Carlos Santos Mazzoni | 235 |
Top 10 all-time most appearances at clubaunion.com.ar

### Notable players

    To appear in this section a player must have played at least 50 games for the club and/or played officially for their national team.
* Alberto Galateo (1927–34)
* Julio Ávila (1948–49), (1955–56)
* José Vicente Grecco (1949–53)
* Victorio Cocco (1964–67)
* Néstor Scotta (1967–69)
* Mario Zanabria (1967–69)
* Roberto Martínez (1970)
* Leopoldo Luque (1971), (1973–75), (1980–81)
* Hugo Gatti (1974–75)
* Carlos Trullet (1974–77)
* Rubén Suñé (1975)
* Víctor Marchetti (1975–76), (1984)
* Roberto Telch (1976–79)
* Nery Pumpido (1976–81), (1991)
* Carlos Trucco (1977–81), (1984–85)
* Fernando Alí (1978–88)
* Ramón Centurión (1978–85), (1991–92)
* Osvaldo Escudero (1982–85)
* Daniel Morón (1983–88)
* Daniel Killer (1984–86)
* Alberto Acosta (1986–88)
* Ricardo Altamirano (1986–88)
* Edgardo Arasa (1986–88)
* Antony de Ávila (1987–88)
* Claudio Borghi (1990–91)
* Darío Cabrol (1990–92), (1994–00)
* Ricardo Giusti (1991–92)
* José Luis Marzo (1991–95), (1996–98)
* Nii Lamptey (1997)
* Danilo Aceval (1997–99)
* Pablo Cavallero (1998–99)
* Juan José Jayo (1998–00)
* Daniel Noriega (1998–00), (2001–02)
* Matías Donnet (1999–00), (2009–10)
* Andrés Silvera (1999–01)
* Daniel Tílger (1999–01)
* Martín Zapata (1999–04), (2006–09)
* Marcelo Mosset (1999–06), (2007–08)
* Fernando Ortiz (2000–03)
* Leonardo Fernández (2001)
* Rubén Capria (2001–03)
* Roberto Battión (2002–07)
* Ignacio Canuto (2004–07)

## Managers

* Juan Carlos Lorenzo (1975–1976)
* Reynaldo Volken (1977–1979)
* Humberto Zucarelli (1988–1990)
* Carlos Trullet (1990–1991), (1995–1998)
* Salvador Capitano (1999)
* Juan José López (1999)
* Nery Pumpido (1999–2001)
* Leonardo Madelón (2001)
* Carlos Griguol (2002)
* Frank Kudelka (2002)
* Néstor Craviotto (2005–2006)
* Carlos Trullet (2006–2007)
* Fernando Quiroz (2008–2009)
* Fernando Alí (2009–2010)
* Frank Kudelka (2010–2012)
* Nery Pumpido (2012)
* Facundo Sava (2012–2013)
* Leonardo Madelón (2013–2016)
* Juan Pablo Pumpido (2016–2017)
* Pablo Marini (2017)
* Leonardo Madelón (2017–2020)
* Marcelo Mosset (2020) (caretaker)
* Juan Manuel Azconzábal (2020–2021)
* Gustavo Munúa (2021–2023)
* Sebastián Méndez (2023)
* Kily González (2023–present)

### Current coaching staff

| Position | Staff |
| Head coach | Kily González |
| Assistant coach | Tomás Costa |
| Assistant coach | Ricardo Dealberto |
| Goalkeeping coach | Rodrigo Llinas |
| Fitness coach | Damián Hernández |
| Fitness coach | Diego Rousse |
| Team doctor | Eduardo Wagner |
| Nutritionist | Silvia Fredes |
| Psychologist | César Palmieri |
Source: El Litoral – Actualidad Tatengue

## Honours
### National

* Primera División B
** Winners (1): 1966

### Regional

* Campeonato de Primera División Santafesina
** Winners (18): 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910 (LRSF) 1912, 1915, 1917, 1919, 1920 (LSF), 1925 (ASAF), 1926 (FSF), 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1971 (LSF)
* Copa de Competencia "Gobernador Manuel J. Menchaca"
** Winners (3): 1916, 1917, 1919
* Copa Estímulo
** Winners (1): 1924
* Torneo Preparación
** Winners (2): 1935, 1937
* Campeonato de Honor
** Winners (2): 1938, 1939
* Campeonato Absoluto
** Winners (1): 1938
* Torneo Clasificatorio
** Winners (2): Clasificatorio 1971, Petit Torneo 1971
* Federación de Fútbol de la Provincia de Santa Fe
** Winners (1): Selectivo 1971

## Other sports

The club hosts other sports such as archery, basketball, field hockey, gymnastics, martial arts, roller skating, swimming, volleyball, amongst others.

### Basketball

Apart from football, basketball is the foremost sport practiced at the institution, Union's team plays in Liga Nacional de Básquet since 2021, when they won the 2021 Liga Argentina title and were promoted to the top league after 34 years.
Carlos Delfino is probably its most recognized former player, but Mario Elie a three time NBA champion (1994, 1995 y 1999), also played briefly for Unión in the Argentine League in 1987.