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History
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The origin of
UNION FC is clearly associated to the Spanish company UNION FENOSA
(Soluziona).
In 1996 the
company brought several consultants to lead the different projects it
was engaging. Most of these consultants were from Spain, Uruguay,
and also from Venezuela
and Peru.
Countries with long history and great passion for football.
Immediately
they organized regular informal games at the JOLLY field inside Meralco
compound. This field was originally a baseball pitch, so it was
reconditioned to suit football demand. Even the goals, in a country
where it seemed that football did not exist, were specially made for
the team by the electric company smiths!
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Union Futbol Club
Originals (1996)
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Union Fenosa official debut was in 1997 against the
Philippine National Team! The girls (did we mention that it was the
Female National Team?) were not rival for the tough and dirty Union players!.
It was milestone in Union’s
history. By this time, the undisputable leader and coach was the
Venezuelan Jose Lupo.
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UNION FENOSA
vs. Female National Team, 1997
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From there, every
week, more and more people came to play to Jolly and joined the team. One
of the most active recruiter was the Chilean Francisco
“Trompeta” Devia, who did a great job recruiting
players among the Foreign Diplomat Corp accredited in Philippines. The group grew
up in quality and quantity.
Through the
years Union joined almost all football
tournaments or events where there was a round ball to be kicked: futsal,
7 aside, beach soccer and of course, 11 aside games. By September 2000,
Union Fenosa became UNION F.C. when it joined the Ateneo Football
Tournament, losing the word “Fenosa” because most of the
players were not related to the original company, and at the same time
reflected better the spirit of the team, composed by people from all the
corners of the world.
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UNION F. C.
in September 2000
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Through
all these years, more than 33 nationalities (Argentina,
Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil,
Cameroon, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Egypt, England, France,
Germany, Indonesia, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Japan,
Jordan, Mexico, New
Zealand, Nigeria,
Peru, Philippines, Portugal,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain,
Switzerland, Uruguay, USA,
and Venezuela)
and hundred of litres of beers had passed thru the club!
In 2003, after
the return of Jose Lupo to Spain, the Uruguayan Esteban Alonso took control of the team
as Manager and Coach.
Present and future
The last
man standing, Esteban Alonso, returned to Uruguay
in December 2005, and left the responsibility of coaching to Dominic Samson, the first Pinoy coach of Union.
One of the
most illustrious football clubs in the Philippines, UNION FC,
continues to set the pace of football in the country. After obtaining the
Championship of the United Football League (UFL) in 2006, Union is now engaged in the futsal and 6-a side
season.
Union FC
has also been instrumental in the development of Futsal (Indoor football)
in the country, having established the first Futsal School
for youth in Club 650. The coaches from Union FC, Ross Calixterio (Canada) and Romario Gaucho (Brazil)
conduct twice weekly classes in the Futsal court for children 15 years
old and below. Recently, plans are under way to have a women’s team
for Futsal. On top of this, Union FC is the coaching team for the
Multiple Intelligence (MI) School football class since 2004.
More Information
You can find us at Meralco compound (Jolly Center,
Meralco ave corner Ortigas ave.). Contact us
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