Leonardo Madelon · Biography

In December 1988, Leonardo Carol Madelón left San Lorenzo to join Unión de Santa Fe, a move that set the course of his career. Born on 25 January 1963 in Cafferata, in Argentina’s Santa Fe province, he was an attacking midfielder and has worked as a coach since 1997. With Unión he won promotion as a player, won it again as a manager and led the club to its first international competition, across four spells in the dugout.

Youth career and San Lorenzo

He came through the San Lorenzo academy and made his first-team debut in 1982, the year the club played in Primera B after its relegation. That squad won the 1982 Primera B title and returned to the top flight. Madelón, a classic playmaker with a good touch, stayed until 1988 and was part of the sides that finished runners-up in the Argentine Primera División in 1983 and 1988. He made 113 league appearances for San Lorenzo and scored 8 goals.

Unión, Rosario Central and retirement

His first success away from Buenos Aires came at Unión, who earned promotion to the Primera División in 1989. In 1990 he moved to Rosario Central, where he played until 1993, making 62 appearances and scoring 8 goals. He then returned to Santa Fe for a final spell at Unión between 1993 and 1994. He retired that year without signing a deal he had agreed with an Austrian club.

Early coaching years and promotion with Olimpo

He began coaching in 1997 at Colegiales, in the Primera B Metropolitana, and led El Porvenir from 1998 to 2000. In 2001 he got his first top-flight job with Unión, but was sacked after 18 games of the Apertura. Short stints at Nueva Chicago and Talleres de Córdoba followed in 2004. His first major achievement came in Bahía Blanca: with Olimpo he won both the 2006 Apertura and the 2007 Clausura of the Primera B Nacional, securing automatic promotion in June 2007.

Rosario Central, Gimnasia, Quilmes and San Lorenzo

He took charge of Rosario Central for the first time on 30 November 2007 and lifted the team out of the relegation play-off places before resigning in June 2008. On 1 October 2008 he was appointed at Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, whose top-flight status he secured on 12 July 2009; he left in December that year. He returned to Rosario Central on 28 March 2010, but the club lost the relegation play-off and went down. He coached Quilmes from October 2010 to March 2011, and San Lorenzo, the club where he grew up, from November 2011 to April 2012.

Promotion in 2014 and the Copa Sudamericana

His second spell at Unión began in 2014, with the club in the Primera B Nacional. That same year he won promotion to the top flight with several rounds to spare, and in 2015 the team reached the Liguilla Pre-Sudamericana. He left in November 2016 and had a brief stint at Belgrano de Córdoba lasting only nine matchdays. In August 2017 he began his third spell in Santa Fe. Under him, Unión qualified for an international competition for the first time, the 2019 Copa Sudamericana, going out in the first stage to Independiente del Valle: a 2-0 home win, a 2-0 defeat in Ecuador and elimination on penalties. They qualified again in 2020, and in February that year knocked out Atlético Mineiro (3-0 in Santa Fe, 0-2 in Belo Horizonte). He resigned in March 2020.

From Platense to a fourth spell at Unión

In May 2021 he was unveiled at Platense, where he stayed until September. In 2022 he kept Arsenal de Sarandí in the top flight and left in October; in November that year he was confirmed at Central Córdoba of Santiago del Estero, who dismissed him in August 2023. Later that year he returned to Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata and won the relegation decider against Colón on 1 December 2023; he was replaced in April 2024. On 27 April 2025 Unión announced his return as first-team coach, Madelón’s fourth spell at the club.