Guadalajara

Full name	Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. de C.V.
Nickname	Chivas Rayadas (Striped Goats)
Founded	1906
Ground	Estadio Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico
Capacity	63,163
Chairman	Jorge Vergara
Manager	Benjamín Galindo
League	Primera División de México
Apertura 2004	Quarterfinalist
Home colours 　 Away colours

Club Deportivo Guadalajara, also known as Guadalajara and usually referred to by its nickname Chivas, is a Mexican professional football club. Guadalajara plays in the Primera División de México and it is one of the most popular and successful teams in that league. Their main rivals are Club América, also a widely supported club, and their meetings signal the national derby (similar to Boca Juniors-River Plate, Real Madrid-Barcelona or Celtic-Rangers).

Honours

Amateur Era

• League Championships: 13

Professional Era

• League Championships: 10
  • 1956-77, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1969-70, 1986-87, Verano 1997
• League Runner-Up: 9
  • 1951-52, 1954-55, 1962-63, 1968-69, México 70, 1982-83, 1983-84, Invierno 1998, Clausura 2004

History

The team was founded in 1906 by a Belgian shopkeeper, Edgar Everaert, as Club Unión, but became Club Deportivo Guadalajara in 1908. The uniform was modeled on that of the founder's favorite team, Club Brugge, which has however since changed its uniform.

The club was moderately successful in the amateur era of football in Mexico, but it was at the beginning of the professional era that it would get its famous nickname. In 1948 after winning a game the newspaper chronicle derisively said that the "goats" (chivas in Spanish) had won, this name, which started as an insult was embraced by the fans and is held with pride to this day.

Then, in 1956 the "Campeonísimo" run started. The team won eight national league titles and, combined with national and international cups, a total of 28 trophies in nine years, and became the backbone of the Mexico national football team that would go to the World Cup. Many of the players of those days became legendary.

With the advent of the 70's a Dark Ages of sorts came to the club, and fans had to wait until the 82-83 season to return to a Final, which was, appropriately, lost. In 1983-84 the Final was lost again, but finally in 1986-87 came the ninth title.

In the beginning of the 90's, the club was plagued by financial problems and a group known as "Promotora" took charge, cleaning the finances and bringing fresh air to the organisation. The league calendar was changed to two tournaments per year. During that decade, the team lost another three Finals but won the Torneo de Verano (summer championship) in 1997, bringing its league championships to 10, the most of any team in Mexico. Their last Final was in the Clausura 2004, where they lost against UNAM Pumas in a penalty shootout.

The team is perhaps best known for the fact that they have only ever fielded Mexican players (Athletic Bilbao in Spain and Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica, the latter owned by Chivas' current owner Jorge Vergara, are the only other clubs in the world to follow a similar policy), and the team itself is almost a synonym of what it means to be Mexican.

Beginning in 2005, C.D. Chivas USA, which is also owned by Vergara, will begin play in Major League Soccer.

Current Roster

External links

• Official site (http://www.chivasdecorazon.com.mx/) (in Spanish)
• Primera División (http://www.femexfut.org.mx/PrimeraDivision/)