Club University of Chile
The Club Universidad de Chile is a Chilean professional football club based in Santiago. The current concessionaire of the club, Azul Azul S.A., establishes that it was founded on May 24, 1927, however, different authors and researchers indicate that the foundation date corresponds to March 25, 1911.
Registered in the Santiago Football Association (AFS) since 1912, as "Club Atlético Internado", the club was part of a merger process with other sports branches between 1927 and 1928, integrating the so-called "Club Universitario de Deportes" de Chile", also known as "Universitario". Then, from 1934, it became the soccer branch of the "Club Deportivo de la Universidad de Chile", under the eaves of the homonymous house of studies, with which it remained linked until 1980, after establishing itself as "Corporación de Fútbol Professional from the University of Chile» (CORFUCH). After the bankruptcy of the latter in 2006, the club has been managed since 2007 by the limited company "Azul Azul S.A." under a concession system. The color that identifies the club is blue. Meanwhile, its shield represents the image of a chuncho (or owl), whose origins go back to the Club Náutico Universitario, one of the institutions that merged with the Internado F.C. in 1928 to give rise to Universitario.
In professional soccer, it is the second team with the most First Division titles with 18. It has also won 5 Copa Chile titles, 1 in the Chilean Super Cup and 1 in the Second Division. In the amateur era, meanwhile, the two-time Serie B championship in 1936 and 1937 stands out, as well as different titles in the AFS. In 1999 he achieved the record of 33 consecutive games without losing within the same edition of the First Division national championship.
On an international level, it was the only Chilean team to win the Copa Sudamericana in 2011, undefeated and as the best champion in the history of the tournament and the second of those organized by the South American Football Confederation, with a performance of 89%. This title added to the Opening Tournament and the Closing Tournament, allowed him to end 2011 with the first triplet of official titles in the history of Chilean football along with remaining undefeated as a visitor during that season, both nationally and internationally. In turn, he added four semifinals of the Copa Libertadores de América: in 1970, 1996, 2010 and 2012.
The club is located at the Julio Martínez Prádanos National Stadium, a state-owned venue located in the Ñuñoa commune and which has a capacity of 48,665 spectators. Since its origins the club has lower categories and since 2008 it has a women's soccer affiliate that integrates the First Division of women's soccer in Chile, both in the adult and youth categories. Its traditional rivals are Colo-Colo, against which it has played the so-called "Superclassic of Chilean soccer" since 1938 and Universidad Católica, against which he has played the Clásico Universitario since 1937.
In June, July, August, September and October 2012, according to the statistics of the world club ranking carried out by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, Universidad de Chile ranked as the second best team in the world, the best location in its history. During 2012, Universidad de Chile was considered the best soccer team in America according to the CONMEBOL ranking.
History
Background and foundation
On May 20, 1902, the inmates section of the National Institute of Chile changed its address, to function independently, and became the National Boarding School —renamed in 1907 as the Barros Arana National Boarding School—, that date being of official foundation, as well as that of his school football club, the Internado Football Club.
After participating in inter-school competitions, since 1905 the Internado F.C. began to officially participate in the Municipal Cup of the Arturo Prat Association (AAP), a competition that brought together teams from different educational institutions in Santiago, in which they were champions in 1907 and then in 1910.
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The following year, players, directors of the Internado F.C. and students from the University of Chile, led by Carlos Fanta, proposed going beyond student competitions and decided to incorporate a team into the Santiago Football Association (AFS), entity in which the main clubs of the capital worked. Finally, on March 25, 1911, with the support of the FECH, the Club Atlético Internado was founded, whose football branch was known as Internado Football Club, representative of the soccer players graduated from said educational establishment in the different official competitions of the capital, while the school branch continued to participate in collegiate tournaments. Internado F.C. registered with the Santiago Football Association on March 30, 1912, the date from which it competed uninterruptedly, managing to be champion of the AFS Chile Cup in the 1921 and 1923 editions, among others. The founding date of the Boarding School —March 25, 1911— was registered by the leaders of the Universidad de Chile Sports Club in the memory of the Central Football Association of 1941 —now ANFP—, recorded within the corporate information provided by the magazine institutional of the club, between 1945 and 1953, in addition to being registered in different publications and different authors as the official date of the birth of the "U".
In parallel, students who also graduated from the National Boarding School founded the first university soccer team, at the School of Medicine of the University of Chile, on May 21, 1905, the date on which they also registered as founders of the Arturo Prat Association (AAP). On the other hand, the oldest match played by a representative team of the University of Chile took place on November 1, 1909, when the first university Classic was played between the student teams of that house of studies and the Catholic University, which ended with a 3-3 draw. Then, on November 14, 1909, the return-match was played, with a 4-1 victory for the Universidad Católica team.
Although, during the 1910s and 1920s, there were various teams from different disciplines within the University of Chile, among which soccer was included, the first official sports organization was born on June 13, 1919, with the creation of the University Sports League, which after a few days was renamed the University Sports Federation, Other sources, however, indicate that the creation of the Federation occurred in 1923, when a student movement was generated within of the university and which was initially chaired by the lawyer and president of the Internship Football Club, Arturo Flores Conejeros.
Fusion with university sports
Subsequently, on May 24, 1927, the annual general meeting of the Internship Football Club was held in the halls of El Diario Ilustrado, which also included the representatives of Club Atlético Universitario, the Club Náutico Universitario and the Federación Universitaria de Deportes. In it, the president of the Internado F.C., Arturo Flores Conejeros, pointed out the advisability of changing the name of the institution to "Universitario", before which, the members present unanimously agreed to make this change. To this end, the appointment of commissions aimed at intensifying the club's propaganda was proposed, especially within the schools of the University of Chile, with the aim of reaching the foundation of a sports club, which would bring together all of them. student athletes, for which reason he proposed the appointment of a committee that would be in charge of drafting the bases, regulations and statutes of the new entity, and then proceed to the election of a board of directors. The committee was made up of Arturo Flores Conejeros, Darío Sainte-Marie, Pablo Sainte-Marie and Alfredo Nazar, who would be in charge of regulating soccer, swimming, athletics and the Federation, respectively. club, Azul Azul S.A., officially considers May 24, 1927 as the founding date of the club. Some authors, however, reject that the club was created on that occasion, indicating the true date of foundation as May 20, 1902 or March 25, 1911, indicating that more than a new institution, the Club Universitario de Deportes corresponds to the same entity as the Internado Football Club. To support this statement, they are based on several notes from the media of the time that point to the change of name of the institution, from Internship to Club Universitario de Deportes, as well as as well as the commemoration of its 25th anniversary during May 1927.
On April 19, 1927, the Central Football League of Santiago (LCF) was founded, thanks to the reunification of the other governing bodies of Chilean football, such as the Metropolitan Sports League, the Santiago Football League, the National League Obrera de Football and the Santiago Football Association, and its first season was made up of 78 teams, divided into nine First Division series, stipulating, in addition, that the last three positioned in each group would be disaffiliated from the competition. The University Boarding School He was placed in Serie F and finished in seventh position, with four points in total, for which he was disaffiliated. However, after an appeal presented by the club authorities to the Chilean Football Federation, the team was formally admitted to the Central Football League on January 16, 1928, being re-registered on April 10. two important events in the history of the institution: on the one hand, on July 15, in a match against Unión Condell, it was the first time that the team wore the chuncho insignia, which was adopted by mutual agreement by the Club Náutico Universitario; while at the institutional level, on October 29, the club was materialized and legally registered before a notary, as Club Universitario de Deportes de Chile. The first ten partners were: Arturo Flores Conejeros, Óscar Castro V., Santiago Rebolledo E., Luis Tisné Brousse, Carlos Lund E., Eduardo Salgado C., Óscar Palma S., Raúl Vera I., Roberto Martínez R. and Eugenio Ampuero V.
The Chilean University Sports Club
Even though Universitario had finished fourth in Serie E of the First Division in 1928, the authorities of the Central League determined that the club should play a special competition, in which the best positioned would continue to participate in the the highest amateur football entity in Santiago. However, after a series of appeals filed by various sports entities in the capital, including Universitario and Sport Français, it was decided to readmit some clubs that had previously been ruled out, as well as cancel the matches of definition. Finally, three divisions were established with a promotion and relegation system, with Universitario being relegated to the Second Division of the Central League.
On March 3, 1930, after a meeting between the representatives of the University Sports Club, the Sports Federation of the University of Chile and the Sports Federation of the Catholic University, it was agreed to recognize and refound the Confederation Universitaria de Deportes in the Club Universitario de Deportes de Chile (with the acronym "CUD" in the insignia shield). That same year, in addition, Universitario reached third position in the Second Division of the now Santiago Football Association, after losing in the definition for promotion against Carlos Walker and Carioca. Likewise, in 1931 he was again close to achieving promotion, however, he had to resign his options when finishing in second place in the tournament, behind Carioca.
In 1933, thanks to the split of several clubs that withdrew to form the Santiago Professional Football League (LPF), Universitario became part of the Honorary Division of the Santiago Football Association.
The Sports Club of the University of Chile
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On April 8, 1934, there was an internal restructuring promoted by the University of Chile that ended up appropriating the Club Universitario de Deportes, through Decree No. 72, with which the club was finally renamed Sports Club of the University of Chile. Notwithstanding that, in that year, the press and official documents indistinctly registered the soccer team under the name of "Universitario" or "Universidad". In addition, his uniform was modified: that year the starting shirt went from being white to blue, a color that has been preserved to date, with a white letter "U" on the chest, in the style of university students, while the pants it was white and the stockings were black with blue stripes.
In that year, in addition, with the creation in the AFS of a Professional Section and an Amateur Section, the club remained in the latter, in which it was crowned undefeated champion of the Division of Honor, having earned the right to represent Santiago in the 1935 National Amateur Championship of Chile, a contest in which they were runners-up after losing the final against San Enrique de Iquique 1-3. During that period, the names of the striker stood out in the club's squad Víctor Alonso and midfielder Luis Tirado.
In 1935, the club joined the AFS Professional Serie B, made up of the clubs eliminated in the 1934 First Division professional tournament, plus Universidad de Chile as champion of the Amateur Section. In the first championship in this category, the club only finished in third position. Despite the above, the following year, the "U" won the Serie B championship, to later repeat the mark in the 1937 edition, as undefeated champion, achieving in that season the biggest win recorded in its history by beating Santiago Morning "B" by 14-1, on October 17.
Entry to professionalism and first title
 Simián  Miranda Murúa The Heras Sánchez Lira Riera Góngora Davanzo Holzapfel Becerra |
| Formation of the "U" of the first party in professionalism on Sunday May 29, 1938 in front of Magellan in the Sports Fields of Ñuñoa |
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In 1938, both the Universidad de Chile and the Universidad Católica applied for admission to the honorary professional series, but the leaders of the Central Soccer Association (ACF), the governing body for professional soccer created that same year, estimated that only I could host a college team. To define which one would be promoted, the managers decided that the two teams would participate and be examined in the Opening Championship of that year. On April 1, Universidad Católica had to face Colo-Colo, losing 2-6, their option being ruled out to reach the First Division, at least for that year. Meanwhile, on April 17, Universidad de Chile faced Audax Italiano at the Campos de Sports de Ñuñoa, a match that ended tied at one goal in regulation time. As they were still tied in extra time, the match had to be defined by "sudden death" (golden goal), in which Audax Italiano converted the winning goal.
However, the performance of Universidad de Chile satisfied the leaders of rented soccer, who accepted its entry into the First Division: on May 29, 1938, the "U" debuted in professional soccer, facing off in the Campos de Sports de Ñuñoa to Magallanes, losing 1-3, but on the following date, they achieved their first professional victory by beating Unión Española 4-3. In their first two seasons in professionalism, Universidad de Chile positioned itself seventh, highlighting goalkeeper Eduardo Simian as a figure.
The year 1940 began with the «U» reaching the final of the Opening Championship, in which they were defeated by Colo-Colo 2-3. However, under the leadership of Luis Tirado and with Víctor Alonso, goalscorer of the tournament with 20 scores, as the main figure, Universidad de Chile won the national championship for the first time in its history, after finishing with a three-point advantage over Audax Italiano.
Despite its early success, during the 1940s and 1950s, Universidad de Chile did not manage to carry out major campaigns, normally ranking in the middle of the position table. As an exception to this trend, it is worth noting the club's performance in the 1945 championship, the year in which it placed third and in which the Uruguayan Ubaldo Cruche was the top scorer of the season, and in the championship of 1957, a season in which he obtained the national runner-up. In addition, he highlighted the tour made by the squad to Bolivia, in 1958, where he achieved two wins and a draw.
The time of the Blue Ballet
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It was from the late 1950s, with the debut of Carlos Campos and Leonel Sánchez, as well as a majority of players trained in the club's lower divisions, including Braulio Musso, when the club regained prominence in the Chilean soccer scene. Thus, in the 1959 national tournament, Universidad de Chile became champion for the second time in its history, on November 11, 1959, after defeating Colo-Colo in a definition match by 2-1 at the National Stadium, with annotations by Leonel Sánchez and the Argentine Ernesto Álvarez.
In the 1960s, Universidad de Chile reached its heyday in sports, being, at present, the five-year period with the most titles in the club's history. To refer to the team, the media used the nickname with which Millionaires of Colombia were known during the 1950s: the Ballet Azul, due to the good game shown in each of their matches.
With Luis Álamos in the technical direction, in addition to the 1959 national championship against Colo-Colo and after finishing as runner-up in 1961, the club obtained the 1962 national championship after defeating 5-3 in a defining match against Universidad Católica, in addition to its first two-time championship, corresponding to the 1964 seasons (adding 52 points, 9 ahead of its closest pursuers Universidad Católica and Santiago Wanderers) and 1965, with a squad in which they stood out, along with to the aforementioned Carlos Campos (top national scorer in 1961, 1962 and 1966), Leonel Sánchez, Braulio Musso and Ernesto Álvarez, the figures of Manuel Astorga, Rubén Marcos, Luis Eyzaguirre, Sergio Navarro, Carlos Contreras, Alfonso Sepúlveda, among others.
During this first stage of the Ballet Azul, which was also the first Chilean team to play in the American Champions Cup (currently the Copa Libertadores de América) in 1960, Universidad de Chile was the club that more players contributed to the starting lineup of the Chilean soccer team that reached third place in the 1962 World Cup, with eight blue soccer players: Luis Eyzaguirre, Carlos "Pluto" Contreras, Sergio Navarro (captain of the National Team), Jaime Ramírez Banda, Leonel Sánchez, Carlos Campos, Manuel Astorga and Braulio Musso. And there could be a ninth player, Alfonso Sepúlveda, who was unable to play due to a major injury suffered shortly before the World Cup event.
In addition, in both 1963 and 1964, the club won the Pentagonal Summer Tournament (Santiago International Cup). Also, in 1963, the club toured Europe in order to face the best teams from that continent, including some national teams, achieving outstanding victories such as a 2-1 against Inter Milan at the San Siro Stadium and a 3-2 against Botafogo, a duel held in Casablanca, Morocco.
Later, despite the departure of Álamos in 1966 due to discrepancies within the campus, the incorporations of Pedro Araya, Alberto Quintano and Guillermo Yávar allowed Universidad de Chile to continue with positive campaigns during the second half of the 1960s. obtaining the national championships of 1967 (adding 56 units, with a remarkable 12 points advantage over its closest pursuer Universidad Católica) and 1969, under the technical direction of Alejandro Scopelli and Ulises Ramos respectively.
The 1970s began in good shape for the club, reaching the semifinals of the 1970 Copa Libertadores. They beat important teams from the continent in the first phase of the tournament (among them América de Cali, Deportivo Cali and Olimpia from Paraguay), beat Nacional de Montevideo in the second phase, and then lost against Peñarol from Uruguay (a key that ended in a defining match whose score was 2-2, a result that meant the elimination of the Blues due to goal difference). An important fact to consider is that in the 1970 Copa Libertadores, the club summoned 484,018 spectators in total, a record that places it as the second highest attendance in the history of the tournament.
For its part, in the 1970 national tournament, Universidad de Chile finished in third place in the final league, and marked the decline of the Ballet Azul generation.
Institutional crisis and decline
The blue team was runner-up in the 1971 championship (in a campaign that had the highest reference to the Paraguayan Eladio Zárate, author of 25 goals), and the following year, the team had the presence of the historic Argentine striker Juan Carlos Sarnari as the team's top scorer (with 20 goals), which finished in third place in the 1972 tournament.
However, later bad seasons marked the team. In which he finished in thirteenth place in both 1973, and in 1974 and 1975.
Despite not being able to win the national championship during those years, in 1976 the "U" managed to win the University Cities Cup, an international friendly tournament, and win that year's Pre-Libertadores League, after defining with Palestino, achieving a two-goal equality, a result that, due to the best goal difference in the table, qualified Universidad de Chile for the 1977 Copa Libertadores. In 1977, having as renowned figures the Argentines Jorge Luis Ghiso and Héctor "Bambino" Veira, the team finished in fifth position in the national tournament, in addition to being eliminated in the group stage of the Copa Libertadores. While in 1978, he placed 7th in the Chilean championship.
Later, in 1979, the club became champion of the Polla Gol Cup by defeating Colo-Colo 2-1 in the final. In addition, in 1980, the "U" was runner-up in the national championship and won the Pre-Libertadores League in a defining match again 2-1 against Colo-Colo, with figures such as Hugo Carballo, Manuel Pellegrini, Alberto Quintano, Orlando Mondaca, Jorge Socías, Héctor Hoffens, Sandrino Castec and Arturo Salah, plus Fernando Riera as coach. In that final of the league, those who scored for the blues were Sandrino Castec at minute 15 and Arturo Salah at 87'. It is worth mentioning that, prior to Salah's goal, when the game was ending, the "U" goalkeeper Hugo Carballo saved a penalty from Colocolino midfielder Carlos Rivas.
On the other hand, when the military dictatorship began in 1973, administrative measures were decreed at the University of Chile that had a direct impact on the sports club, causing it to begin to fall into an economic and sports crisis at the end of the 1970s In order to alleviate this situation, at the end of 1978, the soccer branch was transformed into the Professional Soccer Corporation of the University of Chile (CORFUCH), a private law entity that on September 1, 1980 separated from the study house founded by Andrés Bello, keeping only the name of "Universidad de Chile" and its emblems, although at first this decision was positive in the sporting aspect, financial problems continued in the institution and resulted in a drop in the team's football performance, which finished ninth in the standings of the 1985 national championship and eighth in the 1986 national championship, due to the dismantling of the squad, since figures such as Martín Gálvez, Carlos "Búfalo" Poblete, Mariano Puyol, Luis Mosquera and Luis Rodríguez were transferred to Mexican soccer, mainly to pay off the club's debts. Finally, the apex of the crisis occurred on January 15, 1989 on the last date of the 1988 national tournament: Universidad de Chile was relegated to the Second Division for the first time, after drawing 2-2 with Cobresal at the National Stadium. The figures reveal that the team obtained a total of 26 points from 30 games, the same as Unión Española and O'Higgins, but the determining factor was the goal difference: minus seven against minus eight for the "U".
During its stay in the Second Division during 1989, with Mario Mosquera as the club's new president, Leonel Sánchez as field assistant and Luis Ibarra as technical director, despite a difficult start, the "U" surpassed the first phase of the tournament and reached the second and final phase, in the South Zone group, playing ten games: they won seven, drew two and lost one. In the penultimate game of their group, on January 14, 1990, after beating Curicó Unido 3-0 at the La Granja Stadium, Universidad de Chile definitively achieved leadership of the South Zone and was promoted to the First Division. Finally, as leader of the South Zone group, the blue box played against Palestino, leader of the North Zone, for the Second Division title at the National Stadium: both teams drew 0-0 and, on penalties, with a 5 -4, Universidad de Chile claimed the trophy. In the 1988 Second Division campaign, Universidad de Chile's top scorers were Marco Fajre with 12 goals, Cristián Olguín with 8, and then Pedro Pablo Díaz and Severino Vasconcelos with 5 goals each.
Back to glory
Back in the First Division, the club's next two campaigns were not entirely good: in the 1990 national championship, the "U" finished in eleventh position and in the 1991 national championship it was about to return to relegated, after finishing in fourteenth place in the table and playing the Promotion League with Everton, Deportes Puerto Montt and Deportes Melipilla (at that time Soinca Bata), ensuring the "U" and Everton their permanence in the highest category. With a renewed squad in those years, Carlos Daniel Tapia, Martín "Tincho" Gálvez, Pedro Massacessi, Walter Fernández, Gabriel Díaz, Germán Vergara, Carlos Morales Santos, José "Pepe" Castro and Franz "Otto" Arancibia stood out, and with Mariano Puyol as a figure and captain of the team, although he was never able to win a First Division title, with the club that marked his career.
In 1992, the doctor René Orozco assumed the presidency of the "U" and handed over the responsibility of the technical direction to Arturo Salah, to carry out conscientious work, as part of a process that Jorge Socías would continue in 1994. In the 1994 championship, four dates from the end, Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica, who were on equal points at the top of the table, played the Clásico Universitario, the decisive match for obtaining of the title, in which the "U" beat the crossed team 1-0, with a score by Marcelo Salas.
Finally, on December 18, 1994, on the last date, the club faced Cobresal. In that duel, despite falling 0-1, the "U" recovered, until the judge charged a criminal foul against Salas that Patricio Mardones (77') converted into a goal: Universidad de Chile tied 1- 1, reached 49 points in total and, after 25 years without titles, won the national championship for the eighth time in its history.
Those who played in that historic match were: Sergio Vargas, Cristián Castañeda, Ronald Fuentes, Rogelio Delgado, Fabián Guevara, Patricio Mardones, Luis Musrri (replaced by Marcelo Jara at 60'), Esteban Valencia (replaced by Víctor Hugo Castañeda at 72'), Raúl Aredes, Juan Carlos Ibáñez and Marcelo Salas. In addition to them, Cristián Mora, Gabriel Galindo, Luis Abarca, Rodrigo Goldberg, among others, stood out in that squad.
It is worth mentioning that prior to winning the championship, Universidad de Chile reached the semifinals of the 1994 Conmebol Cup, after beating Oriente Petrolero from Bolivia in the round of 16, and San Lorenzo from Argentina in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, in the next phase, they lost to Peñarol from Uruguay, in a 3-1 aggregate.
In the 1995 national tournament, the club managed to consolidate itself as undefeated in the entire second round and, on the last date, became champion after defeating Deportes Temuco 2-0 at the National Stadium, with penalties scored by Mardones and Rodriguez. With this, Universidad de Chile achieved its second two-time championship and once again left Universidad Católica in second place.
In 1996, under the guidance of Argentine coach Miguel Ángel Russo, Universidad de Chile, as national champion, played in the Copa Libertadores de América, where after a great campaign (finishing second in the group stage where they faced his compatriots from Universidad Católica and the Brazilians Corinthians and Botafogo, beating the Uruguayan team Defensor Sporting in the round of 16 and later the Ecuadorian Barcelona), managed to reach the semifinals of the tournament. In that instance, the club was eliminated by the Argentine team River Plate (a team that would ultimately be the champion), after drawing 2-2 in Santiago and losing 0-1 in Buenos Aires. Despite that important campaign, the blues failed to stand out in the Chilean championship, finishing in fifth place, after their 2 archrivals Colo-Colo (which was the champion) and Universidad Católica (team that eliminated the blues from the Liguilla Copa Libertadores), as well as Cobreloa and Audax Italiano.
Meanwhile, in 1997 the club only reached third position in the table in the Apertura Tournament and fourth position in the Closing Tournament. However, it won the Copa Apertura (current Copa Chile) in 1998, after drawing 1-1 and beating Audax Italiano 2-0 in the final, as well as being runner-up in that year's national championship, behind Colo-Colo (who surpassed them by only one point in the table). In addition, he lost the final of the Copa Libertadores Liguilla against Universidad Católica, through penalty kicks after 2 goalless draws. In addition, Pedro González turned out to be the tournament's top scorer, with 23 goals.
And in 1999, with the arrival of César Vaccia as the team's new technical director, Universidad de Chile played the national championship, which had the novelty of being divided into two stages for the 16 participating teams: after obtaining the lead (with 75 points) from the initial stage of the tournament, the club entered the octagonal for the championship, in which, two days before the end of the tournament, the "U" became champion for the tenth time in its history, after a goalless draw against Santiago Morning at the Estadio Nacional. In addition, considering the duels of both the initial stage and the final stage, they reaped the record of 33 consecutive games without losing in a First Division national championship, in which they also added 13 successive victories, streaks that are currently not surpassed by any Chilean team.
2000s
In the year 2000, Universidad de Chile managed to obtain the Apertura Cup undefeated, after drawing 1-1 with Santiago Morning and winning in extra time with a golden goal from Clarence Acuña, in addition to winning the national tournament title, their third championship. championship scorer, with 24 goals), Cristián Castañeda, Rodrigo Barrera, Rafael Olarra, Ricardo Rojas, Ronald Fuentes, Roberto Rojas, Pablo Galdames, Luis Musrri, Diego Rivarola, Emiliano Rey, Esteban Valencia and Flavio Maestri, among others, all under the technical direction of César Vaccia.
In 2001, the club only finished in third position in the national championship, while in 2002, it lost in the semifinals of both the Opening Tournament and the Closing Tournament against Universidad Católica. of Apertura 2003, having in its ranks the historic Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla and very good performances by Mauricio Pinilla, the team had an irregular performance and lost to Universidad de Concepción in the round of 16. While in the 2003 Closing Tournament he was eliminated in the same instance against Cobreloa.
However, in 2004, with Héctor Pinto as coach, Universidad de Chile became champion of the 2004 Opening Tournament, after facing Cobreloa in the final: they tied 0-0 in Santiago and 1-1 in Calama, which which forced a penalty shootout, in which the "U" won 4-2. Johnny Herrera, Diego Rivarola, Sergio Gioino, Manuel Ibarra, Manuel Iturra, Arnaldo Espínola, Víctor Cancino, Miguel Pinto, Héctor Santibáñez, Nelson Pinto, among others, stood out on the squad. Meanwhile, in the 2004 Clausura Tournament, the "U" was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Unión Española, 2-4 on penalty kicks.
In the meantime, 2005 was not a positive year for the club. Although in the first semester he had good performances in the Copa Libertadores reaching the round of 16, in the national tournament he was defeated again in the 2005 Opening Tournament by the Spanish Union by penalty shootout, in the quarterfinal round.
While in the 2005 Closing Tournament, after a positive campaign, they reached the final in a new University Classic. Both the first leg and the second leg were played at the National Stadium: in the first leg, the "U" lost by the minimum score, while in the second leg, they came back and defeated Universidad Católica 2-1. However, given the equality of goals, without extra time, the title was defined by penalty kicks, in which Universidad de Chile fell 4-5, proclaiming the crossed team as champion of the tournament.
Later, in the 2006 Opening Tournament and under the technical direction of Gustavo Huerta, the club played against its archrival Colo-Colo, obtaining the title: in the National Stadium, the blues fell 1-2 in the first leg, however, in the second leg played in the same stadium, they won 1-0, forcing a penalty shootout, in which the "U" lost 2-4, adding with it their second consecutive defeat, in final instances against their classic rivals. In addition, at the institutional level, the Santiago Appeals Court decreed the bankruptcy of the club due to its debts close to 5,700 million pesos with the General Treasury of the Republic, with José Manuel Edwards being appointed as bankruptcy trustee, whose objective was to settle the debt with the club's creditors, projecting the transformation of the club into a public limited company or its management for a period of 30 years by a foreign public limited company, as is the case of Blanco y Negro S.A. in Colo-Colo. Meanwhile, in the 2006 Closing Tournament, after a bad season, Universidad de Chile was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Cobreloa.
In 2007, under the administration of trustee Edwards and with the Argentine Salvador Capitano as the new coach, Universidad de Chile, despite the losses of "Matador" Salas and Luis Pedro Figueroa, incorporated new reinforcements such as Jorge Acuña, Francisco Arrué, Patricio Galaz, Marco Estrada, Joel Soto and Mauricio Pinilla, a striker trained at the club and loaned out for six months by Hearts of Scotland. However, the bad start of the team in the 2007 Opening Tournament, led to the departure of Salvador Capitano from the technical direction and the resignation of Sergio Vargas as technical manager, Later, headed by the former manager Waldo Mora, the creditors' meeting decided together with Edwards, the hiring of the former player and former technical director, two-time "U" champion in 1994 and 1995, Jorge Socías, to become the azules bench. However, the team, despite recovering in the following dates, he could not obtain the championship and finished in thirteenth place in the standings.
The era of Azul Azul S.A.
On May 25, 2007, supported by the company LarrainVial and in alliance with the Mexican Octavio Colmenares and EuroAmérica, Carlos Heller was awarded the concession of the Professional Soccer Corporation of the University of Chile. To carry out the administration of the club, Azul Azul S.A. was established, a public limited company destined to develop and exploit the concession of CORFUCH assets for a period of 30 years, extendable for 15 years. Meanwhile, Federico Valdés was elected president by Azul Azul S.A.
Meanwhile, with the arrival of Arturo Salah as technical director, plus the return of Marcelo Salas and Rafael Olarra, and the incorporation of Pedro Morales, the "U" played in the 2007 Closing Tournament reaching the semifinals, instance in which he faced his archrival Colo-Colo. However, Universidad de Chile fell 2-0 at the Monumental Stadium and then 1-0 at the National Stadium, leaving the blues out of the race for the title, whose title was won just by the archrival.
In 2008, the team played the Opening Tournament, being left out of the competition after losing to Everton 1-3 and drawing 1-1, in the semifinals. Meanwhile, in the Closing Tournament the team carried out a positive campaign finishing with the best score in group 1 and in the general table of the qualifying phase, adding 38 points, thus qualifying for the 2009 Copa Libertadores as "Chile 3". However, in the quarterfinals, the blues lost 3-0 in Calama against Cobreloa and although they won 3-2 in the second leg, the goal difference favored the orange team and the « U» was again left out of the fight for the title. Also, that last game meant the farewell of Raúl Estévez (who would leave for Unión Española) and the historic Marcelo Salas (who retired from soccer), who scored his last two goals for Universidad de Chile on that occasion, in addition to resigning by Arturo Salah.
In 2009, with the hiring of the Uruguayan Sergio Markarián as the new technical director, the team began its participation in the Copa Libertadores, reaching the round of 16, a round in which they lost to Cruzeiro from Brazil. figures such as Miguel Pinto, Marco Estrada, Walter Montillo, Emilio Hernández, Manuel Villalobos, Nelson "Pipino" Cuevas and Juan Manuel Olivera, Universidad de Chile became champion of the 2009 Opening Tournament by facing Unión Española in the final: they tied 1-1 in the first leg and in the second leg, the "U" won 1- 0 with a score by Juan Manuel Olivera at 63'. Despite this achievement, Sergio Markarián played his last game with the university team, since in the quarterfinals he announced to leave his position due to certain disagreements such as the lack of strength of the institution in the face of unfavorable arbitrations, assuming in his place the Argentine José Basualdo.
Later, with the incorporation of the Uruguayan national team Mauricio Victorino and Edson Puch from Iquica, the club played in the 2009 Copa Sudamericana, managing to knock out teams like Deportivo Cali from Colombia and Internacional from Brazil, falling in the quarterfinals after drawing 2-2 -2 as a visitor and being defeated at home by 0-1 against Fluminense. At the same time, for the first time in its history in short national championships, Universidad de Chile was eliminated before reaching the play offs, after finishing in tenth place in the table, with 21 points, which together with the elimination of the Copa Sudamericana, meant that José Basualdo put his position at the disposal of Azul Azul S.A., which resolved to separate him from the institution. However, the end of the year was not entirely negative, since Universidad de Chile was considered the third best team in South America in 2009, with 32 points, according to a ranking published by Conmebol through its official website, while Miguel Pinto was voted the best goalkeeper in the Americas by the Uruguayan newspaper El País.
For the 2010 season, the Uruguayan Gerardo Pelusso took over as the new coach of Universidad de Chile. In addition, the following arrived as reinforcements: Gabriel Vargas; the Argentine striker Diego Rivarola, who returned to the university team for the third time; the goalkeeper Uruguayan Esteban Conde; and the Uruguayan midfielder Álvaro Fernández. Finally, two young promises of Chilean soccer were incorporated: striker Eduardo Vargas and defender Juan Abarca in addition to Argentine defender Matías Rodríguez. In the 2010 Copa Libertadores, After knocking out Alianza Lima in the round of 16 and Flamengo in the next phase, the club managed to reach the semifinals undefeated for the third time in its history, an instance in which, after drawing 1-1 with Guadalajara in the Estadio Azteca, fell 0-2 at home, being eliminated from the international tournament. At the same time, in the 2010 national championship, the "U" had a positive start in the first round, however, its participation in the Copa Libertadores ended, the club transferred Walter Montillo to Cruzeiro from Brazil and Juan Manuel Olivera to Al-Shabab from Saudi Arabia, which notably affected the soccer aspect of the squad, which resulted in an early elimination from the 2010 South American Cup at the hands of Bolivian team Oriente Petrolero and in irregular results that ended up positioning the "U" in fourth place in the general table, with 64 points, in addition to being left out of the Copa Chile Bicentenario against Lota Schwager. Finally, in the 2010 Pre-Libertadores Liguilla, Universidad de Chile was eliminated after drawing 0-0 and losing 1-4 against Unión Española. All this put an end to Gerardo Pelusso's contract as coach, who announced his departure from the institution.
The Sampaoli era, the three-time championship and the South American success
For 2011, Universidad de Chile opted to bring Argentine Jorge Sampaoli to the technical direction, a new coach with a short career, but who, due to his way of training and setting up matches, has been compared to Marcelo Bielsa. He was joined by reinforcements Gustavo Canales, Matías Pérez García, Albert Acevedo, Marcos González, Charles Aránguiz and goalkeepers Nery Veloso, who chose to go to Unión San Felipe, and Johnny Herrera, a reference for the blue fans who returned to the club where he was trained as a player.
In the 2011 Opening Tournament, the «U» reached second place in the regular season, with thirty-five points, and qualified for the play offs to face Unión San Juan in the quarterfinals. Felipe, defeating him on a visit 2-1 and equalizing at home 1-1, results that allowed him to access the next phase. In the semifinals, his rival was O'Higgins, whom he beat 1-0 in Rancagua, and then thrashed him 7-1 in Santiago, thus qualifying for the championship final, an instance in which he faced Universidad Católica in a match. new University Classic. The first leg final, with Universidad de Chile as home team, was played at the Estadio Nacional: the cross team beat the blues 2-0, a result that forced the «U» to come back three goal difference in the second leg final. Thus, on June 12, 2011, again at the National Stadium, but under the premises of Universidad Católica, the blue team took to the field with the aim of obtaining the title: in a high-voltage match, with a hat-trick by Gustavo Canales (two penalty kicks and one goal) along with an own goal by Juan Eluchans, Universidad de Chile defeated the cross team 4-1 (whose discount was Pratto), turned the result of the first leg around and became champion of the Tournament of Opening of 2011, his fourteenth crown. Among the figures of the team, Johnny Herrera, Matías Rodríguez, José Rojas, Charles Aránguiz, Felipe Seymour, Guillermo Marino, Eduardo Vargas, Gustavo Canales, Edson Puch, Diego Rivarola, among others, stood out.
Herrera O. González M. González Reds Aránguiz Díaz Rodríguez Mena Channels Vargas Castro |
| The title line that played and won the final of the 2011 South American Cup (invict champion). |
, Albert Acevedo and Johnny Herrera; Agachados: Matías Rodríguez, Eduardo Vargas, Felipe Seymour, Eugenio Mena, Francisco Castro and Charles AránguizOn the other hand, in the Closing Tournament, Universidad de Chile achieved the best start of a Chilean team in a First Division championship, by achieving nine consecutive victories and boasting twenty-four goals for and three against. In addition, the "U" managed to take first place in the regular phase of the championship, taking 8 points ahead of Cobreloa, its closest competitor.
At the same time during the second semester, the team undefeated to obtain the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. In the first instance, the Blues defeated the Uruguayan teams Fénix and Nacional, the latter led by Marcelo Gallardo, to later thrash Flamengo from Brazil (which at that time had the extraordinary Ronaldinho Gaucho). In the quarterfinals they beat Arsenal from Argentina coached by Gustavo Alfaro, and in the semifinals Vasco da Gama from Brazil led by their star Juninho Pernambucano. In the final they faced Liga de Quito from Ecuador (2010 Recopa Sudamericana champion), winning 1-0 in the first leg in Ecuador and 3-0 in the second leg in Chile. This was the first "Pacific Final" in the history of Conmebol's continental competitions.
Eduardo Vargas was chosen as the best player of the tournament, in addition to being the scorer with 11 goals. Meanwhile, Charles Aránguiz was chosen as the best player in the final. Universidad de Chile became the best champion in the history of the Copa Sudamericana, after winning 10 games and drawing another 2, as well as Johnny Herrera being the least beaten goalkeeper in the tournament with only two goals against.
On Thursday, December 29, 2011, Universidad de Chile won the Bicampeonato by drawing 0-0 in Calama and beating Cobreloa 3-0 in the 2011 Clausura final. A new record, achieved for the first time in the history of Chilean soccer the Triple Crown, by obtaining the Apertura 2011, the Copa Sudamericana 2011 and the Clausura 2011.
As a result of the 2011 campaign, Universidad de Chile managed to be the seventh best team in the world, according to the IFFHS world ranking, behind Barcelona, Real Madrid, Vélez Sarsfield, Manchester United, Manchester City and Santos.
Subsequently, at the end of 2011, the sale of Eduardo Vargas (to Napoli), Gabriel Vargas (to Universidad de Concepción), and Marcos González Salazar to Flamengo was finalized. In the first half of 2012, Junior joined Fernandes, Roberto Cereceda, Emilio Hernández, Raúl Ruidíaz, Pedro Morales (on loan from Dinamo Zagreb) and Eduardo Morante.
That same year, Universidad de Chile reached the Copa Libertadores semifinals for the fourth time in its history, this time in the 2012 edition. During this instance, the «U» defeated Peñarol, Atlético Nacional and Godoy Cruz in the of groups. Then they defeated Deportivo Quito in the round of 16, with a historic comeback of 6-0 (after having lost 4-1 in Ecuador); while in the quarterfinals they beat Libertad from Paraguay by definition from the penalty spot. However, in the semifinals they lost to Boca Juniors (with a 2-0 defeat in Buenos Aires, and a 0-0 draw in Santiago), being eliminated from the tournament.
Two weeks later, Universidad de Chile achieved its first three-time championship in its history by winning the 2012 Opening Tournament, whose final against O'Higgins was decided by penalty kicks. It should be noted that, prior to this, the "U" beat Cobreloa and Colo-Colo in the playoffs (the latter in a 4-0 comeback, after having lost 2-0 in the first leg).
Later, on August 1 of the same year, "la U" lost in a penalty shootout against the Kashima Antlers of Japan for the 2012 Suruga Bank Cup, and in September against Santos FC of Brazil for the 2012 South American Recopa (with a 0-0 draw in Santiago and a 2-0 defeat in São Paulo). In addition to this, in October they reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 Copa Sudamericana after beating Emelec from Ecuador and losing to Sao Paulo FC from Brazil. In those instances, the "U" was positioned as the second best club in the world according to the World Club Ranking according to the IFFHS, between August and October 2012. However, after losing by a landslide against Sao Paulo FC by 0-5, the «U» dropped positions until it fell between positions 20-50.
They also qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2012 Clausura Tournament by finishing second in the standings with the same points as their arch-rival, Colo-Colo, but below them on goal difference. The "U" It was eliminated in that instance by the Spanish Union after drawing 0-0 at Santa Laura and losing 1-4 at the National Stadium on November 25.
Finally, the great success Jorge Sampaoli had at Universidad de Chile (where he won a three-time championship and a Copa Sudamericana) made him the main candidate to assume the Chilean National Team (after Claudio Borghi was dismissed), which was it came to fruition on December 3, 2012. Thus ended one of the most successful processes in the club's history: the Sampaoli era.
The irregularity, the 2014 and 2017 championships, and an almost second relegation with five bad seasons (2012-2022)
On December 13, 2012, Argentine Darío Franco was introduced as the club's new technical director. Upon his arrival, the signing of various players was added, where among the most prominent were Ramón Fernández, Isaac Díaz, and César Cortés.
On May 8, 2013, Universidad de Chile won the 2012-13 Copa Chile (the fourth in its history), beating Universidad Católica 2-1 in the final of the tournament, thus qualifying directly for the Copa Sudamericana 2013. In turn, this cup allowed Johnny Herrera to go down in club history as the footballer who has won the most tournaments with Universidad de Chile (with nine in total), beating Luis Musrri by one. In addition, it should be noted that prior to the Copa Chile final, "la U" had beaten Colo-Colo 3-2 in the Chilean soccer Clásico, with two goals from Juan Ignacio Duma and one from Charles Aránguiz (at minute 89 of match) for the Blues.
Despite this, Darío Franco was widely criticized in much of his process as a coach at the club, and he was officially dismissed on July 11, 2013. The following day Marco Antonio Figueroa was presented as the new coach of Universidad de Chile, with which despite not achieving the 2013 Opening Tournament (it was located in 4th place), the qualification for the 2014 Copa Libertadores was achieved after winning the Pre-Libertadores Liguilla.
However, after the poor results obtained at the beginning of the Clausura Tournament, Figueroa was dismissed in January 2014, and Cristián Romero took over temporarily, in addition to the signings of Matías Caruzzo and Rodrigo Mora. On February 6, 2014, Universidad de Chile became the only Chilean team to accumulate victories on the road in all the countries that make up Conmebol, defeating Guaraní from Paraguay by a score of 3-2 at the Defensores del Chaco Stadium. for the first phase of the Copa Libertadores. Subsequently, the team was eliminated in the group stage (due to goal difference) and obtained very poor results in the national tournament (including a defeat in the superclassic against Colo-Colo), finishing in 12th position, where that did stand out considerably. 3-0 away victory in the University Classic against Universidad Católica. Meanwhile, on April 24, 2014, the new club president Carlos Heller, who took office on April 7, officially announces that the Universidad de Chile stadium will be built in the Laguna Carén sector, in the Pudahuel commune.
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Subsequently, on May 16, the arrival of the Uruguayan Martín Lasarte to the technical direction of the club was completed, as well as the signings of Gustavo Canales, Gonzalo Espinoza, Mathías Corujo, Guzmán Pereira, Cristián Suárez, Benjamín Vidal, among others. With Lasarte, the team had a great campaign that catapulted it to being the 2014 Apertura champion (17th championship in the club's history), in one of the most disputed tournaments in the history of Chilean football, differentiating itself by one point. Santiago Wanderers and three from Colo-Colo. With this, the University of Chile classified the 2015 Copa Libertadores as Chile 2, a championship where it would not go beyond the group stage, as a result of a bad semester that also left the team in 7th place in the tournament. Closing 2015.
Months later, things did not improve for the lay group, having a poor performance that left it in 11th place in the Opening Tournament. However, they won the Chilean Super Cup and later became champion of the 2015 Copa Chile, beating their historical rival Colo-Colo in the final by penalty shootout. With this, the Blues qualified as Chile 3 to the first phase of the 2016 Copa Libertadores.
2016 was a thankless year for the club. Sebastián Beccacece arrived at the club and took over as technical director, having poor results. The blues could not overcome the first phase of the Copa Libertadores, and at the local level they reaped a poor performance that kept them away from title positions, which was maintained with the arrival of Víctor Hugo Castañeda during the second semester.
In December 2016, the club's board of directors hired the Argentine Ángel Guillermo Hoyos to lead the team, a coach who considerably improved his performance and ended up becoming champion of the 2017 Closing Tournament. Among the title figures were Lorenzo Reyes, Jean Beausejour, Gustavo Lorenzetti and, above all, the championship scorer Felipe Mora (with 13 goals).
After consecration in one of the most disputed national championships in history (beating its historical rival Colo-Colo by only one point), the team qualified for the Copa Libertadores. However, in 2018 they failed to get past the group stage of the South American tournament and, after a bad run in the local tournament, the secular board chose to cut DT. In his replacement, Esteban Valencia took over temporarily until the end of the first semester, and then the trans-Andean Frank Darío Kudelka arrived (after an excellent campaign with Talleres de Córdoba).
Kudelka arrived at the institution in May 2018, completing an outstanding campaign that placed him third in the national tournament. However, the early elimination of the club in the previous phase of the Copa Libertadores, added to important problems with the leadership, ended in his resignation in March 2019. His replacement was the Uruguayan Alfredo Arias.
Arias' technical process was very unfortunate. In the national championship he directed twelve games and only won one, tied seven and lost four, reaching a 27.8% performance that later seriously complicated the club with a possible relegation (the U finished penultimate with five remaining). dates in a tournament that finally had no relegation and was suspended due to incidents of the 2019 Protests in Chile). During the same period, the opaque sports situation led to a major restructuring within Azul Azul S.A., which -among other things - included the assumption of José Luis Navarrete as president of Azul Azul, changes of directors, and the subsequent dismissal of Arias in August 2019, who was replaced by the Argentine Hernán Caputto. Likewise, in December 2019, the departure of goalkeeper Johnny Herrera, one of the main historical references of the team, was announced.
In 2020, the blue box incorporated several important reinforcements into its ranks with the main objective of maintaining the category, after the national soccer authorities determined an annual table that considered the results of the previous and current year. For the same reason, the board of directors decided to recruit Joaquín Larrivey, Pablo Aránguiz, Luis del Pino Mago, Reinaldo Lenis (second semester), Sebastián Galani, Fernando Cornejo Miranda, among others. However, the most important media and sporting signing of the year was that of Walter Montillo, who returned to the club after ten years, and at a great moment after shining at Tigre in Argentina.
Despite the changes experienced at the campus level, 2020 was also a very troubled year for the secular cast. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected national and international football (and that kept the tournament paralyzed for several months), the team's very irregular performance was added, which ended with the departure of Hernán Caputto and the arrival of Venezuelan coach Rafael doubt me. Thus, and after various fluctuations in terms of results, the U finally ended in February 2021, sealing its continuity in the highest category of football, and even qualifying for the first phases of the Copa Libertadores 2021. It also sealed the departure of Matías Rodríguez, Jean Beausejour and Walter Montillo, who retired from the activity being one of the blue figures during the season.
In the 2021 season, Universidad de Chile experienced its worst soccer moment since 1991, reaching the last date of the tournament with clear options to be relegated. In a very irregular championship, with a second semester of very poor results and changes in coaches, they needed a victory against Unión La Calera to seal their continuity in the First Division, which did not happen until the last ten minutes. The secular team fell 2-0 against their rival until minute 84, when they achieved an incredible and epic comeback, winning 3-2, with two goals from defender Ramón Arias (84' and 93') and striker Junior Fernandes (94'). This meeting was baptized by the press as the "Miracle of Rancagua".
2022 was also a very negative year for the club at a sporting level, with a campaign that made it fight at the bottom of the table, with several dates fearing a possible relegation. The secular team finished in 13th place out of a total of 16 teams, remaining three units away from losing the category, in a season in which they were coached by Santiago Escobar, Diego López and Sebastián Miranda.
Administration
Since its foundation, the «U», as a branch of soccer, was part of the Sports Club of the University of Chile, the latter directly dependent on the house of studies until its dissolution by institutional decree in 1984, when it was replaced by the Sports and Recreation Service. However, during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) a series of measures were decreed in the state universities, the University of Chile and the State Technical University, by virtue of the which, no official could receive a higher remuneration than a dean. This decision was directly detrimental to the soccer team, which had to let several players leave, as well as being unable to compete financially with other clubs of the time. The situation caused that, in the mid-1970s, the institution was plunged into a deep economic crisis, in view of which, Rolando Molina, president of the soccer branch, and a group of leaders asked the Governing Board of the military dictatorship, in 1974, the formal intervention of the club. However, given FIFA's willingness to disaffiliate the federations that allowed government intervention in the administration of a club, the request was rejected. It is worth mentioning that, during the military dictatorship, the presidents and leaders of the university sports clubs, both from the University of Chile and the Catholic University, were chosen by the government under the rector-delegate system.
Finally, on December 1, 1978, under the presidency of Rolando Molina, the soccer branch of the Sports Club of the University of Chile became the Professional Soccer Corporation of the University of Chile (CORFUCH), an entity of private law chaired by Molina himself. When CORFUCH was created, there was a report from the Rector of the University of Chile regarding the situation of the soccer branch, whose conclusions were negative: the blues had debts of 1,700,000 dollars, which which implied that to form the corporation under the eaves of the university it was also necessary to endure a million-dollar financial year in deficit. Therefore, from September 1, 1980, CORFUCH was legally, administratively and financially separated from the house of studies founded by Andrés Bello, keeping only the name "Universidad de Chile" and its emblems. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the national media and the Central Football Association (current ANFP) continued to recognize the Club in CORFUCH Sports from the University of Chile.
Despite the above, in 1984, under the presidency of Ambrosio Rodríguez, salaries were not paid on the stipulated date and that caused discomfort among the players. There were even attempts to strike, with the team refusing to play on some weekends. In August of that year, the leaders denied the rumors of embargoes on the club's assets, while Rodríguez ruled out a possible intervention in the "U" by the Central Football Association. However, in order to finance the club financially, the leaders decided to lower, by a considerable percentage, the salaries of the members of the coaching staff, as well as that of many players. The crisis suffered by Chilean football in the first half also had an impact. of the 1980s, which had to be alleviated thanks to state contributions, which also served to pay for some incorporations. In addition, under the management of Rolando Molina, this time at the command of the ACF, the debt of this organization and of the clubs that comprised it increased proportionally ten times: the debt of the clubs to the ACF grew from 97,000,000 pesos in 1978 to 907,000,000 million in 1984; and the ACF's debt with the financial sector grew from 21,000,000 to 873,000,000 pesos in the same period. Of the total debts of Chilean soccer, 43% were represented by debts of CORFUCH, to whom the ACF previously served as guarantor. Finally, in 1985, after a series of discussions and renegotiations, external intervention in the institution was a fact, forming a new board composed almost entirely of representatives of the creditor banks. Rodríguez had no way out and presented his resignation to the "U", being replaced by Dr. Julio Montt.
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In the late 1980s, under the presidency of Waldo Greene and with relegation to the Second Division, the club was on the brink of extinction. However, in 1992, the doctor René Orozco assumed the presidency of CORFUCH with the commitment to clean up the club from the sports and economic crisis in which it was plunged, solving it in part by obtaining the two-time national championships from 1994- 1995 and 1999-2000, which allowed the club's income to increase considerably. However, in 2003, the Orozco administration began to show its first signs of exhaustion until, at the end of that year, the General Treasury of the Republic requested the bankruptcy of CORFUCH before the Seventh Civil Court of Santiago for tax debts of around 5,400 million pesos that the club maintained with the Treasury, a request that was rejected in April 2004 and whose resolution was later appealed by the General Treasury of the Republic. In this regard, shortly after signing an agreement with the club's officials in the Labor Directorate regarding unpaid salaries and social security debts, René Orozco resigned in November 2004 from the CORFUCH presidency, citing fatigue and attacks from the media and then deputy Waldo Mora. In his place, Lino Díaz assumed the mandate of the club.
Then, in 2006, by virtue of the legal adequacy of soccer clubs required by Law No. 20,019 of Professional Sports Limited Societies (S.A.D.P.), on May 6, by a large majority, the assembly of members de la CORFUCH decided that the club should remain as a football corporation with the consequent creation of an investment fund called "Professional Sports", flatly rejecting the possibility of transforming it into a public limited company or that it be managed for a period of 30 years by a public limited company outside the club, as is the case of Blanco y Negro S.A. in Colo-Colo. However, on May 26, the Fourth Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Santiago reversed the ruling pronounced in the first instance by the Seventh Civil Court in 2004 and declared the bankruptcy of the club for its debts close to 5700 million pesos with the General Treasury of the Republic, with José Manuel Edwards being appointed as bankruptcy trustee, who assumed his functions on July 10. In this way, the decision of the shareholders' meeting was without effect, since in In the event of bankruptcy, this responsibility falls exclusively on the creditors' meeting, who chose to hand the club over to a concessionaire. Faced with this situation, Lino Díaz threatened to dissolve CORFUCH, which would have meant the disaffiliation of the club by the ANFP However, the idea was widely rejected by fans, players and the union. Finally, on December 18, the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court unanimously ratified the bankruptcy of Universidad de Chile.
Finally, after the auction and adjudication of the land of the "Ciudad Azul", one of the emblematic projects of former president René Orozco, and despite the protests of Los de Abajo and the fans in general, on May 25, 2007, before the bankruptcy court and supported by the financial services company LarrainVial and in alliance with the Mexican Octavio Colmenares and EuroAmérica, the businessman Carlos Heller was awarded for the minimum price of 3,333 333,334 Chilean pesos (US$6.3 million) the concession of the Professional Soccer Corporation of the University of Chile. To carry out the administration of the club, Azul Azul S.A. was established, an open stock company created with the in order to guarantee the payment of close to 100% of the credits against the club on the date of the auction, as well as the payment of the tax debt, and to develop and exploit the concession of CORFUCH assets for a period of thirty years, extendable for fifteen more years in the event that the tax debt of which Azul Azul S.A. joint and several co-debtor was paid during that initial period. Regarding the board of directors, in August, Federico Valdés was elected president of Azul Azul S.A., while Carlos Heller was elected as vice president. In addition, the University of Chile authorized the company concessionaire the use of its name, symbols, emblems and brands. And as consideration, the house of studies has the right to choose two directors of the company, out of a total of eleven, and the right to collect an annual royalty equivalent to 1.05% of the income corresponding to the years 2007 and 2008., and that for the years 2012 and following will be calculated considering the greater amount between 1.05% of the income and 4% of the net profits of Azul Azul S.A. However, by virtue of the second paragraph of No. 3 of the transitory article 2 of Law No. 20 019, as a sports organization, CORFUCH completely suspended its activities for the duration of the concession, its partners only conserving their rights before the concessionary company if they were shareholders of it.
In November 2008, despite the 2008 economic crisis, Azul Azul S.A. was opened. on the Stock Exchange, after the sale of almost 20,000,000 shares, each with a placement price of $480, corresponding to 55% of the concessionaire's property and which were purchased by more than 8,000 new shareholders.
Board of Directors and Administration (Azul Azul S.A.)
| Blue Blue S.A. (twelve shareholders) |
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| BCI S.A Bag Corridor (63.82 %) DSE Ltda Real Estate (21.44 %) Asesorías e Inversiones Sangiovese Ltda. (6.52 %) Larraín Vial S.A. Bolsa Corridor (1.89 %) Banchile S.A. Bag Runner (1.05 %) Santander Corredora de Bolsa Ltda. (0.76 %) BancoEstado S.A. Bolsa Corridor (0.56 %) Itaú Corridor of Bolsa Ltda. (0.25 %) S.A. Bag Runner Consortium (0.25 %) Euroamerica S.A. Bag Runner (0.19 %) Values Security S.A. Bag Corridor (0.18 %) Rafael Prieto Viviani (0.12 %) |
The board of directors and management of Azul Azul S.A. are composed of:
Ownership and control
The shares of Azul Azul S.A. They are registered in the Securities Registry of the Superintendence of Securities and Insurance, current Commission for the Financial Market (CMF) with No. 978. At the closing of the Financial Statements, the subscribed and paid-in capital amounts to M CLP$12,687. 003 divided into 36,520,030 shares, of which 36,520,029 shares are series B and one share is series A, of a preferential nature and belonging to the University of Chile, which has the right to elect two of the eleven directors, while the remaining nine are chosen from series B.
The company has no controller.
In the shareholding structure, the twelve largest shareholders of the company are:
Symbols
Shield and flag
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The official flag of the club is commonly hoisted on the right mast of the scoreboard of the stadium where the University of Chile is home, accompanying the Chilean flag that goes on the central mast.
The club's symbol is inspired by the chuncho (Patagonian owl), which dates back to the creation of the Club Náutico Universitario, an entity that contributed its emblem to the Club Universitario de Deportes, when it was founded in 1927. The origin of the chuncho is due to Pablo Ramírez Rodríguez, swimming leader and Minister of Finance in 1945, who brought the design of the emblem from Germany.
« The prick of the "U" symbolizes wisdom, mutual knowledge, harmony between the body and the spirit, supreme aspiration of well-understood sport.
Its first appearance on the jersey was in a match against Unión Condell, on July 15, 1928. However, the insignia has not usually been used on the team's uniform, being replaced from the year 1938 —coincident with the entry of the football branch to professionalism - by a red letter "U" (white in 1979 and blue on the replacement shirt of 2001 and 2002), although it should be noted as an exception to this rule, that the insignia was used to replace the "U" in the 1947 season. It was also incorporated to the right side of the chest along with the "U" in some seasons of the 1980s. Similar cases occurred in 1996, part of 1997, 2006, 2007, 2008 and since the second half of 2010, using the insignia in a smaller size, but without removing the "U" from the chest.
The first insignia was adopted and used in 1926 by the leader Horacio Ramírez as a symbol of the Club Náutico Universitario, an institution that had the initials «CNU» rustically interposed on the chuncho shield. It should be noted that this insignia only corresponded to the Club Náutico Universitario, which was one of the many branches that joined the final merger that gave rise to the Club Universitario de Deportes in 1927.
Once the Club Universitario de Deportes was founded, the monogram of the escutcheon was changed to the initials "CUD", whose first record dates from 1928.
In 1935, with the new restructuring of the sports institution, the initials of the shield changed to "DUCh" (Deportivo Universidad de Chile), although a variant with the initials "DUC" was also used.
And in 1941, the president of the sports club, Benjamín Claro Velasco, formed a commission to redesign the emblem, with the task falling to the president of the "U" branch in Temuco, Miguel González. This constituted the current insignia of the club, which was configured as follows:
«Tags Chuncho, a blue-backed scuson wearing a white "U" in the field, has a white overflow and on top a red and white drawing that shows a chuncho».
The corporate colors used by the Club Universidad de Chile are:
 | Blue | Red | White |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pantone | Pantone 662 C | Pantone 485 C | Pantone 000 C |
| Hexadecimal | #001A70 | #DA291C | #FFFFFF |
The insignia, which has undergone only slight variations since its establishment, was registered in accordance with the Industrial Property Law in the Trademark Registry, in 1943.
Anthem
The anthem of the sports club was created in 1933 by a group of architecture students from the University of Chile, who, inspired by the night on board the ship Reina del Pacífico, which was heading to Antofagasta, created the lyrics and verses, while Julio Cordero Vallejos, a member of that group of students, composed the melody and coined the phrase Romántico Viajero, as the hymn's official name. Later, Cordero ordered the anthem and lyrics to be registered in his name at the National Library, for which official authorship is recognized, but always reiterating that the lyrics were contributed by all of his travel companions. According to Cordero Vallejos, he lost track of the melody until 1940, when he was told that it was sung in a University Classical.
The facts based on its origin explain why the anthem does not talk about soccer or sports, but is based on travel dreams of a group of comrades, toasting the university.
The impact of the anthem of the University of Chile in Chilean popular culture has to do with the widespread cry ¡¡¡CEACHEÍ!!! as a cry of encouragement from the secular university bar to its team, which will later be copied and adapted by the other fans of the other teams in the country.
Uniform
Since its founding in 1911, as a University Boarding School, the club used the same uniform as the Football Club Boarding School of 1902, that is, a white shirt with dark blue pants and socks.
Starting in 1934, after its restructuring under the name of Club Deportivo de la Universidad de Chile, the team modified its uniform: it used blue for the first time on the shirt, with a letter "U" on the chest, in the style of university students; for their part, the pants were white and the socks were black with blue stripes. Later, these socks became completely blue, except for slight variations in some seasons.
Since the late 1950s, the team has been characterized by wearing an all-blue uniform, definitively abandoning the white shorts. The blue tone of the clothing has varied at certain times: from an almost sky blue to a royal blue, through navy blue and even electric blue.
Regarding the club's alternative uniform, there is evidence that, starting in the 1960s, the team has used completely white clothing, with few variations in some seasons, among which it is worth highlighting the use of sleeves or blue pants. Exceptionally, the 2001 season was the first season in which the club used the color red for the spare kit. Since then, both white and red have been used on the spare kits in alternating periods, or, combining both colors between 2014 and 2015. Other colors used exceptionally have been phosphorescent yellow (introduced in 2012) and light pink (in 2021) which were not well received by several of the more traditionalist followers of the secular painting.
     First |  See evolution |      Actual |
Stadium
Universidad de Chile does not have its own stadium, but it usually hosts the National Stadium (officially called Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos), a venue owned by the State of Chile and operated by the National Institute of Sports. This was inaugurated on December 3, 1938, has a capacity of 48,665 spectators and is located at Avenida Grecia #2001, Ñuñoa district, Santiago. For the enjoyment of it, the club pays approximately US$10,500 in rent for each party.
As an alternative stadium for home games, the Santa Laura Stadium is used, close to Plaza Chacabuco in the Independencia commune and owned by Unión Española. As a third option, the club also uses the El Teniente Stadium located in the city of Rancagua, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region of Chile, state-owned and in which the O'Higgins club is home.
In April 2014, club president Carlos Heller and university rector Víctor Pérez announced the construction of a stadium for their own use on the Laguna Carén property, located in the Pudahuel district of Santiago. The venue will have an area of 34 hectares and a capacity of 30 to 35 thousand spectators. In addition, the project includes building a 28-hectare park for public use equipped with multi-purpose courts, running, bicycle and trekking circuits, and a country club for use by the university community.
In September 2014, after the Laguna Carén project became complicated, club president Carlos Heller quickly met with Azul Azul's board of directors and with the mayor of La Pintana, Jaime Pavez, to put "Plan B" is underway: The land of whereabouts 41 in Santa Rosa. It was agreed to sign a purchase promise for 12 hectares at 0.95 UF per m². It will mean paying 120,000 UF: US$4,835,862, half the cost of the lease in Laguna Carén: 220,000 UF: US$8,865,747.
The agreement for La Pintana establishes a three-year term to buy the same property that was proposed in 2012 by the administration of José Yuraszeck.
Facilities
Since the days of the Internado F.C. and later as the University Sports Club, the squad trained and played its matches on the field of the School of Medicine of the University of Chile, where several of its players studied. Regarding social headquarters, around 1931, the club had premises at Alameda #958, which included a billiards room, a billiards room, a table tennis room, a dining room, a meeting room, a secretarial room, a golf course, etc. Years later, in 1950 and under the wing of the Sports Club of the University of Chile, its dependencies moved to Vergara with Alameda, while in the 1960s the institutional headquarters were located on Santa Lucía street # 240.
Later, since 1956, the sports club managed and made use of the Recoleta Stadium, located in the commune of the same name, the venue where the team trained until the early 1990s, when it moved to the "El Sauzal" property., located in the commune of Peñalolén. Then, in 1996, the squad moved its activities to the "Caracol Azul", a venue near the National Stadium where the club stayed for 14 years, by virtue of a loan. In addition, at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, under the management of René Orozco, the construction of the "Ciudad Deportiva Azul" took place in the Lampa commune, on the way to the Novitiate. Owned by the club and with an extension of 127 hectares, the sports complex project consisted of an artificial lagoon, three soccer fields, four volleyball courts, four tennis courts, a 600-square-meter casino, a recreational pool with changing rooms, a sector of quinchos enabled for the simultaneous use of 20 families, a sewage treatment plant, an administration house, a plantation of 30,000 trees, in addition to offering the rental of all-terrain motorcycles, boating, bicimontaña or horseback riding, plus the use of the casino and the tent for special events. However, the sports center was susceptible to flooding and the team did not like it, which chose to continue working on the "Caracol Azul". Finally, after the bankruptcy of the club, the land of the "Ciudad Deportiva Azul" was awarded in an auction by Inmobiliaria El Patio S.A. at a price of 860,000,000 pesos. The headquarters of Campo de Deportes #565 were also assets of the institution, where the "Escuela de Los de Abajo" also operated in #581, and a neighboring house on Calle Francisco de Miranda #2094, which during the bankruptcy process were handed over on loan for 30 years, currently operating as a PDI barracks.
Blue Sports Center
In 2007, when the club's concession was awarded and due to the proximity of the end of the “Caracol Azul” loan, Azul Azul S.A. In its investment plan, it contemplated the construction of a first-class training camp, both for the professional team and for the lower divisions, based on international standards and a history of sports complexes for European clubs such as Real Madrid, Chelsea F.C., Liverpool F. C., F. C. Bayern Munich, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Everton F. C. and the Royal Spanish Football Federation, as well as South American clubs such as São Paulo, Palmeiras, River Plate and the AFA. Thus, in 2009, the concessionaire signed an agreement with the Illustrious Municipality of La Cisterna consisting of the lease of a nine-hectare piece of land, located in said commune, for the purpose of building the sports complex in it, with a total investment of around 3,000,000 pesos. This lease is for the entire remaining period of the concession, that is, for 28 years, renewable for another 15 years. In order to carry out the construction of the property, Azul Azul S.A. created and invested in a subsidiary called Inmobiliaria Azul Azul SpA, whose share capital amounted to $1,350,000,000, payable in cash or through the contribution of the lease of the property. Finally, after having laid the first stone of the building in January 2010, the "U" inaugurated the "Centro Deportivo Azul" in September of that year, with the presence of the board of directors of Azul Azul S.A. led by Federico Valdés, and also by President Sebastián Piñera, the local mayor Santiago Rebolledo, and former presidents and leading figures of the club.
Located at Avenida El Parrón 939, in the commune of La Cisterna, the sports field of the "U" currently consists of eight training fields, two soccer-tennis fields, a training field for the first team with stands for 200 people and three synthetic grass courts, plus the main building, which has dressing rooms, a jogging circuit, two gyms (the first team gym adjoins three modules for care and medical consultation), a casino, dining room, cafeteria, events, first team meeting room (for technical talks plus a video projector), press room and dormitories for minors who work double shifts.
Bloated
Organized bars
Historically, the supporters or supporters of Universidad de Chile were made up of students from that same university, who prepared shows prior to the game in the different editions of the Clásico Universitario against Universidad Católica. The level of preparation was such that the newspapers highlighted with equal importance the competitions both in the stands between the bars and the match between the squads. This tradition, over the years, evolved to the use of flares, colored fire extinguishers and fireworks.
According to official data from CONMEBOL, Universidad de Chile is the team with the second highest attendance in the history of the Copa Libertadores de América.
| Equipment | Assistance | Edition |
.png){kind=small} Flamengo
| 516.382 | 1981 |
| University of Chile
| 484.018 | 1970 |
 River Plate
| 483.997 | 1966 |
.png){kind=small} Racing Club
| 479.327 | 1967 |
 Club Atlético Peñarol
| 470.833 | 1966 |
Since the 1990s, the brava bar of the University of Chile, called Los de Abajo, acquired national notoriety due to the violent incidents that occurred in their team's matches, accentuating for the superclassic against Colo-Colo. The constant clashes with the uniformed police and the destruction they produced were the main reasons for the promulgation of Law No. 19,327 or violence in sports venues. Said law exhorts the bars to register, that is, to register their members in the event that one of them causes an altercation inside the stadium, in exchange for some benefits such as obtaining cheaper tickets. In 2017, from The women's organization Las Bulla was created from the Assembly of Blue Fans, a feminist, pro-abortion and anti-market soccer bar.
Surveys
Several public opinion studies rank Universidad de Chile as the soccer club with the second largest number of supporters in Chile. Among them, a survey carried out by Fundación Futuro among 352 people from Greater Santiago in 1999 ranked it second with 30.4% of the preferences. Likewise, another study carried out by Fundación Futuro in 2006 among 300 people from Greater Santiago placed second with 14% of the preferences.
On the other hand, the Chilean lifestyle study center Chilescopio, in a survey of 1,500 people from all over the country in 2006, also ranked it second with 23% of the national preference. In the same way, in a new study carried out by Chilescopio in 2007, it appeared second again with 25%. it granted 21.1% of the preferences. Meanwhile, the survey center of the newspaper La Tercera, in a poll carried out in June 2006, placed it second with 28% of the preferences, while the same study carried out in 2008, gave it 19% of adhesions.
In 2011, the largest “soccer census” ever carried out in Chile was carried out. The site QuienesChile.com was in charge of carrying out said census, in which 146,003 participated. people, resulting in Universidad de Chile as the most popular club in the country with 51.55%, over Colo-Colo with 48.44%. It should be noted that in this survey only Universidad de Chile and Colo-Colo were considered. Colo to vote, plus all other surveys conducted previously where the Colo-Colo club was considered the most popular club, did not exceed 2000 people surveyed. The following year, in 2012, El Gráfico carried out a survey via social networks, where 91,016 people participated and once again classified the University of Chile as the most popular in Chile with 45%, over its simile Colo- Colo was left with 41% of the preferences.
Club details
Amateur era (1927-1937)
- Seasons in the Central League of Football/Santiago Football Association: 10 (1927-1937).
- First Division: 1927-1928 and 1934.
- Second Division: 1929 and 1933.
- Third Division: 1930-1932.
- Series B: 1935-1937.
- Greatest goleada (Series B): 14-1 a
Santiago Morning B in 1937. - Greatest welcome (Series B): 2-4 of
Green Cross in 1935.
Professional era (1937-present)
Best positions
- Historic post in Chile: 2nd.
- Seasons in First Division: 86 (1938-1988, 1990-present).
- Best position in First Division: 1o (18 times).
- Bicamponatos: 3 (1964, 1965), (1994, 1995), (1999, 2000)
- Tricamponatos: 1 (opening 2011, closing 2011, opening 2012)
- Double: 2 (Campeonato 2000 / Copa Chile 2000), (Copa Chile 2015 / Supercopa de Chile 2015)
- Triplete: 1 (opening 2011, Closure 2011, South American Cup 2011)
- Worse First Division: 15th (1988).
- Seasons in First B: 1 (1989).
- Best position in First B: 1 (1989)
- Best place in the Copa Libertadores de América: Semifinals (1970, 1996, 2010 and 2012)
- Best place in the South American Cup: Champion (2011)
- Ranking
- Best place in Conmebol ranking: 1o (482.95 points) as at 25 December 2012.
- IFFHS Top 400 ranking: 28th (194,5 points) as at 9 May 2014.
Goal records
- Big deal.:
- In national championships: 10-0 a Chimbarongo in Copa Chile 2023.
- In international tournaments: 7-1 a
Rangers (Liberators Cup 1970). 6-0 a 
Deportivo Quito (Copa Libertadores 2012).
- Major welcome:
- In national championships: 0-6 of
Collo-Colo in 1938. - In international tournaments: 0-7 of
Flamengo (Copa Mercosur 1999). 0-7 of 
Cruzeiro (Copa Libertadores 2018).
- In national championships: 0-6 of
Record streaks
- Major undefeated streak in First Division: 33 parties (1999)
- Greatest streak of wins in the same tournament: 13 victories followed (1999)
- Greatest streak without victories: 15 (1943-1944)
- Major streak of defeats in the same tournament: 5 defeats followed (1990; 2014; 2021)
Player records
- University of Chile Player
- with more contested parties:
Luis Musrri (539 matches). - with more contested international parties: José Rojas (83 matches).
- with more titles: Johnny Herrera (8 national titles, 3 Chilean Cups, 1 Chilean Super Cup and 1 South American Cup).
- younger in debut (national/international commission): Benjamin Inostroza by Copa Chile 2012 (with 15 years, 5 months and 2 days)
- more veteran: David Pizarro (retired on December 2, 2018, at 39 years, 4 months, and 19 days)
- as a player and as a technician: Ulysses Ramos (as a player in 1940 and as a technician in 1969)
- with more contested parties:
- Shots
- Maximum historical scorer: Carlos Campos with 199 goals (184 for national championships, 10 for Copa Chile, 4 for Copa Libertadores and 1 for tournament preparation).
- in Copa Libertadores: Marcelo Salas with 10 goals in 19 matches.
- First Division: Carlos Campos with 184 goals in total
- Second Division: Marco Fajre with 12 goals in total
- in Copa Chile: Mariano Puyol with 34 goals in total
- youngest in national/international competition: Benjamin Inostroza by Copa Chile 2012 Santiago Morning (with 15 years, 5 months and 2 days)
- Maximum historical scorer:
- Less goalie:
- in national tournaments:
Sergio Vargas with 626 minutes without receiving goals in 1995. - in international tournaments: Johnny Herrera with 544 minutes without receiving goals in Copa Sudamericana 2011
- in national tournaments:
- Transfers
- More expensive sale: Eduardo Vargas: $18.5 million
S.S.C. Napoli in 2011. - More expensive tab:
- Domestic: Jean Beausejour: $2.5 million Collo-Colo in 2016.
- Forensic:
Eduardo Morante: $2.0 million 
Emelec in 2012
- Domestic:
- More expensive sale:
Records for technical directors
- First “U” coach in professionalism: Luis Tirado (1938-1941)
- First foreign coach in the "U": Alejandro Scopelli (1941)
- First champion coach with the "U":
- First Division: Luis Tirado (1940)
- in Copa Chile: Fernando Riera (1979)
- in international championship: Jorge Sampaoli (South American Cup 2011)
- First Division:
- Coach with more titles: 4 Jorge Sampaoli (Aperture 2011, Closure 2011, South American Cup 2011, Opening 2012) and Luis Álamos (1959, 1962, 1964 and 1965)
| International participation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tournament | Editions | |
| Copa Libertadores de América (25) | 1960, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021. | |
| South American Cup (7) | 2005, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017. | |
| Recopa Sudamericana (1) | 2012. | |
| Mercosur Cup (4) | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001. | |
| Conmebol Cup (2) | 1994, 1997. | |
| Copa Suruga Bank (1) | 2012 | |
- In bold active competitions.
| International competition statistics | Temp. | PJ | PG | PE | P | GF | GC | Dif. | Points | Best position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copa Libertadores de América | 25 | 163 | 57 | 37 | 69 | 201 | 239 | -38 | 208 | Semifinalist (4) | |
| South American Cup | 7 | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 61 | Champion (1) | |
| Recopa Sudamericana | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 1 | Finalist (1) | |
| Copa Conmebol | 2 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 13 | Semifinalist (1) | |
| Mercosur Cup | 4 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 18 | 55 | -37 | 12 | Group phase | |
| Copa Suruga Bank | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Finalist (1) | |
| Total | 40 | 232 | 82 | 50 | 100 | 284 | 341 | -57 | 296 | 1 title | |
| Updated per year 2021. | |||||||||||
Note: In bold active competitions.
Historical evolution graph
Organizational Chart
Squad 2023
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Isidora Selman
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Mission- Chilean teams are limited by the ANFP to have in their table a maximum of five foreign football players, do not consider this computation the foreign football players who are enrolled in young football.
- By ANFP arrangement the number of t-shirts cannot exceed the number of registered players.
Admissions 2023
| Player | Position | Proceedings | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cristopher Toselli
| Porter | Central Cordoba
| Free |
| Juan Pablo Gómez
| Defence | Curicó Unida
| Free |
| Matías Zaldivia
| Defence | Colo-Colo
| Free |
| Federico Mateos
| Mediocampista | Ñublense
| Transfer |
| Nicolas Guerra
| Delantero | Ñublense
| Transfer |
| Leandro Fernández
| Delantero | Independent
| Free |
Leaves 2023
| Player | Position | Destination | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Parra
| Porter | Huachipato
| Return |
 Alvaro Brun
| Mediocampista | Montevideo City
| Return |
| Felipe Seymour
| Mediocampista |  | Free |
| Marcelo Cañete
| Mediocampista | Wanderers
| Termination |
| Junior Fernandes
| Delantero |  Manisa
| Free |
| Ronnie Fernández
| Delantero |  Bolívar
| Termination |
Lossions 2023
| Player | Position | Destination | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubal Bastian
| Defence | Santiago Morning
| 31/12/2023 |
| Yahir Salazar
| Defence | Huachipato
| 31/12/2023 |
| Bastián Tapia
| Defence | Audax Italiano
| 31/12/2023 |
| Pablo Aránguiz
| Mediocampista | Ñublense
| 31/12/2023 |
| Jeisson Vargas
| Mediocampista |  Al-Rayyan
| 30/06/2023 |
| Nahuel Luján
| Delantero | Union San Felipe
| 31/12/2023 |
| Simon Contreras
| Delantero | Magellan
| 31/12/2023 |
Players
Throughout its history, Universidad de Chile has had a large number of players of diverse nationalities, the majority being Chilean.
Luis Musrri is to date the player who has worn the club's shirt the most times, with a total of 539 official appearances between 1987 and 2004. Other players who have surpassed the 400-game barrier are Vladimir Bigorra, Johnny Herrera, Hector Hoffens, Manuel Pellegrini, Jorge Socías, Leonel Sánchez, José Rojas, and Sergio Vargas.
Carlos Campos is the all-time goalscorer for Universidad de Chile with 199 goals scored in official matches between 1956 and 1969, 184 of which were scored in national First Division tournaments and decisive matches. Three other players have scored more than 100 goals with the blue shirt in the indicated instances, such as Leonel Sánchez, Pedro González and Rubén Marcos. In addition to being the club's historic striker, Carlos Campos holds the record for being the top scorer for the "U" in a First Division national championship, with thirty-four goals in 1962. While, adding all the official matches played in a season, the mark rests with Marcelo Salas, who in 1994 scored 41 goals. Another outstanding statistic is that the team's top scorer occupying the defense position is the Argentine Matías Rodríguez, with 57 annotations in the periods 2010-2012 and 2015-2019.
Johnny Herrera holds the record for being the player who has won the most official titles for the club with a total of thirteen: eight national tournaments, three Copa Chile, one Chilean Super Cup and one Copa Sudamericana. He is seconded by José Rojas, with ten: six national tournaments, two Copa Chile, one Chilean Super Cup and one Copa Sudamericana. Then they are followed by Leonel Sánchez, Carlos Campos and Carlos Contreras with nine: six national tournaments, two metropolitan tournaments and one Francisco Candelori Cup. Behind them Pedro Araya, Rubén Marcos, Luis Musrri, Osvaldo González, Matías Rodríguez and Gustavo Lorenzetti with eight titles won with the "U".
Since Eduardo Simián was summoned in 1941, Universidad de Chile has become the club in Chile with the second highest number of contributions to the national team for over 90 players, totaling around a thousand presentations with the Red. The one who received the most calls, being a University of Chile player, was Leonel Sánchez, with eighty-five games between 1953 and 1969, also being the one who played the most games for the national team and the fourth all-time goalscorer for the national team with twenty-seven goals..
| Maximum historical scorers | Players with more contested official matches | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Carlos Campos | 200 goals | 1. | Luis Musrri | 539 matches |
| 2. | Leonel Sánchez | 167 goals | 2. | Johnny Herrera | 497 matches |
| 3. | Pedro González | 121 goals | 3. | José Rojas | 469 matches |
| 4. | Marcelo Salas | 113 goals | 4. | Vladimir Bigorra | 463 matches |
| 5. | Ruben Marcos | 110 goals | 5. | Hector Hoffens | 451 matches |
| 6. | Jorge Socías | 102 goals | 6. | Manuel Pellegrini | 430 matches |
| 7. | Diego Rivarola | 101 goals | 7. | Sergio Vargas | 428 matches |
| 8. | Pedro Araya | 90 goals | 8. | Leonel Sánchez | 412 matches |
| 9. | Braulio Musso | 83 goals | 9. | Braulio Musso | 390 matches |
| 10. | Ernesto Álvarez | 83 goals | 10. | Alberto Quintano | 381 matches |
| See complete list | See complete list | ||||
| Shots | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tournament | Goleador | |
| First Division of Chile (11) |
| |
| Copa Chile (2) |
| |
| South American Cup (1) |
| |
Coaches
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Universidad de Chile has had more than 30 coaches throughout its professional stage, being Luis Tirado the first of these, who at that time was also in charge of Magallanes, and under whose technical direction the club won its first championship First Division professional in 1940.
The technical director who stayed for the longest years in the «U» is Luis Álamos, known as the «Zorro», who led the team between 1956 and 1966. Coincidentally, Álamos is the coach who has managed the most games in the club, adding between his two periods in charge of the team (1954 and the aforementioned period 1956-1966) the figure of 371 official matches, also being the one that won the most national titles for Universidad de Chile, with four of them. He is followed in games played and consecutive years as coach by Ulises Ramos, who led the team on five different occasions, his most outstanding period being that between 1969 and 1974 in which he won a national championship, in addition to reaching the semifinals of the Libertadores Cup 1970.
Meanwhile, the most successful coach in the history of Universidad de Chile is Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, who in his two years at the helm of the club (2011-2012) won three consecutive national tournaments and the 2011 Copa Sudamericana. adds a Copa Libertadores semifinal and a series of achievements in terms of statistics, such as being the team with the best performance in a CONMEBOL competition (after winning the Copa Sudamericana undefeated), and being chosen by the IFFHS from June to October 2012 the second best team in the world (only surpassed by Barcelona from Spain).
In addition, the technical directors Jorge Socías and César Vaccia stand out, who won two-time championships in 1994-1995 and 1999-2000, respectively.
One thing to consider is that several of the coaches who have directed the blue team have subsequently commanded national soccer teams. Among them: Luis Tirado, Alejandro Scopelli, Luis Álamos, Luis Ibarra, Martín Lasarte and Jorge Sampaoli in Chile (the latter also with the Argentine team) Gerardo Pelusso and Sergio Markarián in Paraguay (the latter also with Peru). Those who were national selectors before being coaches of the U are Ángel Guillermo Hoyos with Bolivia, Luis Santibáñez, Arturo Salah, Pedro Morales and Fernando Riera with Chile, and recently Rafael Dudamel with Venezuela.
Timeline
The acting trainers appear in italics, the league champions with the shield 
, national cup champions with scarapela .svg){kind=small}
, international cup champion with star 
, in champagne the semifinals of liberators and in gray the period in second division.
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| Coaches who were "U" players | ||
|---|---|---|
A
B
C
I
J
M
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
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Other sections and subsidiaries
University of Chile "By#34;
In 1999, the National Amateur Football Association of Chile (ANFA) established the option for professional clubs to place a U-23 youth team in the Third Division with the aim of giving players more activity and providing the category of greater competitiveness, with the only limitation that these teams could not access the title (and therefore, ascend to Primera B). The secular club accepted the conditions of the ANFA, when entering the U-23 team to the Third Division in 2004, participating until 2006.
University of Chile (female)
The club also has a women's division, divided into two categories: adult and youth. Both are directed by Carlos Véliz.
Futsal
The club has a branch in futsal, being one of the founding clubs of the national futsal championship in 2010 and the most successful in the category with 3 championships (Apertura 2017, Clausura 2018, Clausura 2019) and 3 runners-up (2010, 2016 and Opening 2019)
Azules Esports (electronic sports)
The club has an esports branch, where it has FIFA and League of Legends teams. In the latter, it ascended to the Latin American League (highest category in the region) for the first time in its short history by beating Kaos Latin Gamers (historic multi-champion in the region) with a result of 3- 2 to the best of 5 games.
In 2020 he played his first season where in the Apertura he ended up committed to relegation, but in the second stage he achieved a historic first qualification to the second phase and managed to go to the play-offs eliminating Gillette Infinity Esports, leaving him in fifth place in the general table with 265 points out of a possible 990 and thus, saving himself from Promotion / Relegation and maintaining his position for 2021.
| Blue Esports 2020 (League of Legends) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nickname | Lane | Staff | Name | Nickname |
| Bastián Nicolás Almonacid Oyarzo | IceBox | Senior | Co-owner: | Michel López Martineau | Freakee |
| Víctor Manuel Yever Loyola | Koughi | Jungla | Coach | Lautaro Ulla | MisterG |
| Santiago de León | Xypherz | Assistant Coach: |  Nicolas Heumann | Serafin | |
| Lucas Leiva | N | Assistant Coach: | Alonso Vidal | Athoz | |
| Cristian Sebastián Quispe Yampara | Cody | Central | Positional Coach: | Lucas Leiva | N |
| Nicolás Andrés Díaz Villagran | KRESHTDOO | Inferior | Analyst: | Renzo Quatrocchi | Hayha |
| Felipe Ignacio Marín Rojas | Feitan | Support | Esports Manager: | Felipe Pastenes | Helior |
 Hector Alejandro Godínez Rovelo | Tyr | Director of communications: | Rodolfo | Chaufan | |
Note: in italics the players and technical staff who participated in the Clausura 2020.
Honours of Prizes
Note: in bold current competitions.
| National competition
| Titles | Subcamponatos |
|---|---|---|
| Organized by F.F.Ch. | ||
| First Division of Chile (18/8) | 1940, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, Opening 2004, Opening 2009, Opening 2011, Closure 2011, Opening 2012, Opening 2014, Closure 2017. | 1957, 1961, 1963, 1971, 1980, 1998, Clausura 2005, Opening 2006. |
| Chile Cup (5/2) | 1979,(1) 1998,(2) 2000 (invicted),(2) 2012-13, 2015. | 2017, 2019. |
| Supercopa de Chile (1/2) | 2015. | 2013, 2016. |
| Pre-Liberators Liguilla (3/8) | 1976 (invicted), 1980, 2013 (invicted) | 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2001 |
| Metropolitan Tournament of Chile (2) | 1968, 1969 (invicted). | |
| Francisco Candelori Cup (1) | 1969. | |
| Second Division of Chile (1) | 1989. | |
| Serie B Professional from Chile (2) | 1936, 1937 (invicted). | |
| Chilean Opening Championship (0/1) | 1940. | |
| Chilean National Amateur Championship (0/1) | 1935. | |
| Amateur competition
| Titles | Subcamponatos |
|---|---|---|
| Organized by the Football Association of Santiago | ||
| Amateur Section Honor Division (1) | 1934. | |
| Intermediate Division (0/2) | 1931, 1933. | |
| International competition | Titles | Subcamponatos |
|---|---|---|
| Organized by CONMEBOL | ||
| South American Cup (1/0) | 2011 (invicted). | |
| Copa Suruga Bank (0/1) | 2012. | |
| South American Recouple (0/1) | 2012. | |
| Unofficial international tournaments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competition | Titles | Subcamponatos |
| Chile International Tournament (2/0) | 1963, 1964 | - |
Rival
College
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The College is one of the most important and traditional games of Chilean football, in which they face Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica, representative squads of the country's leading and oldest studio houses. Some purists consider that it is a duel of more than 100 years of history, since before the official foundation of both clubs, on November 1, 1909 the first classic was disputed at the university level between the student selections of the University of Chile and the Catholic University. However, the first official confrontation occurred on June 13, 1937, due to the B Series tournament, in which the "U" was imposed by 2-1. Since that time, he highlighted both football and bar competition, which organized high-level artistic performances, especially in the 1960s, and which with the running of the years ceased to take place. Despite the existing rivalry, in 1939 a team was formed that included players from both squads in order to face national and international friendly tournaments: the University Combine.
Updated on 1 August 2021.
| Rival | PJ | PG | PE | P | GF | GC | Dif |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic University | 240 | 93 | 73 | 74 | 352 | 320 | +32 |
Classic Chilean Football
The rival for popularity issues at the University of Chile is Colo-Colo, with which the Classic Chilean Football or Superclass. The first clash between the two clubs was in a friendly match, played on June 9, 1935. Later, despite a bad debut of the blue before Colo-Colo in his first meetings in First Division, the rivalry was sharpened in 1959 when the "U" took the title of the national tournament to the Alps, achieving a predominance over them in the 1960s, which then "diluted" in the 1970s and 1980s. And since the 1990s the duel began to generate great tension due to the national prominence and popularity of both clubs, in addition to the parity in the clashes between the two.
In total, by official matches, they have faced 222 occasions, with 98 triumphs of Colo-Colo, 63 draws and 61 victories of Universidad de Chile, including those matches of the former Championships of Opening and Champions Championship. Updated on 1 August 2021.
| Rival | PJ | PG | PE | P | GF | GC | Dif |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colo-Colo | 240 | 110 | 68 | 62 | 288 | 392 | -104 |
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