University Sports Club

The Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or «U», is a sports institution located in the city of Lima, Peru, whose main activity is professional soccer. It was founded on August 7, 1924, under the name of "University Football Federation", by a group of young students from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. It currently participates in the First Division of Peru, where it has played since the first official tournament organized in 1928 by the Peruvian Football Federation, thus becoming the oldest team that has remained uninterrupted in the highest category of Peruvian football. In addition, it is one of the twenty-four South American clubs that have never been relegated.

Due to its various sporting achievements, the club is considered one of the three greats of Peruvian soccer. To date, it is the team that has won the most national championships, with a total of twenty-six league titles and one national cup His best performances at the international level occurred between the late 1960s and the 1970s, where he was runner-up in the 1972 Copa Libertadores, this being the best participation of the first team in an international tournament. Formerly he played his matches in the Lolo Fernández Stadium, located in the Breña district and named in honor of soccer player Teodoro Fernández, a tribute he received during his lifetime as an active soccer player.

Since the year 2000, it has exercised its local status in the Monumental Stadium, of which it is the owner. This venue has a capacity for 80,093 spectators, making it the second largest soccer stadium in South America and one of the largest largest in the world. One of the main characteristics of the club is its multi-sports nature. In addition to its main soccer section, it has teams in other sports disciplines such as: basketball, women's soccer, futsal, volleyball, among others. It also has a subsidiary of the first soccer team, called Club Deportivo U América, which participates in the Copa Perú.

With 47 international participations in official tournaments organized by the South American Football Confederation, it is the Peruvian team that has played the most continental cups. It is the best Peruvian team in the historical table of the Copa Libertadores de América and is considered by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics as the best Peruvian team of the century XX. In 2010, the Confederation Sudamericana de Fútbol considered the "U" as one of the teams with the longest tradition in Conmebol, while FIFA named it one of the "classic clubs in the world". Its classic rivals are Alianza Lima, with which It disputes the Peruvian superclassic and Sporting Cristal, the club against which it disputes the so-called modern classic. It also maintains traditional rivalries with Deportivo Municipal and Sport Boys.

History

Foundation (1924)

"At the beginning of the 20s there was a marked interest in the authorities of the National University of San Marcos to encourage sport among students. Young people also showed great predisposition to practice it, but there was a discipline that predominated in the taste of boys in front of all others: football. The teachers of that time did not see with good eyes that the young students dedicate several hours of their time to do sport, because they considered that this would go to the detriment of their academic performance. However, the story was written and the young people from the various faculties were organized to give their body to the one they called the University Federation—today Sports Club”.

Luciano Rico Molina, (2001).

Facade of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, where some of the founders and first footballers of the club studied.

José Rubio Galindo (student at the Faculty of Letters) and Luis Málaga Arenas (student at the Faculty of Medicine) were the dreamers who dedicated their free hours to exchanging ideas with the purpose of forming a great institution. Later they joined, Plácido Galindo, Eduardo Astengo, Rafael Quirós, Mario de las Casas, Alberto Denegri, Luis de Souza Ferreira (who scored the first Peruvian goal in a Soccer World Cup), Andrés Rotta, Carlos Galindo, Francisco Sabroso, Jorge Góngora, Pablo Pacheco, Carlos Cillóniz, among others.

It was so that on August 7, 1924, at 7:00 p.m. (UTC-5), university students met at the headquarters of the Federation of Students of Peru, at Calle Juan de la Coba 106, in the city of Lima, giving rise to the University Football Federation; as an association of the representative teams of the Faculties of the University of San Marcos and the Special Schools of Engineering, Agronomy and Central Normal. The National Sports Committee, the highest body of Peruvian sports at that time, recognized the University Federation as if it were a league Hence, together with the Peruvian Football League, the Amateur Association, the Chalaca League, Circolo Sportivo Italiano and Lima Cricket and Football Club, they formed the Football Federation.

Amateur era (1928-1950)

Teodoro Fernandez Meyzán, an idol of the team who got six titles with the club and was a winner of the tournament on seven occasions.

After participating in different inter-university tournaments and friendly matches between 1924 and 1927, the Peruvian Football Federation invited the University Federation to participate in the Selection and Competition Championship (First Division Tournament) of 1928, officially debuting on 27 May against the José Olaya de Chorrillos Club, which they beat 7:1. At the end of the championship, they ranked second behind Alianza Lima, with whom they played for the title in three matches: (1:0 victory, 1:1 draw and 2:0 defeat). In 1929, the championship only had the participation of twelve teams due to the suspension of Alianza Lima for refusing to cede their players to the national team.

In this tournament, Universitario obtained its first national title, at the end of the championship with seven wins, three draws and one loss, completing seventeen points, one more than Circolo Sportivo Italiano, which they defeated 7:0. held the first Soccer World Cup in Uruguay, the Peruvian team attended the event with a squad that featured eight players from the merengue team (Eduardo Astengo, Carlos Cillóniz, Luis de Souza Ferreira, Alberto Denegri, Arturo Fernández, Plácido Galindo, Jorge Góngora and Pablo Pacheco).

After the World Cup, the club's first official tour took place. The team traveled to Arequipa by steamboat to face the Association White Star, which they defeated 1:0; and then he toured Huacho participating in the Gubbins Cup. The following year, discrepancies arose with the authorities of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, since the rector José Antonio Encinas prohibited the use of the name —Federación Universitaria de Fútbol— and This gave rise to the change, by "Club Universitario de Deportes", becoming totally independent from the university. On November 29, 1931, Teodoro Fernández Meyzán, better known as "Lolo" Fernández (who became the club's greatest idol), in an international match against Club Deportivo Magallanes de Chile.

The 1934 tournament generated controversy because, according to the rules of the championship, the points obtained by the first teams and a fraction of what their reserves obtained had to be added in a single table, for which supposedly the title should have be awarded to Alianza Lima; however, the club's leaders complained to the Peruvian Football Federation, arguing that the score of the reserves would have to be added after deciding who would win the First Division title. An extra match was played between both teams with victory for the university students by score 2:1, thus obtaining his second national title, officially recognized by the Peruvian Football Federation and the Professional Football Sports Association.

Alberto Terry, a member of the staff who won the 1949 championship.

In 1937, he played a pre-season friendly against São Cristóvão from Brazil (the first Brazilian team to play in Lima), which the creams beat 2:0 with goals from Víctor Bielich and Teodoro Fernández. In 1939, the "U" achieved the third title in its sports history by adding nine wins, three draws and only two losses, scoring thirty-two goals, while the rivals could only beat their goalkeeper fourteen times.

The 1941 championship included the participation of eight clubs and was played in two rounds with round-trip matches. However, on the twelfth date the tournament was suspended due to the participation of the national team in the South American Championship of that year. Once resumed, Universitario de Deportes won the title after beating Club Atlético Chalaco and Alianza in the last two matches. Lima by 1:0 and 3:1 respectively. In 1946, for the first time the championship was played using the three-round format, achieving its first two-time championship thanks to the offensive trio formed by Víctor Espinoza, Lolo and Eduardo Fernández.

In 1947, the «U», in its lowest performance in the amateur era, tied the score for the last place in the standings with Sporting Tabaco (today Sporting Cristal) therefore, they had to play a tiebreaker match to define who was relegated to the second division. However, said match was never played because the Non-Amateur Association, before the start of the tournament, had presented a project that contemplated the non-relegation of that season, which was approved by the Peruvian Federation Soccer in two votes. Finally, in December of that same year, the National Sports Committee also approved the project and decided to annul the relegation. The club celebrated its silver wedding anniversary and won the 1949 championship, after beating Atlético Chalaco by score in its last match. of 4:3. In 1950 the last championship in the amateur era was held, where Universitario de Deportes finished in fifth place with nine wins, two draws and seven losses.

Professional era (1951-present)

Members of the club staff in the 1950s.

Soccer professionalism arrived in Peru in 1951, when the Peruvian Soccer Federation adapted the championship according to world guidelines, but only with the participation of clubs from the city of Lima and the province of Callao. The club debuted in the professional era with a 4:1 victory against Mariscal Sucre.) that previously belonged to the Old National Stadium of Peru.

In the inauguration, the «U» defeated the University of Chile 4:2, with three goals from Teodoro Fernández. In 1954, Plácido Galindo assumed the presidency of the club, in what was the first of his three periods in command of the institution. Until the end of the decade, he only carried out irregular campaigns in the national tournaments, which were dominated by Alianza Lima and Sport Boys. This drought of titles ended with the obtaining of the 1959 championship, after drawing three goals with Deportivo Municipal in the final match, with a total of fifteen wins, three draws and four losses.

In the 1960s, the club won five more championships. The first of them in 1960, after a goalless draw with Sport Boys del Callao, won the championship after eleven wins, three draws and four losses in eighteen games, thus achieving their second two-time championship. On April 19, 1961, he made his debut in the Copa Libertadores de América in a match played in the city of Montevideo against Club Atlético Peñarol, which ended with a score of 5:0 in favor of the locals.

Roberto Scarone club coach between 1969 and 1973.

Despite the result, the creams became the first Peruvian club to participate in said tournament. After occupying third place in the 1962 and 1963 championships, they won again with the title in 1964, with a nine-point advantage over second place. In 1965, the F. P. F. allowed teams from all over the country to participate in the championship and the following year the so-called "Descentralized Soccer Tournament" was born. Later, under the leadership of Marcos Calderón, the club obtained its eleventh championship after nineteen victories, three draws and four defeats, thus acquiring the right to be called the "First Peruvian Soccer Champion", (because previously only tournaments were played at provincial or departmental level).

In 1967, he achieved his third two-time championship with three dates in advance, obtaining twenty victories, one tie and five defeats; the last match was played against Sport Boys and ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of the creams. On February 27, 1968, they defeated Always Ready from Bolivia in the Copa Libertadores by 6:0, being the biggest win achieved by the club in an international competition. In the 1969 tournament, the merengue team obtained the national championship after drawing 1:1 with Atlético Grau de Piura in the final league.

Finalist of the Copa Libertadores (1972)

Ballesteros Soria ♪ Chumpitaz Moon Reds Techera Castañeda Crusade Muñante Ramírez

The headline that played the meeting back.

In the 1972 Copa Libertadores, the club managed to advance to the final of the tournament with a substitute team, since its main soccer players were with the Peruvian soccer team in the so-called "Tour of the Three Continents". Universitario it was part of group 4 together with Alianza Lima, Universidad de Chile and Unión San Felipe. The first match was the Peruvian soccer classic, achieving a 2:1 victory.

The next two matches were played in Santiago against the University of Chile, being defeated 1:0, and against Unión San Felipe with whom they drew 0:0. The student squad returned to Peru to face Alianza Lima, obtaining a 2:2 draw. In the last two matches, they received Unión San Felipe and Universidad de Chile in Lima, where they won two victories by 3:1 and 2:1 respectively, obtaining eight points, which allowed them to advance to the next round as first in the group..

In the semifinals they were grouped with Peñarol and Nacional from Uruguay. In the first match they lost to Peñarol 3:2 in Lima, but later recovered by beating Nacional 3:0. Universitario traveled to Uruguay, where he obtained two draws: 3:3 against Nacional and 1:1 against Peñarol. The "U" had accumulated four points and there was only one match left to play between Peñarol and Nacional, who had four and two points respectively. All three teams had a chance to go to the final. Peñarol only needed a draw, while Nacional needed a victory by five goals difference.

The match ended 3:0 in favor of Nacional allowing the Peruvian team to advance to the final as they had a better goal difference. The final was played against Club Atlético Independiente of Argentina. The first leg was held in Lima where they tied 0:0, while the second leg ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of the Argentines. Although Universitario did not win the title, they managed to be the first Peruvian club and the first from a country not belonging to the Southern Cone to play in the final of the Copa Libertadores. In that tournament, Oswaldo Ramírez and Percy Rojas were the scorers with six goals each.

"It took a lot of effort for the first. A strong team, 0 to 0 we went out there and here we won 2 to 1 with two goals of Maglioni. University perhaps was the best team in Peru's history. He had a right pointer, Muñante, who was a plane; they played Percy Rojas, "Cachito" Ramírez. A barbarian team, but we also had a very good team."

Francisco Sá (2008) ex-futbolist of Independent.

Two years later, in 1974, the institution celebrated its golden anniversary, created the Lolo Fernández Youth Soccer School and closed the year by proclaiming itself champion of the national tournament under the leadership of Argentine Juan Eduardo Hohberg, after twenty-eight victories, fifteen draws and four defeats obtaining seventy-one points, with one hundred and three goals for and forty-three against. That year the creams established a record: thirty-six games were held as undefeated.

A new two-time championship (1980-1993)

In 1982, after eight years, the club won the national title after winning its three games in the final group, getting six points. The decisive victory was against Deportivo Municipal, which they beat 1:0 with a score from Hugo spend. In 1985, the title went back to the student team, after obtaining the Regional Tournament and the final league of the Decentralized Championship of that year, winning the five matches they played, the last of which was against Los Espartanos de Pacasmayo 4:0. with annotations by Miguel Seminario, Fidel Suárez, Eduardo Rey Muñoz and Jaime Drago.

La Trinchera Norte, barra brava del club founded on 9 November 1988.

Universitario de Deportes returned to the pinnacle of Peruvian soccer in 1987. As the first step towards this new laurel, it obtained the title of the Regional Tournament, with which it was waiting for the winner of the league to dispute the national title. Then came the Decentralized, which went to Alianza Lima. The defining classic was in favor of the merengues 1:0, with a score by Fidel Suárez. In 1990, with the arrival of Fernando Cuéllar on the cream bench, Universitario de Deportes won the 1990-I Regional Tournament, automatically qualifying for the national final, where they faced Sport Boys del Callao, winner of the decentralized tournament.

The final was played on February 3, 1991, with victory for the merengue squad, which prevailed 4:2, with scores from Roberto Martínez (2), Héctor Cedrés and Oswaldo Araujo, while for Sport Boys Pedro Requena (own goal) and Carlos Henrique Paris discounted. aside the regional contests.

The club took the title with a date remaining until the end of the championship, after beating San Agustín 4:1, with goals from Ronald Baroni (2), César Charún and José Luis Carranza. Under the technical direction of Sergio Markarián, the "U" revalidated its title in 1993, achieving a new two-time championship for the institution. They did so after beating San Agustín 3:0, with Juan Carlos Zubczuk on goal and scores by Jorge Amado Nunes (2) and Roberto Martínez, thus obtaining the club's fourth two-time championship, after nineteen wins, seven draws and four defeats.

The three-time championship (1998-2000)

Facade of the Monumental Stadium opened in 2000.

In 1998, the Argentine coach Osvaldo Piazza arrived at the institution, with whom he won the Apertura Tournament title that gave him the right to play the qualifiers for the national final, defeating Sporting Cristal, champion of the Clausura Tournament, in the second final game with two goals from Roberto Farfán. Since the first match ended 2:1 in favor of Cristal, the winner was decided with a penalty shootout, in which they defeated the heavenly by 4:2. The goals were scored by Gustavo Grondona, Gustavo Falaschi, Luis Guadalupe and Eduardo Esidio.

In 1999, Universitario de Deportes once again won the two-time championship. Two matches were played between the "U", which had won the Apertura Tournament, and Alianza Lima, champion of the Closing Tournament. The first final was played at the National Stadium and the creams won by 3:0, with goals from Roberto Farfán, Eduardo Esidio and José Guillermo del Solar. In the second leg, played at the Alejandro Villanueva Stadium, the blue and whites achieved victory with a goal scored by Víctor Mafla, but it was not enough for them to obtain the title.

Thus the merengues gave the Olympic return in the stadium of their staunchest rival, in the first time they played in their stadium for a national title. On January 30, 2000, he played the El Gráfico-Perú Cup against the University of Chile, the match ended with the score of 1:0 in favor of the Peruvians. The author of the goal was José Guillermo del Solar. On July 2, 2000, the Monumental Stadium was inaugurated with the 2:0 victory of Universitario against Sporting Cristal, in a match valid for the Peruvian professional championship.

That same year, led by Roberto Chale, the creams were crowned Peruvian soccer champions for the third consecutive time, obtaining the Apertura and Clausura titles, totaling one hundred points between both tournaments, (22 points more than the second, Sporting Cristal). The "U" won the championship on December 8 in a match against Juan Aurich de Chiclayo, whom they beat 5:0, being the first championship they won at home at the Monumental Stadium. The goals were scored by Piero Alva (2), Eduardo Esidio (2) and Gustavo Grondona. In addition, the Brazilian Esidio established himself as the top scorer of the season with 37 goals.

The financial crisis and irregular tournaments (2001-2007)

Raúl Fernández keeps meta formed in the smaller divisions of the club that was signed by the Olympique de Nice in 2011.

During the years following the three-time championship, the club frequently went through various extra-sports problems, mainly administrative and financial, which interfered with soccer campaigns. Despite this, he was close to the national title on several occasions and participated in international tournaments most years. In 2001, some of the footballers who had excelled in the three-time championship left the club due to the high cost of their salaries. In their place, low-level foreign footballers arrived who did not perform, so the team did not do well in the tournament.

The following year, the situation of the "U" was complicated both in football and economically, to the point where the professional footballers decided to go on strike and the leadership decided to resort to the youth. As a result, Universitario de Deportes managed to become champion of the Apertura Tournament. In June, it was chosen as the club of the month in the world by the International Federation of Soccer History and Statistics. They hired Uruguayan coach Ricardo Ortiz and promoted several juniors. In the local tournament he had a regular campaign, however he did not occupy any of the top positions.

For the Clausura Tournament, the club had up to four different coaches, the last of them being Juan José Oré, and the championship ended abruptly after a general strike by soccer players. In 2005, José Basualdo arrived at the club and some important footballers such as John Galliquio, José Pereda, Alex Magallanes, Mauricio Mendoza and Luis Tonelotto joined the squad. Despite having remained the leader for most of the Apertura Tournament, the "U" finished in second place, surprisingly being ultimately surpassed by Cienciano. In the following season, with few changes in the team and the inclusion of Colombian Mayer Candelo, under the technical direction of Jorge Amado Nunes, Universitario finished in sixth place in the Apertura Tournament, and tied for first place in the Clausura Tournament with Cienciano., with whom he disputed the definition of the title.

A few days after the 2007 Opening Tournament began, Jorge Amado Nunes was dismissed by the club's previous leadership due to the opposition generated by his presence among the main leaders of the squad. However, after the elections, the new The board led by Gino Pinasco decided to reinstate Nunes, a decision that also meant the termination of the contracts of soccer players such as Piero Alva, Luis Guadalupe, Gregorio Bernales among others. On July 18, three days after the start of the 2007 Clausura Tournament, Nunes was dismissed again due to problems with some club leaders, and his technical assistant Julio Gómez took over the technical direction, but the poor results and the elimination of the 2007 Copa Sudamericana in the first round led the club to replace him with the Argentine Ricardo Gareca.

The reunion with the titles and the bankruptcy process (2008-2017)

Nolberto Solano contesting a meeting with the Peruvian selection.

The "U" began the 2008 Apertura Tournament with a 1:1 draw against the Universidad de San Martín de Porres at the Monumental Stadium, then the team moved to the north of the country where they played two matches, the first of them against José Gálvez with a victory for the "U" by 1: 0, and the second against Juan Aurich with a 1: 1 draw. The dates were passing and the "U" was consolidating in the first places of the tournament, On July 2, with four games to go until the end of the league, Universitario was crowned champion after beating Cienciano 3:1. The second half of the year was very irregular due to injuries and poor performance. of some key players on the team. The "U" only achieved eight victories in twenty-six games, finishing in tenth position in the Clausura Tournament.

After Ricardo Gareca resigned from the club's technical management, the leaders opted to hire Juan Reynoso. Likewise, Nolberto Solano arrived at the club, considered by the national and international media as the soccer star signing Peruvian. After carrying out a great campaign in which they finished in first place in the even league, they played the national final against Alianza Lima, defeating them in the first leg by 1:0 with a goal from Piero Alva in Matute, and by the same result at the Estadio Monumental with a goal from Solano from a penalty kick, which allowed him to make the Olympic turn against his classic rival and obtain his twenty-fifth championship, ensuring his participation in the 2010 Copa Libertadores.

In the continental tournament, Universitario closed its participation in the group round with a total of ten points, being together with the Brazilian teams Internacional and São Paulo the best defenses of the tournament, conceding only two goals. São Paulo was the rival of the merengue team in the round of 16, both matches ended 0:0, so the winner was defined by kicks from the penalty mark, resulting in the victory of the São Paulo club by 3:1. Meanwhile, in the domestic league, again a series of management problems did not allow the team to complete a good campaign. In the 2011 Decentralized Championship the team did not have a good start and it was not until the third date that they obtained their first victory However, little by little he began to raise his game and came to close his participation in the first round at the top of the table.

During the second phase of the tournament, the student squad was saved from relegation on the penultimate date after drawing 2:2 with Universidad César Vallejo at the National Stadium of Peru. Internationally, the club showed a different face and for the first time Once in their history they advanced to the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana where they were eliminated by Vasco da Gama of Brazil by an aggregate score of 5:4. Due to the large debts of some Peruvian soccer clubs (among which encuentra Universitario), the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration, requested the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property to initiate a bankruptcy process to restructure the club.

José Carvallo, head of the club during the 2013 season.

With this measure, the board of directors was disintegrated and Rocío Chávez Pimentel, president of Right Business S.A., was appointed temporary administrator of the club. In 2012, and as a consequence of the austerity policy implemented by the Temporary Administration, Universitario had a staff short that did not allow him to satisfactorily face the tournament, for which he came to fear that his permanence in the category would be compromised. For the 2013 season, the Temporary Administration maintained its austerity policy and decided to face the tournament with a team made up mostly of young soccer players.

At the end of the first stage of the tournament, the «U» managed to locate itself in second place in the standings, which allowed it to lead group B, while Real Garcilaso was at the top of group A for having finished at the top of the table. After this second stage was played, both teams finished in the first positions of their respective leagues, for which they had to face each other to define the national champion. In the first leg played at the Estadio Municipal de Espinar, Garcilaso defeated Universitario 3:2, while in the second leg played at the Estadio Monumental the cream team prevailed 3:0. The third and defining game played at the Huancayo Stadium ended tied 1:1 after regular and extra time, so the definition had to be given by a penalty shootout, which culminated with a score of 5:4 in favor of the merengues, who thus obtained their twenty-sixth national title.

During the beginning of the 2014 campaign, the club had a downturn both in the local tournament and in the Copa Libertadores where they only managed one point, causing the departure of coach Ángel Comizzo and the return of José Guillermo del Solar. In the Apertura Tournament and with new hires like Edison Flores, the "U" had a brief recovery (even thrashed in his debut), however he lost key points at home and on the last date he was defeated 2: 0 against Juan Aurich, with whom the tournament was fighting inch by inch. For the Clausura Tournament they hired the former goalkeeper Óscar Ibáñez as coach and he made his debut with a 0: 1 victory against Sport Huancayo, after fifteen rounds the team achieved six wins, six losses and three draws, finishing seventh in the standings and sixth overall, qualifying as Peru 3 to the Copa Sudamericana. The year 2015 would be described for Universitario as an epic with a "happy ending", since that at the beginning of the year with Ibáñez and new players who generated great expectations in the fans such as Carlos Grossmüller and Liber Quiñones, however they did not stand out. Braynner García, Raúl Fernández and five youth players also arrived with them.

In the Inca Tournament that same year, the "U" only got three wins, for which Óscar Ibáñez was fired and Carlos Silvestri took over the team, until Colombian Luis Fernando Suárez was confirmed as the new cream strategist. The start of the Apertura was very complicated for the "U", especially in the first three dates where they did not win, only on the fourth day did they win against Ayacucho. Another bad streak returned that included the defeat in the classic and the termination of the contract of Grossmüller and Quiñones, this drought lasted seven dates; after defeating the Universidad de San Martín in Callao. On the following date, León de Huánuco thrashed the creams in Ate, a result that left the club as the colero of the tournament and one step away from relegation. Finally on date fifteen he left the lower zone after defeating Sport Loreto in Pucallpa with a goal by Roberto Siucho. On the first date of the Clausura, Universitario lost 2:3 with Unión Comercio, a result that led to the departure of Luis Fernando Suárez of the club. In his replacement came Roberto Chale along with Juan Pajuelo and began a streak of positive results along with Raúl Ruidíaz and his 12 goals in the tournament, even going so far as to fight him. Universitario qualified for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana after defeating Sporting Cristal 2:1 on the last day.

Juan Manuel Vargas during the 2017 Crema Night.

In 2016 the «U» started the Apertura Tournament with a 5:2 victory in Ayacucho with a hat-trick by Diego Guastavino, one of the contracts for that year along with Diego Manicero, Miguel Trauco, Hernán Rengifo and Adán Balbín, the creams took the championship beating Sporting Cristal on date 14 and qualifying for the 2017 Copa Sudamericana, in the Clausura Tournament they had a downturn due to the absence of players like Raúl Ruidíaz (he emigrated to the soccer from Mexico), Edison Flores and Juan Diego Gutiérrez (both transferred to Danish soccer), finishing in second place and being eliminated from the Copa Sudamericana by Emelec.

For the leagues, Juan Pablo Pino, Josué Estrada, Diego Rodríguez, John Galliquio were hired, and Alexi Gómez was repatriated from Chilean soccer. On date 14 the team qualified for the semifinals of the national tournament, where they faced Melgar. In the first leg played at the National Stadium, they began winning 1:0 with goals from Galliquio but ended up losing 1:2, in the second leg in Arequipa the "U" won 0:2 with scores from Diego Manicero and Andy Polo, but in the match complement, due to the fatigue of the players, they ended up drawing 2:2, for which they lost the key.

After losing, they had to play a match for third place against Deportivo Municipal, a match that was tied 2:2 with goals from Alexi Gómez and Hernán Rengifo, until the latter player scored the win in minute 92 (3:2), thus qualifying for the 2017 Copa Libertadores. The club's participation in this last tournament culminated in the second phase after wasting a two-goal advantage achieved away from home (3:1) against Deportivo Capiatá from Paraguay, falling in the return match at the Monumental Stadium by 3:0.

Sports and administrative crisis (2018-2021)

Edison Flores, a footballer who was part of the "U" in two periods (2011-2012) and (2014-2016).

In 2018, the creams began the year with a sanction that caused a major sporting crisis, this sanction did not allow them to hire players throughout the year due to numerous debts that the club had, for this reason, the administration filed a claim before the Court of Arbitration for Sport to annul said sanction. Due to these problems, the club had to resort to its youth academies and form a squad mostly made up of youth players, and in this way they began the year with their participation in the first phase of the Copa Libertadores, in a round-trip match against Oriente. Oil tanker, they lost visiting by a score of 2:0, but in the second leg they were forced to win, until minute 39 of the second half the feat was achieved with the score of 3:0 in favor but unfortunately for the merengues, Jorge Paredes discounted for the refineros, leaving the final score at 3:1, but Oriente Petrolero, having scored an away goal, qualified for the next phase.

Universitario began the Decentralized Championship with very few victories and several problems. Throughout the Summer Tournament they only had two victories, both against Comerciantes Unidos, and seven draws, remaining in last place in their group with 13 points. In the Apertura Tournament the decline continued, until date 6 of the championship, the merengues achieved 5 draws and 1 loss, in addition to the claim presented before the TAS for their sanction, did not obtain favorable results since this body ratified it, causing the departure of coach Pedro Troglio, who was replaced by the Chilean Nicolás Córdova. In the remaining 10 dates of said tournament, the team obtained 4 victories, 1 draw against its classic rival and 4 losses, remaining in eleventh place in the position table of said tournament with 18 points, but despite adding victories, Universitario did not moved away from the relegation zone in the accumulated table. But even with all these problems, in the stands the fans never abandoned his team and accompanied him despite the bad football moment, making the club the highest grossing up to that moment.

For the Clausura Tournament, Universitario received good news, the club was empowered to hire players, thus reinforcing itself and getting out of the uncomfortable situation they were going through. When the sanction was lifted official, the club opted to reinforce itself with three more players to face the Clausura Tournament, the names chosen were foreigners: Pablo Lavandeira and Germán Denis and the return of Alberto Rodríguez. The tournament began with good expectations from the fans, but the situation worsened as until date 6 with a game suspended, the creams obtained only one victory and one draw, remaining even more committed to the relegation zone, this caused the discomfort of their fans, who entered the training grounds and rebuked the lack of commitment to the players and the technical command, asking for the coach's departure. However, after the support of the fans, the "U" began to get out of the bad moment, thanks to a 1:0 victory against Sport Huancayo with a goal from Germán Denis.

After all these problems, the creams began to raise their heads in the following games. On date 7 against Unión Comercio they started losing, but with a goal from Werner Schuler and a penalty from Germán Denis, they turned the game around. After two consecutive victories, the situation was looking more favorable each time, moving them away from the relegation zone, but a small setback meant that the student team achieved only a goalless draw against Sport Boys. But they managed to recover in the next game against Sporting Cristal. In the next match, the creams began by winning against the classic rival, Alianza Lima, but the match ended 2:1 in favor of the intimates. However, the results of that date practically saved the creams from the drop. The following date the team lost to Deportivo Municipal. However, they vindicated themselves by beating Real Garcilaso in Cuzco in the next instance, something that caused the creams to fight for a spot in the 2019 Copa Sudamericana. The "U" won the last match by 2:0, but he failed to reach the quota for the South American, thus ending one of his most difficult years both sportingly and financially.

In the 2019 season, the «U» was reinforced with quality players like Alejandro Hohberg and others. The team started with good results in the Apertura Tournament, highlighting a 3:2 classic win on the road, a 4:0 home win against Sport Boys, and a draw against Sporting Cristal. After this the team went into a tailspin, losing five consecutive games, which caused the departure of Nicolás Córdova. The Argentine Ángel Comizzo took over as coach for the Clausura Tournament. The Team in the Clausura started with very good results, fighting for first place during the first dates of the tournament. The "U" defeated Alianza Lima 1:0 at home and consolidated itself as the absolute leader of the championship. However, after this match the club began to lose points through draws and a loss against Deportivo Municipal. At the end of the year, Ángel Comizzo left his position, in his place the experienced Uruguayan technical director Gregorio Pérez was hired.

For the 2020 championship, and together with the arrival of Gregorio Pérez, the Uruguayan soccer players Federico Alonso, Jonathan dos Santos and Luis Urruti arrived. In the Copa Libertadores, the club played the first and second phases against Carabobo and Cerro Porteño, respectively. In the local tournament, he had a good performance, being among the first places; where his last match before the COVID-19 pandemic would be against his classic rival, Alianza Lima, beating him 2:0. Subsequently, after the arrival of a new bankruptcy administration and due to the measures imposed by the pandemic, since the Peruvian tournament was paralyzed, the professional squad was declared in perfect suspension, and consequently the new administration controversially fired the coach Gregorio Pérez, arguing that he was a person vulnerable to the disease. After this, Ángel Comizzo returned again, managing to play the final but could not win it against Sporting Cristal.

In 2021, due to the loss of important players, the club was reinforced with some names, among the most notable the Uruguayan Hernán Novick and the Peruvian Alex Valera. In the month of March, seventeen members of the club tested positive for COVID-19, for this reason, the match against the Technical University of Cajamarca, corresponding to the third date of League 1, was suspended. In the Copa Libertadores, the « U» was placed in group A made up of the current continental champions: Palmeiras, Defensa y Justicia and Independiente del Valle, champion of the 2019 Copa Sudamericana. In the international competition, they only obtained four points, placing last, out of a balance of four defeats, a draw and a home win against Independiente del Valle. In the domestic tournament, he did not achieve the objectives either and finished third in group A with 15 points, with no chance of challenging for the Phase 1 title. After an unusual string of matches to highlight, on May 8 Alberto Quintero became the second foreign footballer with the most goals after an agonizing 3:2 with his two goals against Cienciano.

Following the Peruvian superclásico, with a 2:1 victory for Alianza Lima, Ángel Comizzo was fired and Juan Pajuelo was appointed as interim coach in his place. Shortly after, Universitario ended its relations with the Brazilian company Gremco, taking away the administration after several years. A few days later, Jean Ferrari was chosen as the club's new administrator. Ferrari's new restructuring plan was revealed at a press conference on 1 September where he announced the return of Gregorio Pérez as manager. On September 14, with Pérez's second debut, the "U" defeated the Universidad de San Martín 2:0. With Pérez in charge, the club achieved 21 points out of a possible 24, which allowed it to rank third in the accumulated table and qualify for the Copa Libertadores for the thirty-third time.

Restructuring and New Beginning (2022-)

Starting the 2022 season, Universitario was reinforced with the arrival of the Uruguayan Ángel Cayetano and the Peruvians Joao Villamarín, Roberto Villamarín and Alfonso Barco. However, on January 13, Gregorio Pérez suffered a heart attack that, later, it was confirmed as coronary syndrome. Due to his delicate state of health, Pérez was forced to leave the club for the second time and his assistant Edgardo Adinolfi was named interim manager. Adinolfi was later replaced by Manuel Barreto as interim for the debut against the Cantolao Sports Academy for League 1 2022.

With Barreto, Universitario thrashed Cantolao 3:0, breaking a five-year winless streak against the Callao club. On February 3, Jean Ferrari, at a press conference, announced the Uruguayan Álvaro Gutiérrez as the new coach for the rest of the season, who debuted with a 3:0 victory against Universidad de San Martín. In the second phase of the 2022 Copa Libertadores, the club was eliminated by Barcelona from Ecuador after falling 2: 0 visiting and 1:0 at home. Given these poor results, the subsequent hiring of Andy Polo was announced, who returned to the club after six years, and Rodrigo Vilca to face the rest of the season. However, after After losing to Alianza Lima at home 4:1, Gutiérrez's dismissal was announced just two months after he was hired, leaving a balance of four wins, one draw and six losses. Jorge Araujo, coordinator of the technical unit of minors, he was named interim coach and had a decent performance during six games (two wins, three draws and one loss). Ferrari announced Barreto as the club's new sports manager while Araujo returned to command the reserve team pending of a new coach for the senior team.

On June 20, Carlos Compagnucci was announced as the new technical director, marking his return to management after seventeen years.

Presidents

Throughout its 98-year history, twenty presidents were responsible for leading the club's institutional destinies. The president who held office the longest was Rafael Quirós, reaching ten years in the presidency, followed by Plácido Galindo, Jorge Nicolini and Alfredo González with nine years each. Likewise, Quirós is so far the president with the most terms, five in total. During his ten years in office, the cream team won six national championships (1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1985) and the runner-up of the Copa Libertadores 1972. The first board of directors was made up of: José Rubio Rolando (president), Andrés Echevarría (secretary). Plácido Galindo (treasurer), Eduardo Bermúdez, Roberto Carrillo, Carlos García, Dionisio Solipoma (members) and those in charge of preparing the statutes were: Andrés Echevarría, Plácido Galindo and Carlos García.

Shield

In the founding act of the club, it was decided to institute a garnet letter "U" enclosed in a circle of the same color with a white background as a shield. The design was in charge of Luis Málaga Arenas from Arequipa, at that time then delegate of the San Fernando Faculty of Medicine and one of the most enthusiastic managers of the formation of the University Football Federation. The first shields were large and with a very rustic finish. They were used on the left side of the chest and in some cases the center of the uniform. Currently, the official design of the shield uses a more stylized typeface and the background of the shield is cream. In sportswear it is always used on the left side.

Uniform

• Uniform holder: cream t-shirt with the neck and edge of the granate sleeves, cream trousers, black stockings with a horizontal line cream and other garnet.
• Alternative uniform: Dark green t-shirt with the neck and edge of the sleeves cream, dark green pants, dark green stockings with a horizontal line cream.
• Third uniform: Black t-shirt with the neck and edge of the golden sleeves, black pants, black stockings.

Origin

The original Universitario de Deportes uniform was white with a large red “U” on the chest. However, shortly before the official debut, the following occurred:

"University had to stand for a meeting, but incredibly did not have his uniforms game because he had sent him to the laundry room, which still did not have the indumentary list. Leaders pressured the laundry to give them the uniforms as soon as possible. But the housekeepers returned them with cream color."

Luciano Rico Molina (2001).

What happened was that in the laundry they forgot to take off the insignia and when washing the uniforms the red insignia faded and ended up leaving the uniforms with a cream coloration. Another version says that in the company in charge of making the shirts, they got the color wrong, sending the cream-colored uniform. Since the first meeting was very soon, they chose to use that uniform and since the result was good, it stayed forever.

Evolution

First

(See evolution)

Actual

Stadium

Aerial view of the Monumental Stadium.

The main venue of the club is the Monumental Stadium, also known as "Monumental de Ate" or "Monumental de la U" and for sponsorship reasons "Estadio Monumental U Marathon". It is located in the Ate district, east of the city of Lima. It was designed by the Uruguayan architect Walter Lavalleja. It is one of the football stadiums with the highest capacity in the world. It has a total capacity for 80,093 spectators (58,577 attendees in its four grandstands and an additional 21,516 people in the four box-suite buildings that surround it).

In the central part of the land is the soccer field and around it, twenty-two seven-story buildings where all the stadium services are located, as well as 1,122 family suites, 40 corporate suites, and 30 radio journalists' booths, spaces for the written press, among others. Its inauguration took place on July 2, 2000, with the 2:0 victory of Universitario against Sporting Cristal, in a match valid for the Apertura Tournament of that year.

It was built in accordance with the FIFA Technical Specifications Manual (for stadiums of the new millennium and for the finals of the world championship). It is considered by the specialized press and the Peruvian fans as one of the most modern stadiums in Latin America. The surface of the field is natural grass and has the FIFA regulation measures (105 m. x 70 m.), It also has a modern sprinkler irrigation system.

It is the only stadium that has on the upper floor of the western stand, a closed circuit television with eight dome-type color cameras, with 360° rotation located inside and outside the stadium. It has an electronic board with a 7.62 m x 10.6 m led screen, located on the north tribune. It also has a giant 10 m screen on the south tribune. x 6m. that allows disseminating high resolution images even in daylight.

The first clásico played at the Monumental was played on June 26, 2002 in a tiebreaker match to define the champion of the 2002 Apertura Tournament, which ended with a victory for the creams by 1: 0. It was also used by the Peruvian soccer team, to play their matches for the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2018 Soccer World Cup qualifiers, as well as for various musical shows. The first match played by the blanquirroja in this stadium was against the selected Ecuador on June 2, 2001, in a match for the thirteenth date of the qualifiers for the 2002 Soccer World Cup, which ended with victory for the Ecuadorians by 2:1. In this stadium, the three-time champion team was crowned for the last time in 2000. In addition, they won the titles of the 2008 Apertura Tournament and the 2009 Descentralized Championship there.

On March 9, 2023, the club inaugurated a new LED lighting system, which enables ultra-high-definition (4K) television broadcasts. That same month, the club announced that the company Marathon had acquired the rights to name of the stadium, becoming the Monumental U Marathon Stadium.

Panoramic view of the Monumental Stadium at the end of 2009.

Other facilities

In the facilities of the "U" the infrastructure allows you to enjoy the practice of a large number of sports, however, by tradition the institution is specialized in soccer. It is the Peruvian professional soccer club with the largest infrastructure (it owns sixteen soccer fields): It has a total of 880,000 m² of land. In addition to the Monumental Stadium, the club's facilities include:

• Administrative Office: It is a unit that houses two offices; one for administration and the other for the capture of new partners, is located in Av. Saint Philip N° 270 of the Limeño district of Jesus Mary.

• Campo Mar - U: It is a sports complex and the club's beach headquarters, it has an area of 520 000 m2 and is located in the Pan American South Highway, 30.5 km in the district of Lurín (Lima), one and a half km from the Pachacámac Islands (joint known as Ballena Island by the silhouette of the group of islands, which resembles a giant whale). It was opened on 26 February 1983 by the then president of the club Miguel Pellny. It has two distinct structures:

Mural located in the Lolo Fernandez Stadium with the image of the club idol.

• La Villa Deportiva de la U (VIDU), training center of the various minor divisions and also of the professional team particularly in the pre-season periods.

• The Summer Center for the partners and the preparation of the pre-season. It has a malecon, three football pitches, two adult pools, a children's pool, fronton courts, multi-sport lobos, children's games, living room games, large green spaces, bungalós, pergolinas and restaurants.

• Estadio Lolo Fernández: It was the first stadium of the club, it is located in the urban center of Metropolitan Lima in the Breña district. It has a capacity for 4000 viewers. He bears his name in honor of footballer Teodoro Fernández Meyzán. The stadium was inaugurated on July 20, 1952 with the sports facilities and the first stadium rostrum (West: 4000 seats) that previously belonged to the former National Stadium of Peru. At the opening, the "U" defeated the University of Chile by 4:2, with three goals of Teodoro Fernández. In 1964, the second rostrum was purchased from the Peruvian Federation of Basketball (Popular: 5000 seats) and in 1968 the third rostrum was built (East: 6000 seats). It is currently used by the institution’s volleyball team.

• Escuela de Menores Lolo Fernández: This last headquarters is part of the decentralized project of catching new values, with its first task of setting children to a field of grass football, providing them with techniques and knowledge, that will allow the practice of football, either at their level of amateur or high-performance competition for the professional level. Within this same facility are also the “Hector Chumpitaz Football School” and the “Louis Rubiños Archer School”.

Hobby

Organized bars

East Bar.

The first organized groups of baristas from the club arose in 1968, when a group of students began to constantly attend the stadium, meeting in the west stand of the National Stadium. As time went by, the group increased considerably, proving difficult to congregate everyone in said stand, so they decided to move to the east stand, where there were no space or movement restrictions, giving rise to the first organized bar in Peruvian soccer, the better known Barra Dale U Association as Barra Oriente, being one of its main founders Carlos Landa. However, at the end of the 1980s, a group of young people who criticized the passivity of the leaders of this bar in the face of the attacks received from baristas from other clubs, decided to move to the north popular stand, creating a barra brava called North Trench, officially founded on November 9, 1988.

"Norte was born and shouted to the country that the fans were sick of the absurd presumption of racial rivalry and classes; as if "Lolo", his greatest idol, had not been a humble provincial that in the capital often spent economic apprehensions; as if on the walls of the poorest rooms in Peru they had not rested forever old and yellowing images of creamy equipment. The “U” was a popular right and finally his swollen demanded that he be recognized as what had always been: People”.

José Alfredo Madueño.

The Northern Trinchera at the Monumental Stadium.

Currently, the North Trench is made up of young people from various sectors of the city of Lima and the interior of the country, who are divided into numerous sub-groups, according to the area of the city to which they belong. It has subsidiaries throughout Peru and also in various parts of the world, which attend the stadiums when Universitario plays an international match, be it the Copa Libertadores de América, the Copa Sudamericana or friendly matches.

Some of the international subsidiaries are located in Argentina, Spain, the United States, Italy and Japan. in the superclásicos against Alianza Lima. Due to this, it is considered the most violent bar in the country, according to a survey carried out in 2009 by the University of Lima.

For the centenary of Teodoro Fernández, the members of the Northern Trench together with some soccer players from the club made the largest flag in the country, which measures approximately 100 meters long by 45 meters wide and covers the entire North stand of the Monumental Stadium. On May 25, 2013, five days after the centenary, the flag was displayed in the match in which the cream team beat the University of San Martín 2:0.

Popularity

Universitario de Deportes and Alianza Lima are the clubs with the largest number of sympathizers or fans in the country, as demonstrated by various studies and public opinion surveys carried out since 2006, whether at the national level or in Metropolitan Lima.. According to said studies, the percentage of followers of both clubs oscillates between 20 and 40% and one is ahead of the other, at a greater or lesser distance, depending on the medium that prepares the survey. Behind them and further away is Sporting Cristal, with a percentage of followers between 9 and 17%.

In 2016, CONMEBOL considered it the most popular Peruvian club in South America. The study prepared was based on attendance at local tournaments and those organized by said entity, not in the order of surveys, which can be variable depending on the number of people surveyed, voters or if it was carried out over the Internet.

Rivalries

Lima Alliance

The rivalry between Universitario de Deportes and Alianza Lima has a rich history, which began in 1928 and continues to this day. Dozens of these matches have been held covering different instances, both at the national level in the First Division of Peru, and at the international level in the Copa Libertadores de América and the Copa Sudamericana. The first official match was played on September 23, 1928, when Universitario won the Amateur Tournament 1:0 through a goal by Pablo Pacheco 7 minutes into the first half.

The match was suspended nine minutes before regulation time expired, since Alianza had been left with six fewer players. Faced with this situation, the Alianza players tried to impose themselves by playing rough and tried to attack the fans creams, which repelled the attacks by throwing their sticks at them, which is why that first clásico is known as the "Clásico de los Bastonazos". In 1938, Universitario de Deportes began a period that lasted five years and five months without lose any classic.

On June 12, 1949, the «U» lost by a score of 9:1, although it should be noted that said match took place in an Apertura Tournament organized by the «Non-Amateur Association (ANA)», in in which only four teams participated, this being its worst result against its classic rival. While its best result was obtained on May 20, 1952, when it won 6:1. In August 1988, for the first phase of the Copa Libertadores of that year the so-called colloquially by the fans of Universitario "Clásico del Abandono" or "Clásico de la Shame" was disputed, Universitario prevailed 2: 0 and Alianza Lima suffered the expulsion of three footballers.

Inexplicably, two more Alianza members were injured almost synchronously and without any serious foul, for which the referee decided to end the match and the remaining Alianza soccer players who remained on the playing field ran off to their dressing room. The top scorer in the clásicos is Teodoro Fernández Meyzán with twenty-nine goals, while the footballer with the most appearances is José Luis Carranza with sixty-one clásicos, both footballers from the U. The creams, they were the first to obtain a victory in a classic outside the city of Lima (July 30, 1952 in Trujillo), and the first to obtain a victory in a classic outside of Peru (July 2, 1997 in the United States). Since the first classic, Universitario and Alianza Lima have faced each other 368 times, of which Universitario has won 123.

Municipal Sports

The rivalry between Deportivo Municipal and Universitario de Deportes dates back to the late 1930s and early 1940s, during the amateur era of Peruvian soccer, due to the fact that it was a time when both clubs had great prominence and They were the two teams that won the most titles during that period. This fact fostered the rivalry between both fans, which increased interest in the matches between both teams. However, this rivalry has been reduced among the new generations due to the absence of the edile cadre in the First Division in the new millennium for more than twelve years, although it is maintained for the generations of yesteryear. Municipal's promotion to the first division in 2014 allowed the modern classic to be valued again. Since the first match played in 1937, the two clubs have met 195 times in official matches, Universitario has achieved 91 victories, while Municipal has achieved 57 victories.

Sport Cristal

The match played between Sporting Cristal and Universitario de Deportes is one of the most important classics in Peru, this match is sometimes called the "Modern Classic of Peruvian Soccer". Both clubs have won a greatest number of titles since the Decentralized Championships began to be played from 1966, this succession of titles led to a great rivalry between both squads. The clashes between the two teams generate great expectations in the fans, because in In each of the matches that were played, the quality and good football of each of its players always predominated. The first official match was played on September 30, 1956, which ended in a 2:2 tie with goals from Daniel Ruiz on two occasions for the creams, while Roberto Martínez and Enrique Vargas scored for the celestes. All the goals were achieved in the first half.

In 1988, the «U» lost the classic 4-0, this being its worst result against Sporting Cristal, and the most comfortable victory in favor of the «U», occurred a year later in the Cup Libertadores 1989 by the same score. The acts of violence in this classic became strong in the 1990s, with the rise of the barras bravas of both clubs. In April 1991, after a match played at the Lolo Fernández Stadium for the Metropolitan Tournament of that year, the North Trench set fire to the bus where the Sporting Cristal footballers were traveling. The evacuation was quick and everyone was able to get to safety before after the fire was consumed. Since the first clásico, the two clubs have faced each other 218 times in official matches, with Universitario winning 75 times.

Club details

Trayectoria de Universitario de Deportes in the First Division of Peru.

University of Sports in International Tournaments.

• Historical position2.o
• Foundation: August 7, 1924.
• Seasons in First Division: 94 (1928-present).
• Seasons in Second Division: 0.
• Seasons in Copa Peru: 0.
• Big deal.:
  • In national championships: University 9:0 Atlético Torino (19 September 1970).
  • In international tournaments: University 6:0 Always Ready (February 27, 1968).
• Major welcome:
  • In national championships: University 0:6 Sport Boys (13 March 1994).
  • In international tournaments: Rosario Central 6:0 University (21 February 2001), Palmeiras 6:0 University (27 May 2021).
• Best place in the league: 1.o.
• Worse placed in the league: 14.o (Decentralized 2011).
• Best international participation: Subcampion (Copa Libertadores 1972).
• Increased number of undefeated meetings: 36 meetings (from 27 May 1974 to 27 February 1975, Peruvian football record).
• Increased number of undefeated meetings in short tournaments: 18 meetings (Torneo Opening 1999).
• Maximum historical score: Teodoro Fernández Meyzán, 161 goals (1930-1953).
• Porter with more undefeated minutes: Humberto Horacio Ballesteros, with 775 minutes in 1971.
• More contested meetings: José Luis Carranza, 524 meetings (1986-2004).
• Football player with more titles: José Luis Carranza with 8 titles.
• Technician with more championships obtained: Arturo Fernández Meyzán and Marcos Calderón with 4 championships each.
• International participation:

Historical evolution

Rankings

Updated until September 2021.

Historical classification of Peru

The historical classification table of the first division of Peruvian soccer, includes the scores obtained by all the Peruvian clubs that at some time played in the first division. In said table, the student squad occupies the 2nd position.

Conmebol Club Classification

Thanks to the large number of participations and victories obtained in the Copa Libertadores de América organized by the South American Football Confederation, the "U" is the second best team in Peru with 1143.6 points according to the historical ranking issued by the governing body of South American football.

World club rankings

The historical classification of the Club World Ranking issued by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics lists the best 208 football clubs in history. In it, the Club Universitario de Deportes is located in the 147th position, being the third best-placed team in Peru.

Players

Héctor Chumpitaz, a footballer who debuted in 1966, remained at the club for ten seasons.

Throughout its history, a large number of soccer players have worn the Universitario de Deportes jersey, and many of them have represented Peru in their national soccer team. Teodoro Fernández Meyzán is the greatest idol of the cream institution, as well as its top scorer with 161 goals. He is considered one of the best soccer players in the history of Peru. his career at Universitario for twenty-three uninterrupted years, period during which he won six titles and also established himself a championship scorer on seven occasions.

When Teodoro Fernández began to think about his retirement, the soccer player Alberto Terry was the one who succeeded him and managed to win the appreciation of the student fans. His debut with the cream shirt came at the age of 18 and he quickly became one of the symbols of the club. In 1949 he was proclaimed champion of the Peruvian Football Championship and a year later he was the tournament's top scorer with sixteen goals. Another representative footballer of the institution was Héctor Chumpitaz, who defended the cream shirt for ten seasons, obtaining five national titles as well as the runner-up in the 1972 Copa Libertadores.

The midfielder Roberto Chale also stands out, who was part of the «U» in three periods, being champion four times; and striker Oswaldo Ramírez, who with fifteen goals is the all-time top scorer for the merengues in the Copa Libertadores de América. In the club's contemporary history, José Luis Carranza stands out as the player with the most appearances, since from his debut in 1985 until his retirement after a seventeen-year career, he played a total of 524 matches, also being the footballer who has won the most championships in the professional era (eight in total).

Roberto Chale, a member of the "U" in three periods (1966-1971), (1977) and (1980), was a champion on four occasions.

During the nineties, José del Solar stood out for his good performances in the merengue team, which made it possible for him to emigrate to the Catholic University of Chile and later to Europe. Juan Reynoso and Roberto Martínez also had an outstanding participation in the student squad during those years. In the new millennium, the figure of Juan Manuel Vargas stands out, who began his career in the club's minor divisions and played in the first team for three seasons, winning the 2002 Apertura Tournament title, as well as Raúl Ruidíaz, two-time champion with the club (2009 and 2013) in six seasons, in addition to being a World Cup player in Russia 2018.

Among the foreigners who arrived at the club, the Argentines Humberto Horacio Ballesteros, Mauro Cantoro, Luis Alberto Carranza, Ramón Quiroga, Juan Carlos Zubczuk, the Brazilians Eduardo Esidio (second top scorer worldwide in the year 2000), stand out. Nílson Esidio, Alex Rossi, the Chileans Juan Carlos Letelier (World Cup winner with his team in the 1982 Soccer World Cup), Cristián Álvarez (bronze medalist in the men's soccer tournament at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games), the Colombian Mayer Candelo, the Honduran Eugenio Dolmo Flores, the Paraguayans Jorge Amado Nunes, Guido Alvarenga (present in the 1986 and 2002 World Cups respectively) and the Uruguayans Tomás Silva and Rubén Techera, champion of the 1967 Copa América.

Other outstanding soccer players are the nationalized Óscar Ibáñez who, with fifty games played, is the goalkeeper with the second most appearances in the Peruvian team, and Sergio Ibarra, the all-time top scorer in the Peruvian First Division. Among the individual distinctions achieved by the footballers of the "U", are those of having been scorers in the first division twenty-three times and in the Copa Libertadores four times. Likewise, goalkeeper Óscar Ibáñez was chosen as the goalkeeper of the year in Peru three times.

Squad and coaching staff 2023

Aldo Corzo member of the club staff since 2017.

Players			Technical equipment
N.o Nac. Pos. Name Age Ult team. End contract International 1 PER! 0BY José Carvallo 37 years Univ. Cajamarca technique 2023 Absolute 2 PER! 1DEF Marco Saravia 24 years Municipal Sports 2023 3 PAR! 1DEF Williams Riveros 30 years Cerro Porteño 2023 4 PER! 2MED Alfonso Barco 21 years Univ. de San Martín 2023 Sub-20 5 ARG! 1DEF Matías Di Benedetto 30 years Central Cordoba 2023 6 PER! 1DEF José Luján 26 years F. B. C. Melgar 2023 Sub-23 7 PER! 3OF THE Alexander Succar 27 years Deportivo Huachipato 2024 Absolute 8 PER! 2MED Jordan Guivin 25 years Celaya F. C. 2023 Sub-23 10 PER! 2MED Horacio Calcaterra 34 years Sporting Crystal 2025 Absolute 11 PER! 3OF THE Luis Urruti 30 years River Plate 2023 12 PER! 0BY Aamet Calderón 24 years The Chankas 2023 14 PER! 1DEF José Bolívar 23 years Sport Boys 2025 15 ARG! 3OF THE Emanuel Herrera 36 years Celaya F. C. 2023 16 ARG! 2MED Martín Pérez Guedes 31 years F. B. C. Melgar 2023 17 PER! 3OF THE José Rivera 25 years Carlos A. Mannucci 2023 Absolute 18 CHI! 2MED Rodrigo Ureña 30 years Sports Tolima 2023 20 PER! 3OF THE Alex Valera 26 years Al-Fateh 2024 Absolute 21 PER! 0BY Diego Romero 21 years Minor divisions 2024 Sub-20 23 PER! 2MED Jorge Murrugarra 26 years Ayacucho F. C. 2024 Sub-23 24 PER! 3OF THE Andy Polo 28 years Portland Timbers 2023 Absolute 25 PER! 2MED Roberto Siucho 26 years Kunshan F. C. 2024 Sub-20 26 PER! 1DEF Hugo Ancajima 25 years Tarma Sports Association 2024 27 PER! 1DEF Nelson Cabanillas 23 years San Luis de Quillota 2024 Sub-17 29 PER! 1DEF Aldo Corzo 33 years Municipal Sports 2024 Absolute 30 PER! 1DEF Piero Guzmán 23 years Pirata F. C. 2023 31 PER! 1DEF Jerry Navarro 20 years Minor divisions 2024 32 PER! 2MED José López 20 years Minor divisions 2024 34 PER! 0BY Alejandro Alcalá 21 years Deportivo Riestra 2025 Sub-17 36 PER! 2MED Piero Quispe 21 years Minor divisions 2025 77 PER! 2MED Yuriel Celi 21 years Hull City 2024 Absolute			Coach(s) Jorge Fossati Assistant coach(s) Leonardo Martins Gonzalo Gutiérrez Physical Preparer(s) Sebastián Avellino Coach(s) of porters Angel Venegas Physical therapist(s) José Artola Doctor(s) Marco Núñez Legend Pos.: Position Nac.: Nationality of sport Captain Mission BY / ARQ: Guardameta DEF: Defense MED / VOL: Camper OF THE: Delantero Updated on 11 March 2023 Official web template

Ups and downs 2023

Altas
Football	Position	Proceedings	Type
Alejandro Alcalá	Save me	Deportivo Riestra	Free.
Hugo Ancajima	Defence	Tarma Sports Association	Free.
José Bolívar	Defence	Sport Boys	Free.
Matías Di Benedetto	Defence	Central Cordoba	Free.
José Luján	Defence	F. B. C. Melgar	Free.
Marco Saravia	Defence	Municipal Sports	Free.
Williams Riveros	Defence	Cerro Porteño	Free.
Horacio Calcaterra	Camper center	Sporting Crystal	Free.
Yuriel Celi	Camper center	Hull City	Cession.
Martín Pérez Guedes	Camper center	F. B. C. Melgar	Free.
Rodrigo Ureña	Camper center	Sports Tolima	Free.
Roberto Siucho	Camper center	Kunshan F. C.	Free.
Emanuel Herrera	Delantero	Celaya F. C.	Free.
José Rivera	Delantero	Carlos A. Mannucci	Free.
Alex Valera	Delantero	Al-Fateh	Free.

Low
Football	Position	Destination	Type
Federico Alonso	Defence	Cusco F. C.	Contract end.
Holsen Cubas	Defence		Contract end.
Nelinho Quina	Defence	Cusco F.C	Contract end.
Leonardo Rugel	Defence	Municipal Sports	Contract end.
Ivan Santillán	Defence	Science	Contract termination.
Brayan Velarde	Defence		Contract end.
José Zevallos	Defence		Contract termination.
Jorge Agüero	Camper center	Tarma Sports Association	Cession.
Gerson Barreto	Camper center	Cusco F. C.	Contract end.
Jack Carhuallan.	Camper center	Ayacucho F. C.	Cession.
Hernán Novick	Camper center	Boston River	Contract termination.
Rodrigo Vilca	Camper center	Newcastle United "B"	End of assignment.
Claudio Yacob	Camper center		Contract termination.
Tiago Cantoro	Delantero	Cusco F. C.	Cession.
Guillermo Larios	Delantero	Sullana Athletic Alliance	Contract end.
Alberto Quintero	Delantero	Science	Contract end.
Jorge Tandazo	Delantero		Contract end.
Joseph Valladolid	Delantero	Union Huaral	Cession.

Retired numbers

Retired Dorsales
Dorsal	Football
9	Teodoro Fernández Meyzán.
22	José Luis Carranza.

University and the Peruvian soccer team

The soccer players of the Universitario de Deportes have constantly been summoned to represent Peru in some international event, joining the national soccer team. This contribution of creams players has covered World Cups, Olympic Games, Copa América, and other competitions.

World Cup Soccer

Selected Peruvian who participated in the 1929 South American Championship.

Peruvian selection that participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics premiering the classic red band that has lasted until today.

The Peruvian soccer team participated in the first World Cup that was held in Uruguay in 1930 as a guest. In that first world competition, eight Universitario players were selected, among them Arturo Fernández Meyzán, Plácido Galindo, Luis de Souza Ferreira and Jorge Góngora. In the 1970 Soccer World Cup that took place in Mexico, nine creams players were summoned to represent Peru, highlighting Héctor Chumpitaz, Luis Cruzado, Nicolás Fuentes and Roberto Chale. In the 1978 World Cup that took place in Argentina, this time only Germán Leguía was called up. In the World Cup held in Spain in 1982, the club contributed three of its footballers, these being Eusebio Acasuzo, Hugo Gastulo and Germán Leguía. Finally, in the 2018 Soccer World Cup held in Russia, the only team called up by the cream team was Aldo Corzo.

Olympic Games

Universitario de Deportes has been present in the two Olympics in which the Peruvian soccer team managed to participate, contributing to the national conglomerate various elements of its sports team. In the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, four players from the student institution were called up, while in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, five of its footballers joined it.

It was precisely in the 1936 edition, in which after thrashing Finland 7:3 with five goals from Teodoro Fernández Meyzán, the Peruvian team beat their similar team from Austria 4:2 in a controversial match, the which was annulled on the grounds that Peruvian fans had invaded the field and attacked an Austrian player. FIFA ordered a revenge match to be played without spectators, a situation in which the Peruvian government decided that the entire Peruvian delegation should leave the Olympic Games.

Copa America

As for the Copas América, the merengues have contributed players in all the editions in which the Peruvian cast participated, with the exception of the 1927 edition (due to the fact that the club was admitted to the league in 1928), in the 2004 Copa América and in the 2015 Copa América. The participation of Universitario footballers was special in the 1939 editions, due to the outstanding participation of Teodoro Fernández, as the tournament's top scorer, and in the from 1975 with the participation of Julio Aparicio, Enrique Cassaretto, Héctor Chumpitaz, Rubén Toribio Díaz, Percy Rojas and Ottorino Sartor.

• See the annex Sports University Footballers in the selection of football in Peru, to get a complete list of university players who have been on some occasion in the national selection.

Coaches

Fernando Cuéllar national champion as a coach with the "U" in 1990.

Since its foundation in 1924 to the present, seventy-eight coaches have been in charge of the institution's technical management. The coach who led the club to the championship title for the first time in history was Andrés Rotta (who was also one of the founders) in 1929.

In many cases, the coaches were ex-soccer players of the club such as: Adolf Berger, Mario de las Casas, Andrés Rotta, Eduardo Astengo, Alberto Denegri, Plácido Galindo, Francisco Sabroso, Arturo Fernández, Augusto Gasco, Segundo Castillo, Manuel Márquez, Marcos Calderón, Ángel Uribe, Luis Zavala, José Fernández, Luis Cruzado, Luis Zacarías, Fernando Cuéllar, Percy Rojas, Juan Carlos Oblitas, Ramón Quiroga, Freddy Ternero, Víctor Benavides, Roberto Chale, Javier Chirinos, Ricardo Valderrama, Roberto Martínez, Juan José Oré, Luis Reyna, Jorge Amado Nunes, Juan Reynoso, José Guillermo del Solar, Nolberto Solano, Óscar Ibáñez, Juan Pajuelo, Manuel Barreto and Jorge Araujo.

Arturo Fernández Meyzán, champion with the «U» in the years 1941, 1945, 1946 and 1949; and Marcos Calderón champion in 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1985, are the two coaches with the most titles obtained for the team. In turn, Arturo Fernández, coach during the period 1941-1951, is the coach who has directed the most years (10) at the same club in a row, a record for permanence on the Peruvian soccer bench. Likewise, Juan Carlos Oblitas holds the record for being the coach with the most consecutive games he has coached with 157 in total. The current technical director is Jorge Fossati.

Honours of Prizes

National tournaments

Competition	Titles	Subcamponatos
First Division of Peru (26/15)	1929, 1934, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1974, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009, 2013. (Récord).	1928, 1932, 1933, 1940, 1955, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1995, 2002, 2008, 2020.
President of the Republic Cup (1/0)	1970.

International tournaments

Affiliates

U America

Club Deportivo U América was founded on April 15, 1980, and currently participates in the Copa Perú. Its mission is to test the club's under-20 footballers and at the end of the season, the best youth players are promoted to the first team. Its venue for their home matches is the Monumental Stadium. By first obtaining the San Luis Soccer League championship and later being the champion of the province of Lima, he managed to ascend to the second division, of which he was crowned champion in the 1999 edition. the First Division of Peru after being defeated in the revalidation match against Deportivo Pesquero. In 2003, they were relegated to their home league, and in 2004 they were crowned Lima's provincial champion again, returning to the second division where they remained until the 2011 edition.

Union of Champions

The Unión de Campeones Club was a team made up of players from the minor divisions of Universitario. It was created after the purchase of the category from the San José de Lince club. He fought for the second place spot in the 2004 Second Division, against Deportivo Municipal and in the 2005 season he lost the category.

Virgin of Chapi

The Virgen de Chapi Sports Club was founded on October 22, 1992. It comes from the Santa Anita district of the city of Lima. In 1995 he obtained the Interligas de Lima title, this achievement classified him to the Second Division in 1996, however at the end of the championship he was relegated to his home league. In 1997 he won the two-time Interligas championship and thanks to this title he returned to the Second Division where it remained until the 2005 season.

Other sports

In the "U" various sports are practiced, including: model airplanes, chess, athletics, basketball, billiards, fronton, soccer, beach soccer, indoor soccer, gymnastics, weightlifting, swimming (in the pool and on the beach), rowing, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, among others.

• Female football: The female team of the first official division of the club is the one that most times won the Metropolitan Tournament of Lima (eight times), also has three national titles obtained in 2015, 2016, 2019. In 2003, women’s football champion was consecrated by beating Sport Boys by 2:1 at the “Copa Pilsen Callao”. For its smaller divisions, the club has a "Female Football Academy" for girls between 10 and 17 years.

• Football room: In recent years, the club has consolidated a team of futsal that has represented Peru in several South American championships. He finished in the second place in the "Torneo Clausura del Metropolitano de Futsal 2007", classifying the Final Liguilla where he was eliminated by the Americas Sports in the semifinal by 5:2. The last experience of Sports University prior to its return to the maximum division, dates from the year 2006, when they obtained the title of the Futsal Higher Division, at that time it was the highest category in this sport in the country. In 2010, the system was changed and the Honor Division was created, which became the most important.

• Volleyball: The club volleyball team is named Club de Vóley Universitario de Deportes and is currently participating in the Vóley de Lima district sports league. In 2009 he participated in the first edition of the Peruvian Cup, organized by the Peruvian Sports Institute, registering to participate in the Metropolitan Lima Zone. He came to the end of the National Stage, where he faced the team of César Vallejo University, winning the first match in Trujillo for 3:2 but losing at the Miguel Grau Coliseum of Callao for 3:0. In the third strike, played in Ica, the table cream It exceeded 3:0 to the trujillanas, raising the title of the first edition of this tournament. In 2010, he participated in the Revalidation and Ascenso Tournament of the National League of Women's Volleyball in search of his promotion to the highest category of the country, which he achieved by winning the Elyagus de Huancayo by 3:0. The University CV beat each of its rivals, losing a single set during the tournament before the Sima de Chimbote, which was placed in the second position.

• Basketball: The "U" was one of the pioneers of the Peruvian basketball. For several years he won several championships in this discipline. Among his main basketball players were the Fosalba brothers (sons of the Uruguayan ambassador in Peru), Mario de las Casas (who was the first president of the Peruvian Federation of Basketball), Adolf Berger (Swiss lawyer and later ambassador of Switzerland in Peru). Andrés Duany (ex-president of the Lawn Tennis Club of the Exhibition), Belisario Sánchez, José Carlos Godoy, Miguel Godoy, Carl Johnson (head of the department of physical education of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos), among others. In the first participation of the Peruvian basketball at the Olympic level he gave the largest number of players to the selection and were: José Carlos Godoy, Miguel Godoy, Koko Cárdenas, Roberto Rospigliosi, Luis Jacob and also to the selections for the South American Games and Bolivarian Games. The work in this sector has been reactivated and the club currently has two basketball teams that participate in the male and female sports tournaments of the Mixed Sports League of Basketball of Lima.

University in popular culture

T-shirt in tribute to Teodoro Fernández Meyzán used during the 1997 Conmebol Cup.

Throughout the years, the Club Universitario de Deportes has not only managed to establish itself in sports, but also in Peruvian culture. Various Peruvian composers and musicians have dedicated songs and polkas to the club as well as to its soccer players. The first song dedicated to the "U" was composed in 1928 by Francisco Sabroso and Jorge Góngora, it was sung by the entire campus when they toured the city of Trujillo. Another tune in honor of the club is the song Y Dale U also known as the Polka Crema of the Peruvian poet and singer-songwriter Teodoro Rosales.

In April 1975, the Uruguayan soccer player Rubén Techera together with José Escajadillo and arrangements by Víctor Cuadros, composed the song Universitario y Yo, which was performed for the first time in public at the TV show Springboard to Fame. Eddy Martínez, composer and singer of the duo Los Ases del Perú, dedicated the criollo waltz La U three-time champion of Peru to the club as a tribute to their three-time championship in 2000. In November 2010, the Peruvian singer-songwriter Gian Marco composed a song for Universitario on the occasion of the 330th edition of the Peruvian soccer classic. The rock bands Nos Sobra Aliento, Actitud Crema and Atados a un Sentimiento, made up entirely of "U" fans also pay homage by composing exclusive songs for the club.

Some melodies in tribute to soccer players from the Sports University are: the polka Lolo Fernández written by the composer Lorenzo Humberto Sotomayor, the polka El Taita Lolo Fernández with music by Alcides Carreño and lyrics by Fernando Soria, Lolo Fernández from Los Morochucos, Lolo Fernández fearsome gunner and Our Father composed by the band of rock We Breathe Spare. We can also mention Los Tres Ases by the composer Felipe Pinglo Alva, where the good performance of Arturo Fernández Meyzán was highlighted when he reinforced the intimate team on the tour they carried out in Chile in 1933.

In 2003 the play A mystery, a passion was released, written by Aldo Miyashiro, which tells the story, life and death of Percy Rodríguez Marchand, alias «Misterio», one of the most violent leaders of the North Trench, the brave bar of Universitario. In 2005, the Peruvian television channel Frecuencia Latina broadcast a 40-episode miniseries based on the life of Misterio, starring the actor Pietro Sibille, and inspired by said play. In the Peruvian film The Gospel of the Flesh (2013), one of the main stories is the one that develops around the character of the actor Sebastián Monteghirfo, who plays a leader of the North Trench in one of the poorest districts of the city of Lima, in the middle of the procession of the Lord of Miracles.

Mario Vargas Llosa appointed honorary partner of the club in 2011.

In the gastronomy of Peru, the institution is present as it is commonly related to the dessert known as rice pudding, due to the cream color of its sports uniform. Literature has not been immune to these recognitions either. The Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize for Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, in his autobiographical work El pez en el agua, narrates one of his childhood experiences referring to his participation in the team of minors of the «U », incidentally showing his clear sympathy for the cream club, of which he is an honorary member.

"One of the happiest days of my life was that Sunday in which 'Toto' Terry, of the greats of our neighborhood, took me to the National Stadium and made me play with the Californians of Sports University against those of the Municipal Sports Department. To go out to that huge court, wearing the cream uniform, was it not the best thing that could happen to someone in the world?"

Mario Vargas Llosa (2006).

Other books based on Universitario are: Garra by José Alfredo Madueño, La U y su historia by Rafael Quirós, ex-player and cream leader; and La vida en crema by Fernando Dávila. The cultural influence of Universitario de Deportes has crossed borders, since the name of its popular bar known as Trinchera Norte, was taken to designate a Millonarios Fútbol Club de Colombia bar founded in 1996 by a group of fans from the city of Bogotá, who adopted such a designation in honor of the followers of the cream team.

University student and his commitment to society

The institution actively participates in the field of social work and humanitarian aid. With the "El Hermano Mayor" program, developed by the club's members, Universitario improves the living and educational conditions of young soccer players from the minor divisions who reside at the Lolo Fernández Stadium headquarters, likewise, they are offered transportation to the matches played by the first team in the Monumental Stadium, donations are made, among other things. Thanks to this program and in collaboration with the Higher Private Institute of Optics and Optometry, in December 2008 a "Health Campaign" was carried out Visual» benefiting some members of the creams quarries.

T-shirt on the global day of the fight against breast cancer.

Another social program is the "Plan Padrino", which consists of a member or fan taking care of a soccer player from the institution, since many of these young people do not have economic resources and need help of a moral and material. In February 2009, Universitario de Deportes in collaboration with soccer player Nolberto Solano promoted a campaign organized by the Ombudsman of Peru called "Goodbye to Physical and Humiliating Punishment against Boys, Girls, and Adolescents." The members of the Trinchera Norte performs every year -in December- the so-called "Christmas of the Cream Child" which consists of helping and bringing food and gifts to children with few economic resources. Even famous Peruvian soccer personalities such as José Luis Carranza and Paolo Guerrero support the cause.

On October 18, 2018, the club presented a shirt on the occasion of the world day of the fight against breast cancer. This awareness and social responsibility campaign was carried out with the aim of generating an important social impact to prevent and raise awareness among people about this disease. This campaign was carried out jointly with Marathon Sports (clothing supplier company) and OncoSalud, the latter carried out free preventive check-ups for low-income people, for each shirt sold.