Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football, and plays its home matches at Estadio Azteca. Founded in 1916 as Sinaloa, the club later adopted the names Lusitania, U-53 (in reference to a German submarine), and Atlántico (linked to the Atlantic Ocean). Due to widespread colloquial use, it officially became Atlante in 1921. It was one of ten founding members of the professional era of the Liga Mayor (current Liga MX).
Domestically, Atlante FC has won three Primera División titles, two Copa México titles and one Campeón de Campeones. Internationally, the club has won the CONCACAF Champions Cup twice.
Throughout its history, Atlante has been relegated on three occasions, the most recent at the conclusion of the Clausura 2014 tournament. Following that setback, the club spent twelve years in the Ascenso MX (currently the Liga de Expansión MX). Its return to the top flight was ultimately secured by acquiring Mazatlán’s first-division franchise and assuming its place in the league by relocating it to Mexico City.
History The beginning
Atlante was founded on 18 April 1916, with the name Sinaloa by a group of young Mexican football enthusiasts, led by Refugio "El Vaquero" Martínez. The team began playing in the La Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City. After changing its name to Lusitania and U-53, Refugio Martínez proposed the name Atlante, after the mighty battles fought at the Atlantic Ocean during World War I. During the 1920s, players such as the Rosas brothers, Manuel "Chaquetas" Rosas and Felipe "Diente" Rosas, as well as Juan "El Trompo" Carreño, helped Atlante to become one of the most popular teams, mostly among the working classes, which led to its most famous and legendary nickname, El Equipo del Pueblo, "People's team". Atlante's legend Juan Carreño scored Mexico's first goal in the Olympic Games in Amsterdam 1928, as well as Mexico national team's first ever goal in a FIFA World Cup during the inaugural match against France in Uruguay 1930.
Despite its popularity, the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) did not allow the team to be involved in the Mexican championship, the Liga Mayor. For Atlante to be allowed into the league, it had to win several proof-matches against Toluca and América, two powerful football clubs. The duels were won by Atlante with scores of 7–2 and 2–1, respectively. Accepted within the Liga Mayor, Atlante formed a major rivalry against Necaxa, which became the first classic in Mexican football. The games between these two were furious battles, even drawing in points at the end of the 1931–32 tournament.
During the early years of football in Mexico, when famed foreign teams began to challenge the Mexican teams they swept most clubs except one: Atlante. What many do not recall today is that Atlante was the first Mexican team that acquired national fame by knocking down those foreign "giants". In 1929, Atlante defeated Sabaria of Hungary 3–1. In 1930, Atlante twice defeated Sportivo of Buenos Aires, 2–1 and 3–2. One of their more recalled feats was the 3–2 victory in 1931 over Bella Vista of Uruguay, which had three players from the team that won the first World Cup a year before in Montevideo.
In the 1940s, during the final years of World War II, Atlante's Horacio Casarín began being noticed for his tremendous skill and ability, which also led him to become a major figure in the Mexico national team.
Atlante's popularity, continued to grow after the team was portrayed on the big screen in many films of Mexico's golden era of cinema. Some of those films are "Los Hijos de Don Venancio", "Los Nietos de Don Venancio", "El Vividor", "El que con niños se acuesta", among many others. Players Horacio Casarín and Martí Ventolrà were even part of those films' casting.
Professional era and first championship title In 1943, the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol founded the Professional League with six clubs of the Primera Fuerza of Mexico City, two clubs from the Liga Occidental (Western League) and two members from the Liga Veracruzana (Veracruz League), being Atlante one of those six clubs of Mexico City. Together, they all became what is known today as the Primera División de México.
After 4 tournaments, and with the aid of its owner General Jose Manuel Nuñez (a retired militar asked personally by former president Lázaro Cárdenas to watch over the team) as well as of its sensational player Horacio Casarín, the team obtained its first championship in the 1946–47 season. The final match against León was attended by 48,622 people, including President Miguel Alemán Valdés (he even got onto the field after the match in a famous photograph with the champions). Before that, in 1945, the team imposed the Latin American record for more goals in a single season with 121 goals in 30 matches (more than four goals per game). Atlante also became the first Mexican team to be crowned at the Champion of Champions cup (a Super Cup scheme championship) during the 1941–42 season.
After the first title, several other teams dominated the championship; nevertheless, Atlante remained as a powerful rival and still a popular team for the working classes, along with its runner-up in the Copa México and the Champion of Champions titles in the early 1950s. In 1966, General Jose Manuel Nuñez decided to sell the team to Fernando González, "Fernandón". Poor level and irregular campaigns proceeded the selling, which led Atlante to be relegated from the Primera División to the Segunda División de México in 1976.
The IMSS era The team managed to return to the Primera División for the 1977–78 season. In October 1978, the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) acquired the team in a 100% ownership, promising to make the largest football club in the world with 22 million associates throughout the country. With the financial support of the governmental institution, the team experienced successful campaigns with reinforcements such as the old-time idol Horacio Casarín as head coach and the Mexican football's all-time top goalscorer Cabinho, who would become three-time champion striker with Atlante in 1980, 1981 and 1982. Its productive campaigns led them to the 1981–82 final championship match against Tigres UANL, and after regular and extra time, Atlante became runner-up at penalty kicks. Nevertheless, a year later Atlante won its first continental title with the CONCACAF Champions' Cup against Suriname's Robinhood.
Although the government still owned the team, another institution took over the management activities. The Departamento del Distrito Federal, DDF (the former body which controlled the Mexican Federal District) intended to propel the team with little results. After playing for several years at the Estadio Azteca, the team even had to leave this venue and setting its new battleground at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes.
In 1989, the DDF sold the team to José Antonio García, a businessman owner of the sporting goods and apparel company Garcis. After a failed campaign at a new venue, this time at the Estadio Corregidora located in the city of Querétaro and the Querétaro franchise's home stadium, the team was relegated again to the Segunda División.
Second championship Right from its ashes, and back to its homeground Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, now re-baptized as the Estadio Azulgrana, Atlante managed to make an incredible come back to the Primera División, after 3 games against Pachuca in the final series for the Segunda División Championship. After the series' end, which led to extra time, penalty kicks, and sudden death, Atlante's goalkeeper Félix Fernández scored the last penalty kick for a 9–8 final score.
In the 1992–93 season, and guided by Ricardo La Volpe, Atlante obtained its second championship title against Monterrey, with the final match played at Monterrey's home stadium, Estadio Tecnológico in Monterrey, Nuevo León. Atlante's new legends from that championship title included: 2011 U-17 champion coach Raúl Gutiérrez, Felix Fernández, former Atlante coaches Miguel Herrera, José Guadalupe Cruz, and René Isidoro García, Pedro Massacessi, Wilson Graneolatti, Roberto Andrade, Guillermo Cantú, and feared strikers Luis Miguel Salvador and Daniel Guzmán. The team was crowned as champion for the second time in 45 years. By winning the title, Atlante was again able to access the Concacaf Champions Cup, which they eventually lost against Cartaginés of Costa Rica in the final.
After winning the championship title, Atlante was eliminated for the next years from the play-off stage, even with important acquisitions such as Hugo Sánchez, Jorge Campos, Venezuelan player Gabriel Miranda, among others. Once again, the team faced relegation issues; therefore, Grupo Televisa decided to acquire Atlante and move it back again to the Estadio Azteca. With this boost, Atlante was able to be reinforced by notable players, such as Zague, Martín Felix Ubaldi, José Damasceno Tiba, and Luis García, as well as the renamed coach Miguel Mejía Barón, who just had a positive result coaching the national team at World Cup 1994. Despite having memorable campaigns, such as being the first all-championship leader for a short tournament (Invierno 1996), and qualifying for the play-offs in the Verano 1997 and the Invierno 1997, the team did not accomplish any major results, and even had disastrous moments such as the embarrassing play-off series against Toros Neza in the Verano 1997, which was lost in a 9–2 global score.
The third "relegation" era Several issues occurred in Atlante's history during the last years of the 20th century, those very issues that were going to define the team's future. Inexperienced head coaches (Zlatko Petricevic, Angel Cappa, Roberto Saporitti, and Eduardo Rergis) arriving to the team, weak and vain players, and even a short decision in changing the main uniform's colors of red and blue to orange, made the team and its followers to feel without identity. Fans began switching into other successful teams, and Atlante's local matches began to feel desolated. Awful and boring matches, poorish skill level and players without a real commitment to the team, led Atlante to face again relegation issues to the Segunda División, now transformed into the Primera División 'A' de México.
Manuel Lapuente, who had recently succeeded with the national team at the 1998 World Cup, had the responsibility to guide the team throughout the Verano 2001 tournament and save the team of an imminent relegation: at the end, Lapuente and his players did not accomplish the goal. However, a ray of light appeared, since the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol was looking to expand the Primera División with 2 new teams. After paying a 5 million dollar fee, Atlante was allowed to play a promotion series of matches against the Primera División 'A's runner-up, Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. Atlante won the series 4–1, allowing them to remain in the top division as one of the new expansion teams.
The rebirth of atlantismo After breaking up its relationship with Televisa and Alejandro Burillo Azcárraga (owner of telecomm's company Pegaso) being the sole owner, the youth level program has been developed as the main focus, which has made Atlante the team with most youth debuts at the Primera División since 2000. First Carlos Reinoso, then Miguel Herrera, managed to build a team with players such as Sebastián "Chamagol" González, Luis Gabriel Rey, and goalie Federico Vilar, the team returned to the playoffs, arriving in three quarter-final and two semi-final stages. The team had a failed relocation to the Estadio Azulgrana Neza 86 in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico, Toros Neza's home stadium, and back again to the Estadio Azteca.