Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V., also known as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a professional football club based in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football, and plays its home matches at Estadio Akron. Founded in 1906 as Unión Football Club, the club changed its name to Guadalajara Football Club in 1908, and later changed to its current name in 1923. Nicknamed Chivas, it was one of ten founding members of the professional era of the Liga Mayor (current Liga MX). Guadalajara is one of the four most popular clubs in Mexico and one of seven Mexican clubs that have never been relegated.
Chivas is the only football club in Mexico that does not sign foreign or naturalized players unless they are of Mexican descent. The team has historically relied on home-grown (cantera) players and has been the launching pad of many internationally successful players, including Javier Hernández, Carlos Vela and Carlos Salcido, among others.
Domestically, CD Guadalajara is one of the most successful Mexican clubs, winning twelve Liga MX titles, four Copa MX titles, seven Campeón de Campeones and one Supercopa MX, and also holds the league record for the longest winning streak at the beginning of a season, with eight consecutive wins in the Bicentenario 2010. Internationally, it has won two CONCACAF Champions Cup/Champions League titles, and also finished as runners-up in the 2010 Copa Libertadores.
According to a study of preferred football clubs in 2016, Guadalajara was the most popular Mexican club, with 44.2% of supporters in the country. In 2020, Forbes estimated that the club was the most valuable of the league, ranking sixth overall in the Americas, worth approximately $311.5 million.
History
Early history The team was founded by Edgar Everaert, who arrived in Mexico in 1906. First named "Unión" because of the camaraderie between the players of different nationalities, most of whom were employees of the Fábricas de Francia store, with founder Everaert as coach. A few Spanish and English players also became members of the Unión Football Club. The club's first match was against Gimnasio Atlético Occidental. That match, Unión was coached by member Rafael Orozco, who alongside his brother, Gregorio, were the first Mexicans at Unión. The Orozco family were one of the club's earliest benefactors, with Orozco's grandmother, Nicolasa Sáinz, allowing her home to be used as Unión's first clubhouse. His uncle, Sabino Orozco, who reportedly came up with the name Unión, would also donate land to the club that would become its first ground.
On a tour of Europe, Everaert noticed that European teams named after their respective town or city seemed to generate more support from fans in their communities. Once he returned to Guadalajara, Jalisco, he told his observations to Rafael and Gregorio Orozco. So, in 1908, in a club meeting at Sáinz's house attended by the Orozco brothers, Sabino Orozco, and the remaining Mexican Unión members, Club de Fútbol Unión was renamed as Club Deportivo Guadalajara to engender a sense of loyalty within the city's population. Notably, this decision was made without Everaert or any European members present. Gregorio Orozco would take credit for the decision to rename the club. At the same meeting, Rafael Orozco would be named the first club president. Amateur Era (1908–1943)
Newly founded Atlas would join the league, becoming a powerhouse in Tapatio football winning 4 tournaments from 1918 to 1921, with Guadalajara finishing runners-up twice. Guadalajara would win the 1922 tournament as well as in 1923 and 1924, with Atlas finishing runners-up all thrice. The competitiveness and the socioeconomic differences of the clubs would create the Clásico Tapatío, one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in Mexican football.
From 1924 to 1934, Chivas would win 5 Occidente titles, only losing the other championships to newly founded Nacional. During this period, the Selección Jalisco would be founded in 1926 by the members of the Liga Occidente. A regional team composed of the best players from Jalisco based in Club Guadalajara, Atlas, Nacional, and Oro, would play exhibitions against Primera Fuerza teams based in Mexico City, and by 1937, teams outside of Mexico. By 1940, the popularity of the exhibition side would result in many players being poached by Mexico City-based clubs, and later in an invitation to the Primera Fuerza. The 1941 Primera Fuerza tournament would end with the Selección Jalisco finishing second in their inaugural tournament. The exhibition team would participate in the following Primera Fuerza tournaments, before the foundation of the Liga Mayor.
Between 1906 and 1943, Guadalajara won 13 amateur titles.
Professional Era and "El Ya Merito" (1943–1955) In 1943 the Liga Mayor was founded after the merging of several regional leagues and the era of professional football began. Guadalajara would make their professional debut on 6 July 1943 in the Copa MX, where they would play against local rivals Atlas. They would go on to lose the match 3–1, with Manuel "Cosas" López's 30-minute goal becoming the first of Guadalajara's professional era. Later that year, they would make their Liga Mayor debut on 21 October against Atlante, where they would go on to win 1–4 at Parque Asturias. Pablo "Pablotas" González scored the first league goal in Guadalajara's history.
Guadalajara struggled during the early years, with the exception of the 1948–49 season when they finished third. This same year Guadalajara was given the name "Chivas Locas" (Crazy Goats) during a game against Tampico. The name was initially considered an insult but later adopted as the team's nickname due to the overwhelming popularity of the club.
During the 1952 season, Guadalajara would challenge for their first league title, competing with León and city rivals Atlas and Oro. Guadalajara were league leaders by matchday 20, but a 0–1 loss at home to León on matchday 21 and a 1–0 loss away at Puebla on the final matchday would result in León winning the title by one point. Guadalajara would again challenge for the league title in the 1954–55 seasons, where the team finished as runner-up in the league to Zacatepec. This era of competing for the title would lead to the nickname "¡Ya Merito!" ("Almost There!").
"El Campeonísimo" (1955–1970) During the 1956 season, players such as Salvador "Chava" Reyes, Jaime "El Tubo" Gomez, Arturo "Curita" Chaires, Juan "Bigotón" Jasso, Isidoro "Chololo" Díaz, Guillermo "Tigre" Sepúlveda, and José "Jamaicón" Villegas were part of what is considered one of the finest teams in Mexican football history, El Campeonísimo. Guadalajara won its first championship during this season due to a last-minute header scored by Salvador Reyes. Led by coaches such as Donaldo "Pato" Ross and Javier "Chamaco" de la Torre in subsequent years, the team won seven league championships, two cups, three CONCACAF titles and seven Champion of Champions titles. It was the only team in Mexico's football history to win four league championships in a row, during the 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, and 1961–62 seasons. El Campeonísimo became internationally recognized and, in 1964 played several matches in Europe against such teams as FC Barcelona, Werder Bremen, and Lille Olympique, resulting in two victories, four draws and four losses for the team.
"Las Chivas Flacas" (1971–1983) During the 1970s and early 1980s, Guadalajara struggled a lot. In the 1970–71 season, the team finished very close to the relegation zone. The best they could manage to reach was the play-offs twice, with a fifth-place finish in 1971–72 and a sixth-place finish in 1976–77. They began to be nicknamed "Las Chivas Flacas" (The Lean Goats), due to their lean athletic performances. During the 1980–81 season, on February 14, 1981, the bus transporting the team to a match in the city of Puebla was hit by a trailer, taking the life of midfielder José "Pepe" Martínez. During 1980–81 season, the team reached a third-place ranking. Eleven years after their near-relegation in 1971, Guadalajara managed to escape it yet again in the 1981–82 season by just one point.
Recovery (1983–1991) Improvement came soon after the hiring of coach Alberto Guerra, who had been a player for Guadalajara during the mid '60s. During the 1982–83 season, Guadalajara finished seventh in the league and qualified for the playoffs, going on to eliminate Atlante in quarter-finals and América in Semifinals. The team reached the finals for the first time since the playoff format was introduced in the '70s, where they would go on to lose to Puebla in a penalty shootout. Guadalajara would once again reach the Finals in 1983–84, only to lose to América by an aggregate score of 5–4. The club would continue being competitive the rest of the '80s and early '90s, with their very best performance in the 1986–87 season, where they would finish 1st in the regular season and win the Championship against Cruz Azul in the final.
"La Promotora" Era (1992–2002) By the end of the 1980s, Guadalajara began to experience several financial troubles. Team directors decided to create a special financial sector that would be known as La Promotora Deportiva. The team would be "sold" for 10 years starting in 1992 to a petroleum executive named Salvador Martínez Garza, who would be in charge of the Promotora and of team operations.
The new directors decided to bring back Guadalajara's champion coach of the 1986–87 season Alberto Guerra and purchase many players that would become icons for Guadalajara in the early '90s: Missael "Missa" Espinoza, Alberto "Guamerú" García, and Alberto Coyote. The team also relied on young talent from the youth academy. Such talent included Paulo Cesar "Tilón" Chávez and Joel "Tiburón" Sánchez. At the beginning of the 93–94 season, the press and fans dubbed the new and improved team Las Superchivas.
By 1996, the Primera División de México season format would be changed to two short seasons per year. The first of the seasons, Invierno 1996, saw Guadalajara bring in another coach, Brazilian Ricardo Ferretti. During Ferretti's first season, the team managed to reach third place in the league table, but would be eliminated by Club Necaxa in the Quarterfinals. Guadalajara won its 10th championship under Ferretti in the Verano 1997 season against Toros Neza with the aggregate score of 7–2. Guadalajara would once again reach the Finals in the Invierno 1998 season, only to once again lose to Necaxa.
New Ownership Era (2002–2011)
After its tenth year in charge of Guadalajara, La Promotora was still in debt and finally put up for sale. On 31 October 2002, the team was acquired by a Guadalajara native and self-made entrepreneur, Jorge Vergara.
In order to establish funding for the team, Vergara sought to market the Las Chivas name and capitalize on it, placing the name on anything from its own magazine to toothbrushes and its own brand of cola.
In February 2004, it was announced that the club would construct a new stadium (Estadio Akron).
In the Apertura 2004, Guadalajara would display an offensive style of football and managed to place third in the league standings, qualifying for the playoffs. Players such as goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez, Ramon Morales, Omar Bravo, and newly acquired Adolfo "Bofo" Bautista, became instant fan favorites. They defeated Atlante in the quarterfinals and Toluca in the semifinals, but would lose in the Finals against Pumas UNAM in a penalty shootout. Nevertheless, the team had shown, since Vergara's arrival, that it was highly competitive, including in the 2005 Copa Libertadores, where it defeated favorites Boca Juniors 4–0 aggregate to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, they lost to Athletico Paranaense 5–2. Under coach José Manuel de la Torre, who was a player for Guadalajara in the 1980s, the team won its 11th championship.