06/12/08

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My favorite soccer team is called Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. de C.V.  They are usually referred to by its nickname Las Chivas (The Goats).  Chivas is a Mexican association football team based in Guadalajara, Jalisco that currently competes in the Primera División de México, the highest football division in Mexico.

Guadalajara is the only football club in Mexico to exclusively field Mexican-born players.  Chivas has only three colors.  The colors are red, white and blue stand for Fraternity, Union and Sports. Chivas is one of the most famous teams in Mexico along with América. Because the team is so popular in the USA, they created a new team in the U.S.  On December 10, 2006, in the year of their Centennial, Guadalajara won its 11th professional championship, the most in Mexican football history.

The team was founded on May 8th, 1906 by a young Belgian shopkeeper named Edgar Everaert , as Club de Futbol Union. Their kit was modeled on that of the founder's favorite team, the Belgian Club Brugge K.V., which consisted of vertical stripes and the color scheme was als modeled after Brugge's (which has since changed their team colors). The first team was formed with Mexican and French players (thus being named Union because of the camaraderie between these players) and mostly consisted of employees of the store Fabrics de France with Everaert as coach.

 Thus, in 1908, with the approval of Everaert and the team's players, Club de Futbol Union would rename itself Club Deportivo Guadalajara to bring about a sense of pride within the city's population. Also in 1908, it would be decided that the team would only field Mexican-born players because of the eventual oppression Mexican nationals felt towards foreigners. Between the years of 1906 and 1943 (the amateur era of Mexican football), Guadalajara would go on to win 13 amateur titles, the first one being in 1908. Also during this period, Guadalajara would go on to form, along with Futbol Club Atlas, the first major (and oldest) rivalry in Mexican football. Atlas consisted of upper class football players, while Guadalajara represented -and still does-- the working class.

Professional Era (1943-1956)

Guadalajara was one of 10 teams that co-founded the Primera Division de Mexico in 1943. The team made its professional debut on October 21, 1943 against Atlante F.C., in which Guadalajara won by the score of 4-0^.  Guadalajara was a highly competitive team during its first professional years, however, the team would eventually be plagued by a series of bad results; the team spent their time in ninth place between 1945-48, followed by a reasonable third place finish in the 1948-49 season, and finally falling to eighth place in 1949-50. 

The 1950s saw Guadalajara begin to emerge as a powerhouse in the league, but it would soon again be witness to disaster. Between 1950 and 1957, Guadalajara had its hands on 6 league titles and 1 Mexican Cup title, but fell short of winning said titles. During this unlucky streak, the team was nicknamed the "Almost Theres". Their most painful downfall during this streak came in the 1951-1952 season.

The "Campeonisimo" Era (1956-1970)

In 1956, Guadalajara began its fabled "Campeonísimo" run, and thus ending years of coming within inches of glory. The team's first of eight league titles throughout the Campeonisimo run came at the hands of striker Salvador Reyes in a match against Club Irapuato in 1957. After winning their first title, the Cardinal of Guadalajara held a mass in their honor the next day and gave the team his blessing. Some considered changing the nickname from Chivas to Cardenales (Cardinals), but this was a short lived attempt. A compromise was reached and the team was blessed instead. Being that so many fans were of a religious nature, the team was seen as a holy relic and as a result, was given the nickname "El Rebaño Sagrado" (The Sacred Flock).

Besides winning every league title from 1956-57 to 1964-65 (except in 57-58), Las Chivas won a total of 23 trophies from national and international competition.  An eighth league title was won in the 1969-70 season, as only two of the original players from the Campeonisimo era remained. Many of the players throughout this era became legendary symbols for the club. These players include goalkeeper Jaime "Tubo" Gomez, Guillermo "Tigre" Sepúlveda, José "Jamaicón" Villegas, Pancho Flores, Juan "Bigotón" Jasso, Isidoro "Chololo" Díaz, Sabás Ponce, Francisco Jara, and striker Salvador Reyes, all-time top scorer for Guadalajara with 122 goals. Reyes was the last Guadalajara player to win the top scorer award (21 goals in a season), until Omar Bravo won it in the Primera Division de Mexico Clausura 2007 with 11 goals.

After its Campeonisimo run, Guadalajara was seen, in the eyes of most Mexican nationals, as the team that best exemplified the social struggle and nationalism of Mexico.^[8]. According to recent Mexican national polls, Guadalajara is still considered by many to be the most popular team in Mexican football ^[9].

The Dark Era (1971-1982)

The '70s began in top form for Guadalajara, after its league title of 1969-70. However, as the league became highly competitive (and the playoff system was imposed), a Dark Age descended upon the team and it struggled to repeat any of the success the "Campeonisimo" was used to. From 1971 to 1980, Guadalajara was only able to make the playoffs twice; a fifth place finish in 1971-72 and a seventh place finish in 1975-76^[10]. During the rest of the decade, Guadalajara would only come to finish at the very middle or near bottom of the league table. The disaster of the team during this era was widely blamed on bad management and players that weren't able to adapt into the team, and the arrival of more foreign players into the league.