Full name	Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A. de C.V.
Nickname(s)	Chivas, Rebaño Sagrado, Chiverío, Campeonísimo, Chivas Rayadas, El Equipo del Pueblo, Rojiblancos
Founded	May 8, 1906
Ground	Estadio Jalisco,Guadalajara (Capacity: 56,713)
President	Jorge Vergara
Manager	Efraín Flores Mercado
League	La Primera División
Clausura 2008	Quarterfinals (Playoffs) 8th (league)

Club Deportivo Guadalajara, commonly known as Chivas (Goats) is a Mexican association football team based in Guadalajara, Jalisco that competes in the Primera División de México, the highest football division in Mexico. Chivas holds the record as the most effective team in Mexican football.

Chivas is the only football club in Mexico to exclusively field Mexican-born players. The three colors of the team red, white, and blue stand for Fraternity, Union, and Sports. It is one of two teams in Mexico that have never been relegated to the Primera Division A (2nd Division), the other being América, These are also the two most popular clubs in Mexico, and the meetings of América and Chivas signal the national derby (see el Superclásico). Chivas has the most championships than any other club in Mexico. Guadalajara has (76) tournaments the second most in the world and only behind Real Madrid.

Foundation and the Amateur Era (1906-1942)

The idea of forming the future came when in 1904 a young migrant from Belgium of the name Edgar Everaert who immediately made friendship with a French person of the name Calixto Gas came with the idea of forming a football team since both shared the passion of the sport. Club Guadalajara was founded on May 8th 1906 by Gregorio Orozco and Casa Gas, L. Gas y Cía (Almacenes la Ciudad de México) the team started with the name of Club Union. The team’s uniform had the colors of the Flag of France: red, white and blue. It was later renamed Guadalajara[1]. After 2 years, and Everaert returning from Europe, he suggested the team to the name Guadalajara since in Europe teams of the name of their city were very popular. Guadalajara during it’s years in the Jalisco State Championship the team accumulated 13 championships. Also during some occations a selection of players from their teams would go to represent the state of Jalisco in a series of friendly matches against teams from the capital Mexico City.

Professional Era, El Ya Merito (1943-1955)

In 1943 the Liga Mayor is founded after the merging of several regional leagues and the Profesional era began. Guadalajara struggled the first years ending up in low numbers except for the 1948-49 season where it ended up in third. On the same year Guadalajara was given the name of "Chivas brinconas" or jumping goats during a game against Tampico-Madero where the name was taken as an offense, but was later adopted as the team’s nickname where until today is called by. On the 1951-52 and 1954-55 the team almost crowned themselves but ended up short. With this results the fans called them "los ya merito."

El Campeonisimo (1956-1970)

In the 1956 season began an era of glory to the team, a group of players such as Salvador Reyes, Jaime "El Tubo" Gomez, Isidoro Lopez, Jose Villegas as others to mention formed the dream team which is considered one of the finest in Mexican football history, EL Campeonisimo". Guadalajara won it’s first championship on the 1956-57 season on a last minute goal scored by Salvador Reyes which marked the beginning of a long age of titles . Commanded by coaches like Donald Russ, and Javier de la Torre, the team obtained 7 league championships, 2 cups, 3 Concacaf titles, and 7 champion of champions. Until now its the only team in Mexico’s football history to won 4 league championships straight in the 1958-59, 1959-60, 1960-61, and 1961-62 seasons. El Campeonisimo became internationally recognized that in 1964 went in a tour in Europe playing against teams like Futbol Club Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Lille Olympique were the record was 2 victories, 4 ties, and 4 loses. After the 1969-70 season came the time when players of el Campeonisimo started to retire and changes came.

The Dark Era (1971-1982)

The Guadalajara only made the playoffs twice; a fifth place finish in 1971-72 and a seventh place finish in 1975-76[1]. During the rest of the decade, Guadalajara would only finish at the middle or near bottom of the league table. This era was widely blamed on bad management ,players that weren’t able to adapt in the team, and the arrival of more foreign players into the league.

The 1980s, the Resurrection 1983-1991

Guadalajara again became a prominent competitor in the ’80s. A third place finish in the 1980-81 season gave fans hope for a new era, but the team was soon eliminated in the playoffs. Prior to the 1981-82 season, a tragic road accident took the life of team member José Martínez, leaving the team in a state of shock [2]. The team finished the season in seventeenth place.

After that tragic season, the team went on to hire coach Alberto Guerra, who had been a player for Guadalajara during the mid-60s. Many fans had doubts that such a young and inexperienced coach would do anything to improve the team’s chances for success, but that soon changed during the 1982-83 season. Guadalajara finished seventh in the league table and qualified for the playoffs, where it would go on to eliminate Atlante FC in Quarterfinals and hated rivals Club America in Semifinals. The team reached the Finals for the first time since the playoff format was introduced in the ’70s, where it would go on to lose against Puebla FC in a penalty shootout [3]. Guadalajara would once again reach the Finals in 1983-84, only to lose to rivals America by an aggregate score of 5-4.

Guadalajara’s 17-Year streak without a championship finally came to an end in the 1986-87 season. The team finished first in the league table, qualifying for the playoffs with ease, where it would go on to defeat CF Monterrey in Quarterfinals and Puebla FC in Semis. The ninth championship came against Cruz Azul with an aggregate score of 4-2. After the 1987-88 season, where Guadalajara was eliminated in Quarterfinals and 1988-89 season, where it was eliminated in Semis, Alberto Guerra left the team, signaling the end of another era.

Prominent players for Guadalajara in the 1980s include Ricardo "Snoopy" Perez, Eduardo "Yayo" de la Torre, Fernando Quirarte, Javier "Zully" Ledesma, Demetrio Madero, and Benjamin Galindo.

"La Promotora" Era (1992-02)

By the end of the 1980s, Guadalajara began to experience financial troubles. The team was in terrible debt and needed a new direction to handle its financial woes. Team directors decided to create a special financial sector that would be known as La Promotora Deportiva. th.e team would be "sold" for 10 years starting in 1992 to a petroleum executive named Salvador Martinez Garza, who would be in charge of the Promotora and of team operations[4]. Before Guadalajara began its new era under the Promotora, the team began the 1990s in average form, reaching the Semis in 90-91, reaching the Quarterfinals in 91-92, and finishing in thirteenth place in 92-93.

Because of the lack of experience in football business affairs , Salvador Martinez Garza and his directors decided to adopt an iron-fist philosophy and try to revitalize the team by purchasing the strongest players available at the time. The new directors decided to bring back Guadalajara’s champion coach in 1986-87 Alberto Guerra and purchase many players that would become icons for Guadalajara in the early ’90s: Missael Espinoza, Alberto "Guameru" Garcia, and Alberto Coyote. The team also decided that it would rely on young talent from its basic training schools. Such talent included Paulo Cesar "Tilon" Chavez and Joel "Tiburon" Sanchez. At the beginning of the 93-94 season, the press and fans dubbed the new and improved team Las Superchivas[4]. The team, however, did not meet anyone’s expectations and were easily eliminated early on in the playoffs. The 94-95 season would bring about more change for the team. To further impose its iron-fist philosophy, Guadalajara would go on to hire a player that would become a key to the team in the 1990s: Ramon Ramirez. Also at the start of the season, directors sold all television rights of the team to Mexican giant Televisa, a move that was heavily criticized by fans because of Televisa’s ownership of Club America[4]. Guadalajara would end the regular season as the undisputed leader in the league table, and was posed to win its 10th title, but was narrowly defeated by Club Necaxa in Semis. The 96-97 season saw the exit of coach Alberto Guerra and with it, the slow downfall of the team. A new coach, Dutchman Leo Beenhakker, would be brought in towards the middle of the season, but the team failed to make the playoffs.

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 would come to capture 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 Verano 1998 season, only to once again lose to Necaxa. The rest of the decade would see the team do very poorly and the fans would ultimately lose respect for La Promotora for selling icon Ramon Ramirez to Club America[4]. The Promotora’s mishandling of the team in the eyes of the fans would finally come to an end in 2002, the tenth year of the originally proposed contract.

Jorge Vergara Era (2002-Present)

After its tenth year in charge of Guadalajara, La Promotora found itself in the same debt it had began in. Pressure by fans started to take its toll and the team was finally put up for sale. Finally, on October 31, 2002, the team was acquired by a Guadalajara native and self-made entrepreneur Jorge Vergara[5]. Vergara was the founder of a dietary supplement company named Omnilife. Before he began his tenure as sole proprietor of the club, Vergara recognized, unlike La Promotora, that he knew nothing about the football business. He proceeded to hire directors that would be in charge of handling business affairs and he would come to promise fans that the team would be revitalized in a new direction. One of his first acts as President was to remove all sponsorship from Guadalajara’s jersey, as he thought the jersey was a sacred relic for the team (the jersey has since had limited sponsorship). He would also come recognize the importance of young players for the team, an act that La Promotora was negligent about.

Under Vergara’s new direction, the team was heavily revitalized in all sectors, especially financially. In order to establish a rich source of funds for the team, Vergara sought out to market the Chivas name and capitalize on it, placing the name on anything from its own magazine to toothbrushes and its own brand of cola[6].

The first two seasons under the new era saw promising results for the team. For the Clausura 2003 season, Guadalajara hired Eduardo "Yayo" de la Torre, who had played for the team in the 1980s and qualified for the playoffs in average form, only to be eliminated by Cruz Azul in Quarterfinals. The Apertura 2003 season would see poor results in the first half of the tournament, putting an end to "Yayo" de la Torre’s tenure as coach. Coaching responsibilities would be temporarily assumed by Dutchman Hans Westerhof (who was in charge of the team’s basic training school) and the team would barely qualify for a wild card showdown against Club Deportivo Toluca, but was subsequently eliminated. For the Apertura 2004, Guadalajara would display an offensive style of football and mananged to place third in the league table, qualifying for the playoffs. Players such as goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez, Ramon Morales, Omar Bravo, and newly acquired Adolfo Bautista, became instant fan favorites. They defeated Atlante FC in Quarterfinals and Toluca in Semis, but would lose a heartbreaking 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 Copa Libertadores 2005, where it defeated favorites Boca Juniors to reach Semis) and were destined for more positive results.

Under coach José Manuel "Chepo" de la Torre, who was also a player for Guadalajara in the 1980s, the team won its 11th championship. For the Apertura 2006 season, Chivas placed eighth in the league table and qualified to the knock-out round (the "liguilla") by defeating Veracruz 2-1 in Veracruz and 4-0 in the Estadio Jalisco in a wild card series. Guadalajara moved to Quarterfinals where it defeated first place qualified Cruz Azul 2-0 in the first leg and tied 2-2 in the second leg (4-2 aggregate), moving on to the semi-finals against rivals Club América. Chivas defeated América 2-0 in Estadio Jalisco and tied 0-0 in the Estadio Azteca.

These wins allowed Chivas to move on to the final of the Primera Division against Toluca. The first match was played at Estadio Jalisco, in which Toluca and Chivas tied 1-1 with goals from Omar Bravo for Chivas and Bruno Marioni for Toluca. On December 10, 2006, Chivas played at Toluca’s home stadium Estadio Nemesio Diez and won 2-1 (3-2 aggregate), thus becoming the Mexican League champions, holding 11 titles, the most titles of any other team in the league. The first goal was scored by Francisco Javier Rodríguez, and the second was by way of Adolfo Bautista. Bautista dedicated his goal and his team’s victory to his mother, who died shortly before. This championship was goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez’s first in his career. Photo Gallery Up to date Chivas has sended players born of their reserves to Europe than in any other era. Jose Vergara has lead the Chivas to amazing seasons, though with a disappointing ’08 season in which they did no reach the playoffs or the "Copa Sudamericana" finals.

Team Crest

Once the team was renamed in 1908 as Club Guadalajara, it didn’t count on a proper crest. The team simply used its initials, C.G., in the center of its jersey. After a few years of the team’s existence, the first proper crest was designed and still relied on the team’s initials. They were placed around a circle and were given a more rich design. This same design would be used in the team’s limited edition Centennial jerseys in 2006.

Guadalajara’s current crest was designed in 1923 and uses as its base, the crest of the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco. The crest was then complimented with a blue circle and the words Club Deportivo Guadalajara, five red stripes and six white stripes, eventual colors that were adopted by the team, and eleven stars representing each championship the team has won. The actual crest design is credited to brothers Everardo and Jose Espinosa, Angel Bolumar, and Antonio Villalvazo, all whom were associated as players or directors of the team during that time[7].

Current Stadium

From the 1930s to 1960 Guadalajara used to play in a small stadium known as "Parque Oblatos". Guadalajara currently shares its home stadium, Estadio Jalisco, with Atlas. Estadio Jalisco was opened on January 31, 1960. It was host for 8 games in the 1970 FIFA World Cup which from 6 were from group stage matches, and two were quarter and semi-finals. The stadium was host for 9 games in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, which 6 were group stage matches, 1 was round of sixteen and the last 2 were quarter and semi finals.

Estadio Chivas

Guadalajara’s new home stadium is under construction and will be tentatively named Estadio Chivas. This stadium will have the form of a volcano with a cloud on top as the idea of the design is to integrate the stadium with nature due to its ecological design and closeness to a forest area also becoming part of the future Conventions and Business JVC Center. The stadiums seats will be colored red except for the loge seats which will be color white. It will also have a large main entrance and 18 exits for a secure evacuation in case of an emergency and faster way of exiting the stadium . The new football stadium will have a minimum capacity for 45,500 seats to maximum of 54,500. An underground parking lot will be capable of holding up to 8,000 cars. The new stadium will also have a restaurant with a capacity of 200 people and also has a view of the field while the game is being held. The construction of the stadium is in charge of Ingenieros Civiles y Asociados who won an 81 million USD construction contract for the edification of the stadium after finishing the foundation in January 2008. The stadium is expected to be finished by 3rd Quarter 2009.[8].

Current squad

Honours

National

Amateur Era

Professional Era

International Official Tournaments

International Non-Official

Other Tournaments

Top Goalscorers in Domestic League

Players in bold are still present in club.

Notable Players