Liga Deportiva Alajuelense

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Short description{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox football club with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| alt | American | body1 | body2 | body3 | capacity | caption | chairman | chrtitle | clubname | coach | coordinates | current | dissolved | founded | fullname | ground | image | image_size | kit_alt1 | kit_alt2 | kit_alt3 | league | leftarm1 | leftarm2 | leftarm3 | manager | mgrtitle | nickname | owner | owntitle | pattern_b1 | pattern_b2 | pattern_b3 | pattern_la1 | pattern_la2 | pattern_la3 | pattern_name1 | pattern_name2 | pattern_name3 | pattern_ra1 | pattern_ra2 | pattern_ra3 | pattern_sh1 | pattern_sh2 | pattern_sh3 | pattern_so1 | pattern_so2 | pattern_so3 | position | rightarm1 | rightarm2 | rightarm3 | season | shortname | short name | shorts1 | shorts2 | shorts3 | socks1 | socks2 | socks3 | stadium | title | upright | website }}{{#if:| }}{{#if:LDA| }} Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, Template:IPA), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (Template:IPA), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Alajuelense is mostly known for its association football team. It plays in the Primera División de Costa Rica, the top tier of the Costa Rican football league system. Alajuelense is one of two clubs to have never been relegated, along with Herediano.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Alajuelense was founded on the former Paris Hall, west of Alajuela's Central Park, on June 18, 1919, by six former players of a historic city club, Once de Abril, with the intention of uniting all the sportsmen and associations present at that time in Alajuela under a single banner. However, it wouldn't be until 1928 when Alajuelense managed to become national champions for the first time in a season that saw the club's first star: Alejandro Morera. Morera, who would later go on to become Barcelona's main striker for two seasons, is regarded as one of the finest players Costa Rica has ever produced. He would later manage Alajuelense to their second national title in 1939 as well as two others in 1941 and 1945. Since then, Alajuelense has become one of the most supported football clubs in Costa Rica.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="DEPORTES">Template:Cite web</ref>

Alajuelense is one of the most successful teams in Costa Rica and Central America, having won 30 national championships, 2 CONCACAF Champions Cup titles, 1 CONCACAF League, 2 CONCACAF Central American Cup, 3 UNCAF Interclub Cup and 1 Campeonato Centroamericano y Caribe. Alajuelense was the first Costa Rican club to win an official international competition when they defeated Suranamese club Transvaal in the final series in 1986. Alajuelense has also participated in the Copa Interamericana, Copa Merconorte, and Copa Sudamericana. In 1996, Alajuelense became the first club in the world to reach 100 points in any national league, finishing with a total of 102 points. This feat was repeated in 1998 and 2000 with 105 and 102 points gained, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="DEPORTES"/>

Alajuelense plays its home matches at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto. Alajuelense's home kit is composed of red and black vertical striped shirts, with black shorts, accompanied by red or black socks. This combination has been used since the club's foundation. Kelme are the kit manufacturers. Alajuelense holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably against Saprissa, Herediano, and Cartaginés. It has contributed many key and famous players towards Costa Rica's FIFA World Cup squads such as José Carlos Chaves, Óscar Ramírez, Mauricio Montero, Wilmer López, Luis Marín, Jhonny Acosta, and Patrick Pemberton.

History

The team was created in 1919 when a group of friends that used to play in a team called the "Electra" at first and then "Once de Abril" (April the 11th) met at "Salon París". They wanted to give the city a team that could represent them at a national level. They played their first official game on August 2 of that same year against Cartaginés getting their first victory, 3–1.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Alejandro Morera Soto.jpg
Alejandro Morera Soto, most important idol of the club.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Alajuelense was part of the 7 teams that built and formed the National League in Costa Rica, back in 1921, along with La Libertad, Gimnástica Española, Herediano, Cartaginés, CS Tres Rios de La Union, and Sociedad Gimnástica Limonense. They won their first championship in 1928. They are the only team to win the championship with a perfect record; in 1941 they won all 6 games.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1960, the team made a tour around the world, leaving Costa Rica on September 17. In 78 days, the team played 24 games, winning 12, losing seven and drawing five. They scored 71 goals and allowed 47, with a remarkable performance from Juan Ulloa Ramírez, the best player and top scorer of this tour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>

File:Liga Deportiva Alajuelense1919.svg
Liga Deportiva Alajuelense logo in 1919

Throughout their history, Alajuelense has generated a lot of great players and stunning performances. They are known as one of the best teams in the Central America area. Their best decade was the 1990s, during which they won 4 Championships and 4 sub-championships (runner up) as well. In addition to that, by the end of the 90's and the middle of the 2000s, they won a total of 5 local championships (4 of them in a row), 2 Copa Interclubes UNCAF Trophies and a CONCACAF Club Championship, being the base for the Costa Rican football team in the Korea and Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup, with 9 players.

By November 11, 2000,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and after participating in the Copa Merconorte, Alajuelense was ranked 27th in IFFHS's Club World Ranking. It is the best rank any Central American club has reached.

The club struggled with financial and administrative problems in the second part on the 2000s decade, so they decided to end contract with a lot of their regular and known players and started to build a team based on their younger divisions and make some structural changes. Nowadays the club is free of debts and with a team averaging 25-year-old players is still one of the best teams in the area and one of the teams with most fans in Costa Rica. On June 10, 2019, the club celebrated its 100th anniversary, being the second Costa Rican team to do so.

In 2023, Alajuelense participated in the 2023 CONCACAF Central American Cup, and they would advance to quarter-finals after being leaders on the Group D. They would face Cartaginés, that they would defeat 6–1 on aggregate, advancing to semifinals, where they would face Herediano, defeating them 5–4 on penalties after a 4–4 aggregate draw. In the final, they would face Real Estelí, but they would defeat them easily after a 4–1 victory on aggregate, being the first champions of the CONCACAF Central American Cup, and qualifying directly for the round of 16 of the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Stadium

Template:Main The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is the home of Alajuelense and is owned and operated by La Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. It is located in El Llano neighborhood of Alajuela.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On July 20, 1966, due to a motion by the Municipality of Alajuela, the stadium was renamed in honor of Alejandro Morera, nicknamed el mago del balón, which means the magician of the ball. He was a notable former player of Alajuelense, Barcelona, and Hércules, and for commercial purposes, in an agreement with the financial institution Scotiabank in 2011, the name Scotiabank was added.<ref name="Scotiabank">Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Morera-Soto-lda.jpg
Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto

The project to find a proper site for a permanent home started in 1938, when the director of the club, Carlos Bolaños, proposed that the club should purchase its own land. The land was purchased on October 7, 1940, but the terrain would not be football-ready until when the first game was played on January 18, 1942, when Alajuelense played against Cartaginés; the stadium only had a simple wooden stand that was previously used in the Estadio Nacional.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On September 27, 1949, a professor from a local high school named Armando Morux Sancho started what was called La marcha del ladrillo, meaning The March of Bricks in which every student would donate a brick to help build the walls and stands of the stadium. The first stands to be built were located in north, west and east around the pitch.

On March 19, 1970, the stadium saw its first night game when Alajuelense faced Honduran club Motagua, beating them 4–1.

In 1979, the enlargement of the stadium was initiated with the project of building a second stand on top of the existing stand and adding an additional stand over the dressing and conference rooms (south) and also adding a roof to the stands located to the east and the south. The project was fully completed in 1984. The stadium was re-inaugurated that year along with the new illuminations, which were amongst the best illuminations systems at the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 8 April 2021, the team announced plans for a new stadium, with an expected opening by January 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Mascot

The team is now represented by a Lion and Lioness dressed with the team uniform and wearing cleats as if he was going to play.

In every home game, the mascot comes out at the pitch before the game starts and plays on the field with fans, jokes with rival's fans, walk through the pitch with models giving away gifts from their sponsors and cheers the team with a huge team's flag. Before the game starts and during the half-time break, the Lion walks among the crowd and stands for pictures with the children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The original mascot used to be a Mango, this because the team is located in Alajuela that is known as "La Ciudad de los Mangos" ("The Mangoes' City") because of the high amount of Mango Trees that could be located in the province due its weather, but later on in the early 80's, the mascot was changed into a Lion.

The Lion was chosen years ago because it represents four main attributes of the major king of the jungle, that are reflected on the team's vision and mission: Courage, Strength, Dynamism and Fidelity.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sponsors

  • Jersey supplier
Manufacturer Period Sponsor
None 1980 Template:Flagicon Caloi
Template:Flagicon Jugados 1983–1986 Template:Flagicon Lee
1986–1987 Template:Flagicon Punto Rojo
None 1987–1988 Template:Flagicon Glidden
1988 Template:Flagicon Jabón Fortuna
1988–1992 Template:Flagicon Coca-Cola Cherry
1992–1996 Template:Flagicon Coca-Cola
Template:Flagicon Nike 1996–1998 Template:Flagicon Mutual Alajuela
Template:Flagicon Atletica 1998–2000
Template:Flagicon Escord 2000–2001 Template:Flagicon Popular Pensiones
Template:Flagicon Finta 2001–2002 Template:Flagicon Coca-Cola
Template:Flagicon Jugados 2003–2008
Template:Flagicon Puma 2008–2009 Template:Flagicon LG
2010–2011 Template:FlagiconSony
2012–2015 Template:Flagicon Movistar
2016 Template:Flagicon Movistar

Template:Flagicon Banco General

2017 Template:Flagicon Claro

Template:Flagicon Volaris

Template:Flagicon Kelme 2018 Template:Flagicon Toyota

Template:Flagicon Mobil

Template:Flagicon Bridgestone

Template:Flagicon Kolbi

Template:Flagicon Umbro 2024 Template:Flagicon Don Pedro

Template:Flagicon Gatorade

Template:Flagicon Mastercard

Template:Flagicon San Miguel

2025–present Template:Flagicon BAC Credomatic

Template:Flagicon Dos Pinos

Template:Flagicon Medismart

Template:Flagicon Monge

  • Jersey sponsors
Kolbi – Tuasa – Repretel – Cementos Fortaleza – Toyota – Mobil

Honours

National

International

Intercontinental

Continental

Regional

Friendly

  • Torneo Relámpago de Fútbol de Costa Rica: 1944, 1945
  • Cuadrangular Antonio Escarré: 1964
  • KLM Cup: 1994
  • Torneo 90 Minutos por la Vida: 2003, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024
  • Copa de las Américas: 2004
  • Superclásico de Costa Rica: 2012, 2013 2014, 2015

Awards

  • CONCACAF League Fair Play: 2020, 2022

Performance in CONCACAF competitions

1962 – Second round (quarter-finals)
1968 – First round
1971 – Finalist
1973 – Third round (quarter-finals)
1986 – Champion
1988 – Semi-finals
1991 – Third round (quarter-finals)
1992 – Finalist
1993 – Second round (quarter-finals)
1995 – Third place
1996 – Second round
1997 – Second round
1998 – Quarter-finals
1999 – Finalist
2000 – Quarter-finals
2002 – Semi-finals
2003 – Quarter-finals
2004 – Champion
2006 – Semi-finals
2008-09 – First round
2011–12 – Group stage
2012–13 – Group stage
2013–14 – Semi-finals
2014–15 – Semi-finals
2021 – Round of 16
2023 – Round of 16
2024 – Round of 16
2025 – Round of 16
2017 – First round
2020 – Champion
2021 – First round
2022 – Finalist
2023 – Champion
2024 – Champion

Recent seasons

Below are listed the club's history performances in national compétition.

Season Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Torneo apertura Position Torneo clausura Position Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Other competitions

Player records

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2

Most appearances (as of December 11, 2017)<ref>Un histórico "Pato" Template:Webarchive – UNAFUTTemplate:In lang</ref>
# Name Career Apps Goals
1 Template:Flagicon Wilmer López 1993–07 478 80
2 Template:Flagicon Luis Marín 1993–11* 451 17
3 Template:Flagicon Harold Wallace 1995–08 424
4 Template:Flagicon Mauricio Montero 1987–98 408
5 Template:Flagicon Álvaro Solano 1978–91 396 73
6 Template:Flagicon Luis Diego Arnáez 1993–05 390 76
7 Template:Flagicon Javier Delgado 1990–03* 377
8 Template:Flagicon Pablo Gabas 2003–17* 333 61
9 Template:Flagicon Joaquín Guillén 1987–98 331
10 Template:Flagicon Richard Smith 1988–98 315 44

Template:Col-2

Most goals
# Player Career Apps Goals
1 Template:Flagicon Errol Daniels 1964–72 168 196
2 Template:Flagicon Juan Ulloa 1954–62 89
3 Template:Flagicon Roy Sáenz 1969–75 84
4 Template:Flagicon Jonathan McDonald 2011–17* 174 92
5 Template:Flagicon Wilmer López 1993–07 478 80
6 Template:Flagicon Álvaro Solano 1978–91 396 73
7 Template:Flagicon Josef Miso 1995–03 208 72
8 Template:Flagicon Javier Jiménez 1972–84* 71
9 Template:Flagicon Óscar Cordero 1969-78 68
10 Template:Flagicon Juan Gámez 1959-74 66

|- Template:Col-end

Players

Template:For

Current squad

Template:Updated Template:Fs start Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs mid Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs player Template:Fs end

Out on loan

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Retired numbers

Template:See also 20 – Template:Flagicon Mauricio Montero, defender (1987–98)

Historical list of coaches

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Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Liga Deportiva Alajuelense squad Template:Navboxes top Template:Liga Deportiva Alajuelense matches Template:Costa Rican Primera División Template:CONCACAF Champions League Winners Template:CONCACAF League Winners Template:UNCAF Interclub Cup Winners Template:Navboxes bottom

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