Club America

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Club de Futbol América, also known as Club América or simply América, is a Mexican professional football club. América plays in the Primera División de México. The team is one of the most popular football clubs in Mexico and also one of the most successful. América and Chivas de Guadalajara share the distinction of being the most successful teams in league play, with 10 championships each. It should be noted that since 1996, when the Primera División changed its format from one long season over two calendar years (e.g. 1994-95) to two short seasons in a same year (e.g. Apertura 2003, Clausura 2003), some purists would allege that nowadays, a short season championship is really a "half-championship."

Championships

• League Championships: 14
• * 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1984, 1985, Prode 1985, 1988, 1989, Verano 2002, Clausura 2005
• Cup Titles: 6
• * 1938, 1954, 1955, 1964, 1965, 1974
• Super Cup Titles: 5
• * 1955, 1976, 1988, 1989, 2005
• CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 5
• * 1977, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2006
• CONCACAF Giants Cup title: 1
• * 2001
• Interamerican Cup: 2
• * 1978, 1991

History

Foundation

Players from Colon and Record met on 12 October, 1916 to further their proposals and as a result had to come up with a new name. Many names were considered but it was Pedro 'Cheto' Quintanilla who had proposed America since they had formed a team on Columbus Day (Dia de las Americas), a day in which the Americas were discovered. The players soon designed a crest which had the map of the Americas encircled and placed a 'C' and an 'A' on both sides of the Americas to signify Club America. After they had created their logo, the players had to decide on their team colors. Rafael got some of his father’s navy blue trousers and a yellow shirt and it was decided amongst the group that those would be the club's colours.

Amateur Era

In 1918, the team changed its name to 'Union.' The name didn’t stand too well and changed back to Club America in 1920². From 1924 to 1928, Club America was crowned league champions and was able to attract impresive crowds. In 1926, Club America became the first Mexican club to play outside of Mexico². Aside from broadening their horizons, Club America along with Atlante petitioned to reduce the number of foreign players in the league. Shortly after the Mexican Football Federation was formed in 1928, Rafael 'Record' Garza Gutiérrez (Club America founder) was designated as the National Team Head Coach. Most of the players that participated in the 1928 Olympics and 1930 World Cup were players that pertained to Club America.

Professional Era

In 1956, the club was sold to a soft drink manufacturer. The new owner was trying to build upon the club's National Cup titles in 1954 and 1955 against Guadalajara, their soon to be nemesis. To the dismay of many, the owner failed to build upon the success and on July 22 1959, Emilio Azcarraga Milmo, owner of Telesistema Mexicano (Televisa), bought Club America from Isaac Bessudo³.

It is said in Mexico that the club was founded in 1916, but reborn in 1959, with the vision and values that were set forth by the son of Televisa's founder, Emilio Azcarraga Milmo. The vision he embarked upon was to convert football into a form of entertainment for the masses. Following the acquisition, Azcarraga told his players the following, 'I do not know much about soccer, but I do know a lot about business, and this gentlemen, will be a business⁷'.

It was obvious to Emilio Azcarraga that football in Mexico needed an antagonist, in other words, a common bad guy. Emilio Azcarraga knew that his club could not compete with the good guy in the movie (like Chivas). The new owner sought out to be the villain. Soon after, the club started to spend obscene amounts of money in acquiring foreign talents, which offended fans. Emilio Azcarraga hired the Mexican Leagues most successful football executive of that time, Guillermo Cañedo as President and Ignacio Trelles as head coach. It was then when Emilio Azcarraga revolutionized the game in Mexico. He laid down a foundation for the club’s future by investing in scouting, player development, infrastructure, and merchandising⁷. He marketed his team both at the national and international level which allowed the club to enjoy financial growth. Under Azcarraga, the team has won 10 League championships, the first after the 1965-1966 season. In the 1970's, when Mexico's league championship format was changed to a playoff following the regular season (the previous format was akin to most European leagues, where the team with the most points after the end of the regular season is crowned the champion), America achieved more success - winning in the 1970-71 season(America 2 - 0 Toluca), and in the 1975-76 season, defeating Universidad de Guadalajara by a score of 4-0. The success in the 70's was due in large part to players like Enrique Borja, later an executive for the team, and Carlos Reinoso the gifted Chilean playmaker who is arguably the greatest player to wear an America uniform.

Eight more years would come to pass before America won another championship, but the team's fans would be rewarded thanks to the conquest of what has been called by many the greatest moment in the Eagles' history, a 5-3 victory over the team Chivas de Guadalajara at the climax of the 1983-1984 season, cementing the team's third league championship. The '84 championship gave the team new vigor it seemed, and America began to dominate the decade, steamrolling their way to four more titles in the 1980's. (1984-85, when they defeated UNAM Pumas 3-1; Prode 85 - beating Tampico Madero 5 to 4, 1987-88 once again over Pumas by a score of 4-2 and ending their decade of dominance by defeating Cruz Azul at the end of the 1988-89 season 5-4)

The nineties would be a decade to forget for fans of the yellow clad warriors, with nothing to show for except an Interamericana Cup championship in 1993, and a CONCACAF Cup Championship in 1992. Years came and went with Televisa spending exorbitant amounts of money on both Mexican and South American (and even a few European and African imports) destined to return the club to its former glory which came to pass as nothing more than currency far from well spent. Internationally renowned coaches and executives were also brought to the team, producing no results that added to the team's woes. The only bright spots of the decade were the appearance of new young stars that developed in the club's youth squad, players like Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Germán Villa that would be instrumental to the team's success later on.

The new millennium brought renewed hope for Club America's fans, who would be rewarded quickly, with a CONCACAF Giants' cup in 2001, the first League championship in 13 years in the summer of 2002, and the team's tenth overall League title in 2005. The team, now being run by Azcarraga's grandson, Emilio Azcárraga Jean continues the legacy begun by his grandfather and the foundation he laid which eventually rewarded the club with - aside from the aforementioned 10 League titles- , 3 Cup titles, 3 Super Cup titles, 5 CONCACAF Champions Cup titles, and 2 Interamerican Cup titles.

Current Roster

Squad changes for Apertura 2006 season

Vicente Matías Vuoso - Transferred From Santos Laguna

Notable Players

Rafael García Gutiérrez "Récord"

Alfredo Tena

Sources/External Links

• [Official Team Website]
• [Team Anthem]
• 1 ["Nace un equipo pequeño."] www.esmas.com. Redaccion.
• 2 ["Inicia la aventura (1917-1942)."] www.esmas.com. Redaccion.
• 3 ["Epoca profesional (1943-1969)."] www.esmas.com. Redaccion.
• 4 ["Mas ligas y el campeonato Intercontinental (1970-1981)."] www.esmas.com. Redaccion.
• 5 ["America campeonisimo (1982-1998)."] www.esmas.com. Redaccion.
• 6 ["Otra vez Campeones (1999-actual)."] www.esmas.com. Redaccion.
• 7 Club America: El vuelo de Aguilas. Televisa Home Entertainment, Clio. DVD. Xenon Picture. 2001

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