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Liga Deportiva Alajuelense

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Not to be confused with Alajuelense Fútbol Femenino.
Liga Deportiva Alajuelense
Full nameAssociation Liga Deportiva Alajuelense
Nickname(s)Los Leones (The Lions),
La Liga (The League)
Manudos (Big-Handed)
FoundedJune 18, 1919; 105 years ago (1919-06-18)
GroundEstadio Alejandro Morera Soto
Capacity17,895
PresidentJoseph Joseph Saidy
Head coachAlexandre Guimaraes
LeagueLiga Promerica
Clausura 20231°
Websitehttp://lda.cr/

Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈliɣa ðepoɾˈtiβa alaxweˈlense]), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (Spanish pronunciation: [la ˈliɣa]), 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.[1][2]

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.[3][4]

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.[5][4]

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

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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.[6][7]

Alejandro Morera Soto, most important idol of the club.[8]

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.[9] 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.[10][11]

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,[12] 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.

On 2023, Alajuelense participated on 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

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Main articles: Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto and Proposed Alajuelense Stadium

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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

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.[16]

On 8 April 2021, the team announced plans for a new stadium, with an expected opening by January 2025.[17]

Mascot

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The team is now represented by a Lion 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.[18]

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.[19]

Sponsors

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  • Jersey supplier
Manufacter Period Sponsor
Costa Rica Jugados 1986–1996 Costa Rica Punto Rojo
United States Nike 1996–1998 Costa Rica Mutual Alajuela
Mexico Atletica 1998–2000
Costa Rica Jugados 2000–2007 South Korea LG
Germany Puma 2008–2009
2010–2011 JapanSony
2012–2015 Spain Movistar
2016 Spain Movistar

Panama Banco General

2017 Mexico Claro

MexicoVolaris

Spain Kelme 2018 Japan Toyota

United States Mobil

Japan Bridgestone

Costa Rica Kolbi

England Umbro 2024–present Costa Rica Don Pedro

United States Gatorade

United States Master Card

Costa Rica BAC Credomatic

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

Honours

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National

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  • Primera División de Costa Rica[20]
    • Champions (30): 1928, 1939, 1941, 1945, 1949, 1950, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, Invierno 2010, Verano 2011, Invierno 2011, Invierno 2012. Invierno 2013, Apertura 2020
    • Runners-up (29): 1930, 1928, 1944, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1972, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2006–07, Verano 2008, Invierno 2008, Verano 2014, Verano 2015, Invierno 2015, Verano 2016, Apertura 2019, Clausura 2020, Clausura 2022, Clausura 2023, Clausura 2024
  • Torneo de Copa de Costa Rica
  • Supercopa de Costa Rica
    • Champions (1): 2012
    • Runners-up (1): 2021
  • Recopa de Costa Rica
    • Champions (2): 1967, 2024

International

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Intercontinental

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Continental

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Regional

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Friendly

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  • 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

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  • CONCACAF League Fair Play: 2020

Performance in CONCACAF competitions

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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
2017 – First round
2020 – Champion
2021 – First round
2022 – Finalist
2023 – Champion

Recent seasons

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

Season Pos Pld Pts Torneo apertura Position Torneo clausura Position Copa de Costa rica Supercopa Other competitions

Player records

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Players

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For a list of all former and current Liga Deportiva Alajuelense players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers.

Current squad

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As of 17 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Costa Rica CRC Bayron Mora
2 DF Costa Rica CRC Carlos Martínez
3 DF Canada CAN Manjrekar James
4 DF Costa Rica CRC Guillermo Villalobos
5 MF Costa Rica CRC Celso Borges (captain)
6 MF Costa Rica CRC Kevin Cabezas
8 MF Colombia COL Larry Angulo
9 FW Costa Rica CRC Jonathan Moya
10 MF Costa Rica CRC Aarón Suárez
11 FW Costa Rica CRC Diego Campos
13 DF Costa Rica CRC Alexis Gamboa
14 MF Spain ESP Iago Falque
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF Costa Rica CRC Bryan Oviedo
19 FW Spain ESP Alberto Toril
22 DF Costa Rica CRC Ronald Matarrita
23 GK Costa Rica CRC Leonel Moreira
25 DF Costa Rica CRC Santiago van der Putten
26 DF Costa Rica CRC Fernando Piñar
27 DF Costa Rica CRC Ian Lawrence
28 FW Costa Rica CRC Joshua Navarro
34 MF Costa Rica CRC Creichel Pérez
35 MF Costa Rica CRC Rashir Parkins
65 GK Costa Rica CRC Johnny Álvarez
97 FW Brazil BRA Anderson Canhoto

Retired numbers

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See also: List of retired numbers in association football

20 – Costa Rica Mauricio Montero, defender (1987–98)

Historical list of coaches

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ experiencia, Fanny Tayver Marín Graduada en la UIA Con más de 10 años de; Alajuelense, escribe sobre; ciclismo; Selección, ciclo olímpico y más Entre sus coberturas destacan juegos eliminatorios de la; Francia, el Tour de; Janeiro, el Mundial de voleibol en Japón y los Juegos Olímpicos en Río de (28 September 2017). "Catorce diputados impulsan declarar a Alajuelense institución benemérita de la patria". La Nación, Grupo Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2019-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "DEPORTES". 2018-06-18. Archived from the original on 2018-06-18. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  3. ^ "DEPORTES". 2018-06-23. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  4. ^ a b "DEPORTES". 2017-09-24. Archived from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  5. ^ FIFA.com. "Bienvenidos al Centro de Noticias de FIFA.com - Alajuelense, ganador desde siempre". www.fifa.com (in European Spanish). Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  6. ^ "El fútbol manudo nació sobre cadáveres". 2017-09-21. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  7. ^ www.diarioextra.com. "Diario Extra - La historia del 11 de Abril de Alajuela". www.diarioextra.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  8. ^ "Cuando Alejandro Morera brilló en el FC Barcelona - Buzón de Rodrigo". Buzón de Rodrigo (in European Spanish). 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  9. ^ "Unbeaten during a League Season". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  10. ^ "LDA - ¡FELIZ ANIVERSARIO LIGA!". lda.cr. Archived from the original on 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  11. ^ Deportivas del Trece (2015-06-22), El Zar se lo cuenta: Historia de Alajuela, archived from the original on 2023-04-11, retrieved 2019-03-24
  12. ^ "Noticias de fútbol, marcadores en directo, resultados y fichajes | Goal.com México". Archived from the original on 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  13. ^ "LDA - Este viernes se cumplen 77 años de la inauguración de 'La Catedral'". lda.cr. Archived from the original on 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  14. ^ Goldberg, David (2011). "Estadio manudo ahora se llama Alejandro Morera Soto Scotiabank". La Nación. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  15. ^ AS, Diario (2018-09-26). "Alajuela, el hogar de los 'Manudos'". AS USA (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-02-18. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  16. ^ experiencia, Fanny Tayver Marín Graduada en la UIA Con más de 10 años de; Alajuelense, escribe sobre; ciclismo; Selección, ciclo olímpico y más Entre sus coberturas destacan juegos eliminatorios de la; Francia, el Tour de; Janeiro, el Mundial de voleibol en Japón y los Juegos Olímpicos en Río de (17 January 2017). "Alajuelense está de fiesta: el estadio Alejandro Morera Soto cumple 75 años este miércoles". La Nación, Grupo Nación (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2018-07-14. Retrieved 2019-03-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Sanabria, Daniel. "LDA - La nueva casa rojinegra de ser aprobada se inauguraría en enero del 2025". lda.cr. Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  18. ^ Repretel (1969-12-31). "La historia del hombre detrás del León de la Liga". Repretel (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-03-24. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  19. ^ "La mascota: León Manudo | Liga Deportiva Alajuelense". 2012-07-14. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2019-03-24.
  20. ^ "Primera División". Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  21. ^ "NB: tournament organised by Federación de Fútbol but not official". Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  22. ^ "Costa Rica 1928". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  23. ^ Copa Guatemala. https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/cos28.html Archived 2022-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "Costa Rica 1941". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  25. ^ "Costa Rica 1944". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  26. ^ "Costa Rica 1948". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  27. ^ Copa Gran Bretana. https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/cos49.html Archived 2022-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ^ "Costa Rica 1977". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  29. ^ https://www.rsssf.org/tablesi/intam86.html
  30. ^ "Alajuelense crowned kings of Central American Cup". Concacaf. 2023-12-02. Archived from the original on 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  31. ^ "CONCACAF Cup". Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  32. ^ Un histórico "Pato" Archived September 26, 2017, at the Wayback Machine – UNAFUT(in Spanish)
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