2013 Apertura Final: Club América vs Chivas Guadalajara

Lore & Background

Founded in 1906 as Unión Football Club, the club changed its name to Guadalajara Football Club in 1908, and then changed to its current name in 1923. Nicknamed Chivas, it was one of ten founding members of the first professional and national league in Mexico, named Liga Mayor (current Liga MX). Guadalajara is one of seven Mexican clubs that have never been relegated. Chivas is the only football club in Mexico that does not sign foreign or naturalized players unless they are of Mexican descent.

The team has historically relied on home-grown (cantera) players and has been the launching pad of many internationally successful players, including Javier Hernández, Carlos Vela and Carlos Salcido, among others. Domestically, CD Guadalajara is one of the most successful Mexican clubs, winning twelve Liga MX titles, four Copa MX titles, seven Campeón de Campeones and one Supercopa MX, and also holds the league record for the longest winning streak at the beginning of a season, with eight consecutive wins in the Bicentenario 2010.

Internationally, it has won two CONCACAF Champions Cup/Champions League titles, and also finished as runners-up in the 2010 Copa Libertadores. According to a study of preferred football clubs in 2016, Guadalajara was the most popular Mexican club, with 44.2% of supporters in the country. In 2020, Forbes estimated that the club was the most valuable of the league, ranking sixth overall in the Americas, worth approximately $311.5 million.

Reader's Guide

The team was founded by Edgar Everaert, who arrived in Mexico in 1906. First named 'Unión' because of the camaraderie between the players of different nationalities, most of whom were employees of the Fábricas de Francia store, with founder Everaert as coach. A few Spanish and English players also became members of the Unión Football Club. The club's first match was against Gimnasio Atlético Occidental.

That match, Unión was coached by member Rafael Orozco, who alongside his brother, Gregorio, were the first Mexicans at Unión. The Orozco family were one of the club's earliest benefactors, with Orozco's grandmother, Nicolasa Sáinz, allowing her home to be used as Unión's first clubhouse. His uncle, Sabino Orozco, who reportedly came up with the name Unión, would also donate land to the club that would become its first ground. On a tour of Europe, Everaert noticed that European teams named after their respective town or city seemed to generate more support from fans in their communities.

Once he returned to Guadalajara, Jalisco, he told his observations to Rafael and Gregorio Orozco. So, in 1908, in a club meeting at Sáinz's house attended by the Orozco brothers, Sabino Orozco, and the remaining Mexican Unión members, Club de Fútbol Unión was renamed as Club Deportivo Guadalajara to engender a sense of loyalty within the city's population. Notably, this decision was made without Everaert or any European members present. Gregorio Orozco would take credit for the decision to rename the club.

At the same meeting, Rafael Orozco would be named the first club president. Between 1906 and 1943, Guadalajara won 13 amateur titles. In 1943 the Liga Mayor was founded after the merging of several regional leagues and the era of professional football began. Guadalajara would make their professional debut on 6 July 1943 in the Copa MX, where they would play against local rivals Atlas.

They would go on to lose the match 3–1, with Manuel 'Cosas' López's 30-minute goal becoming the first of Guadalajara's professional era. Later that year, they would make their Liga Mayor debut on 21 October against Atlante, where they would go on to win 1–4 at Parque Asturias. Pablo 'Pablotas' González scored the first league goal in Guadalajara's history. Guadalajara struggled during the early years, with the exception of the 1948–49 season when they finished third.