Club Bolívar (Spanish pronunciation: [kluβ boˈliβaɾ]) is a Bolivian professional football club that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1925 in honor of Venezuelan military leader Simón Bolívar, it is the most successful and popular club in the history of Bolivian football, with 30 titles. The club was founded with a light blue color, which is why it is sometimes nicknamed "Celeste" (The Sky Blue).

Club Bolívar

Full name	Club Bolívar
Nickname(s)	La Academia (The Academy) El Rey de Copas (The King of Cups) El Más Grande (The Biggest One)
Founded	April 12, 1925; 95 years ago
Ground	Estadio Hernando Siles Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar La Paz, Bolivia
Capacity	41,143[1]
Owner	Marcelo Claure
Chairman	Marcelo Claure
Manager	Beñat San José
League	División Profesional
2022 Apertura	Champions
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

The club has two stadiums. Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar, which has a capacity for 5,000 people and is located in the Tembladerani neighborhood of La Paz, is only used for training sessions and friendly matches. Estadio Hernando Siles, which holds a capacity for 41,143 people, is the club's main stadium, and is used for official matches.

Bolívar began playing the amateur era two years after its foundation, in 1927, where it finished runner-up, and it was in the 1932 tournament that the club won its first championship title. The club won consecutive championships in the years of 1939, 1940, 1941, and 1942, becoming the second team to achieve a four-time championship. In this way, from 1927 to 1949 the club obtained a total of 6 amateur titles.

In the professional era, the club won the first tournament of the Bolivian Primera División in 1950. According to International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) statistics, Club Bolívar is the best Bolivian football team of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century.^{[citation needed]}

At an international level, Club Bolívar is statistically the club that has best represented Bolivia in international tournaments.[2] The Bolivian club is in the 11th position of the Historical table of the Copa Libertadores; it has participated 35 times in this tournament, being in this way the seventh team at the South American level with the most participations and also the eleventh team with most victories in the history of the Libertadores, with 92 in total. Among its 34 appearances in the Copa Libertadores, its best performances were in the 1986 and 2014 editions, where Bolivar finished as a semi-finalist.

Bolívar played its first international final in 2004, where it was runner-up to Boca Juniors in that year's Copa Sudamericana. Bolivar has 10 participations in this tournament.

Among the best players in Bolivar's history are Marco "El Diablo" Etcheverry, Erwin "Platini" Sanchez, Julio Baldivieso, Carlos Borja, Vladimir Soria, Ramiro Blacut, Víctor Ugarte, Carlos Aragones, Juan Miguel "Juanmi" Callejon, Walter Flores, Juan Carlos Arce, Joaquín Botero and many more.

History

Foundation

Until well into the 1980s there was controversy regarding the date of creation of the institution. The year 1927 was considered accurate until it became clear that it had been founded in 1925, the year of the country's centenary.

The club was born on April 12, 1925 by a group of friends who had the idea of forming a social club whose objective was to practice sport, especially football. They met in a modest colonial center house of La Paz, specifically on Junín street and less than two blocks from Plaza Murillo, where it was decided to create the club with an unusual name, Bolívar, contrary to the usual names of Bolivian teams back then, as most of them were created with names in English. Names such as Franz Tamayo or Antonio José de Sucre were thought of, but in homage to the Liberator Simón Bolívar, the group decided for Bolívar.

Despite the fact that the founders had as a dominant passion for the practice of football, as was the style at the time, they decided to add the additional denominative of "musical literary club; that is, the club was originally founded with the name of "Club Atlético Literario Musical Bolívar" which was soon diluted by the strength of the football team and its distinctive achievements, being reduced only to Club Bolívar.

Don Humberto Bonifacio was in charge of the club's management on a provisional basis, until the first president was elected by a democratic election. The first president was Carlos Terán, who was accompanied by Ernesto Sainz, Héctor Salcedo, Rafael Navarro, and Felipe Gutiérrez.[3]

Amateur Age

In 1927, two years after its founding, the Club Bolívar officially enrolled in La Paz Fútbol Association, Bolívar for the first time participated in an official championship, which was played on the Miraflores field, where the club was runner-up.

The first team that disputed the 1927 championship in which, as a debutante, they achieved the runner-up behind Nimbles Sport was made up of Walter Miranda, Enrique Tellería, Felipe Gutiérrez Nieto, Víctor Leclere, Carlos Terán, Germán Garnica , Roberto Segaline, Miguel Carreón, Luis Ernesto Sanz, and the captain Humberto Barreda. Alfredo Molina, Roberto Gómez and Carlos Álvarez were incorporated a year later.

The club's first international friendly match was played on June 3, 1927 against Coquimbo Unido of Chile in La Paz, losing 2-1. On May 11, 1930, the official championship begins and ends on July 30 at the main stadium Estadio Hernando Siles, with Bolívar finishing runner-up on seven points.

In 1931 the tournament was fulfilled with poor performances by teams that did not have good youth divisions, limiting the championship to only four teams. That same year, on July 8, Club Bolívar obtained its first international victory against Gimnasia y Tiro de Salta, which it defeated 2-1 in La Paz.

A fundamental event in this first part of the club's history occurred in 1932 when Bolívar achieved the first championship in its history played in two series. The captain of that Bolívar and one of the great South American players in history was center forward Mario Alborta, who was also captain of the Bolivian national team. The contest began on May 26, but had to be suspended for a month due to the events of the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay, more specifically the Battle of Boquerón, which was fought from September 7-29. The La Paz Football Association established that the location and score of the moment were recognized in the final table. For this reason, Club Bolívar was declared champion of that year. The runner-up was The Strongest, who from that year on would be the most important rival of the Bolivaristas.

In the following two years, 1933 and 1934, the tournaments were suspended until the end of the war event facing the country. After the war, the championship was restarted a year later, in 1935. The team was champion for the second time in 1937.

Bolívar was runner-up in 1938, and after that was champion for four consecutive years between 1939 and 1942, achieving the four-time championship. That team was led by players Walter Saavedra, Rojas, Romero, Plaza, Gutiérrez, and Garzón.

1947 is an important year for Bolívar and for Bolivian football, because of Víctor Agustín Ugarte's debut with the "celeste" jersey of Bolivar. The Tupiceño came to La Paz to test himself and from the first day, showed his quality. He made his debut against Ferroviario and that same year he debuted in the Bolivian national team. Many people consider him the best Bolivian player in history. He played as right-wing in the old 2-3-5 scheme.[4]

Mario Mercado and Professional era

Mario Mercado became President of Bolivar in 1961. In 1986, CONMEBOL honored him with a unique distinction of being president for 25 years. On 21 January 1995, he died when his private jet crashed in Oruro en route to Sucre. Aside from football, he was also mayor of the city of La Paz. Under his management, Estadio Hernando Siles was renovated and Estadio Libertador, the club's reserve stadium, was opened in January 1976.[5]

Notable achievements during this era were reaching the 1986 Copa Libertadores semi-finals, and winning back to back league titles in 1987 and 1988, as well as 1991 and 1992.

Mauro Cuellar and BAISA era

In the early 2000s, Mauro Cuellar assumed presidency of Bolivar. During Cuellar's administration, Bolivar reached the finals of the 2004 Copa Sudamericana, losing the final to Boca Juniors 2-1 on aggregate.[6][7] However, despite the club's sporting achievements, it fell into a deep financial crisis, nearly disappearing with debts in excess of USD 5 million, until Bolivian millionaire Marcelo Claure took over the club in September 2008 through BAISA, a subsidiary company owned by Claure. BAISA owns the right to operate the club for 20 years, and has projects to win a continental title, as well as a full stadium and training centre by the club's 100th anniversary.[8][9]

In 2014, the team reached the Copa Libertadores semi-finals, being eliminated by Argentine club San Lorenzo 5-1 on aggregate, with a 5-0 loss in Buenos Aires but with a 1-0 win in the second leg at home.[10][11] In 2017, Bolivar won both Apertura and Clausura tournaments that year, therefore completing a "bicampeonato" (two-time consecutive championship). In January 2021, Club Bolivar was announced as the first Partner Club of City Football Group.[12][13] Also in January 2021, the club's "Plan Centenario" was announced, which is a five-year plan to construct an academy, open the club's ownership to fans, and win a "tricampeonato" (three-time consecutive championship) or reach a CONMEBOL final, all by 2025, the club's centenary year.[14]

Kit

Colors

Bolivar's traditional home colors are light blue, traditional away colors are dark blue or white.

Rivalry

Bolivar's classic rival is The Strongest. Both teams are from La Paz, and both teams are the most successful in Bolivian football, with Bolivar having 30 titles to its name while The Strongest has 15.

• Total matches: 262
• Bolivar wins: 113
• Ties: 86
• The Strongest wins: 63

Honours

• First Division – LPFB/División Profesional Era: 30

1950, 1953, 1956, 1966, 1968, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004-A, 2005-AD, 2006-C, 2009-A, 2011-AD, 2013-C, 2014-A, 2015-C, 2017-A, 2017-C, 2019-A, 2022-A

• Liga de Fútbol Amateur Boliviano: 6

1932, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942

• Copa Aerosur: 2

2009, 2010

• Copa Bolivia: 4

1979, 1989, 1990, 2001

Runner-up (3): 1980, 1992, 1999

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

• Copa Libertadores: 33 appearances

Best: Semi-finals in 1986 and 2014

• Copa Sudamericana: 8 appearances

Best: Final in 2004.

Current squad

As of 7 October 2022

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BOL Javier Rojas 2 DF  BRA César Martins 4 DF  BOL José Sagredo 5 DF  BOL Sebastián Reyes 7 FW  BOL Víctor Ábrego 8 DF  BOL Diego Bejarano 9 FW  BOL Lucas Chávez 10 MF  BOL Kevin Salvatierra 12 GK  BOL Ruben Cordano 14 DF  BOL Yomar Rocha 15 MF  BOL Gabriel Villamíl 17 MF  ARG Patito Rodríguez 18 MF  BOL Carlos Melgar

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  BRA Chico 20 DF  ESP Alberto Guitián 21 DF  BOL Roberto Fernández 23 MF  BOL Leonel Justiniano 24 MF  BOL Javier Uzeda 25 GK  BOL Mauricio Adorno 26 MF  BOL Pablo Lima 29 MF  BOL Moisés Villarroel 30 DF  BOL Luis Haquin 31 FW  BOL Sebastián Melgar 32 MF  BOL Leo Velasco 35 GK  BOL Santiago Paz 38 MF  BOL Luis Paz

Reserve team

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 33 DF  BOL Christian Osinaga (on loan from Santos) 36 DF  BOL Clemilson da Silva 37 MF  BOL Maykool Tellez 40 MF  BOL José Peralta 41 MF  BOL Jhair Cordova 43 DF  BOL Javier Guerra

No. Pos. Nation Player 44 MF  BOL Abel Chávez 45 FW  BOL Leonardo Arana 46 MF  BOL Reyes Camacho 48 DF  BOL Alejandro Polo 51 FW  BOL Alexis Gómez

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  BOL Juan Magallanes (at Thisted until 31 December 2022) — MF  BOL Jhon Velásquez (at Thisted until 31 December 2022)

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Antônio Carlos Zago
Assistant manager	Leonardo Magalhaes
Goalkeeper coach	TBA
First coach	Miguel Gomila
Medical director	Guillermo Aponte
Reserve team manager	Walter Flores
Youth team manager	TBA

Notable players

See also Category:Club Bolívar players.

Managers

References

External links

• Media related to Club Bolívar at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Club Bolívar on Facebook
• Club Bolívar on Twitter
• Club Bolívar on YouTube

На других языках

[de] Club Bolívar

[es] Club Bolívar

[ru] Боливар (футбольный клуб)