The Beginnings
It is commonly thought that football first came to Colombia through English railroad workers working on the railroad in Barranquilla in 1903. The sport was passed on from these workers onto local workers in the area, which inspired the establishment of the first football club in Colombia, Barranquilla FC in 1909. Clubs were also founded in Bogotá. (Ginn). Colombia’s oldest football team, Independiente Medellín, was established in 1913 and is still competing in the first division today. The Colombian football federation known as the Liga de Fútbol was founded in 1924 but only became affiliated with FIFA and CONMEBOL in 1936. In 1948, the first football league in Colombia, the División Mayor del Fútbol Colombiano was founded with 10 teams. (Andrés, 1996).
El
Dorado
In
1951,
only three years after the first professional Colombian football
league was
established, FIFA decided
to remove
their affiliation with the Colombian football association after
complaints from
South American countries about Colombia buying all their star
players. This
happened in the midst of the some of the greatest years of
Colombian football,
known as the “El Dorado”
years, (the
golden years). The illustrious period commenced in 1948 in
Argentina where the
dictator Juan Domingo Perón created a maximum wage for footballers
of $175,
which initiated a series of strikes by the players themselves and
many of the
big name footballers refused to play. (Arias)
At a time where
the Colombian Peso had almost the same purchasing power as the
dollar, many of
the disillusioned and underpaid stars of Argentine football made
the attractive
journey to Colombia where they were promised lucrative salaries. Millionarios of Bogotá
kicked off the
spending spree by buying the legendary Argentine player Adolfo
Pedernera along
with Néstor Rossi and one of the greatest ever players, Alfredo Di
Stéfano.
With these players, Millionarios became one of the best teams in
the world, showcasing
their talents by beating Real Madrid 4-2 in the Santiago Bernabeu,
Madrid.
(Urrego). It was not
only Argentinians expatriating to Colombia, there were Brazilians,
Uruguayans,
Peruvians and the English. Even Neil Franklin and George Mountford
of Stoke and
Charlie Mitten of Manchester United were persuaded to make the
journey to play
in Colombia. However the golden years started to fade away as much
of the money
promised to the players was not paid and the disaffiliation from FIFA started to take its
toll. With this
in mind, many of the star players began to return home. (The Guardian, 2009).
List of Winners and Runners up of the Colombian League Since 1948 (provided by Juan Pablo Andrés)
Champions Runners Up
1948 Independiente Santa Fe Atlético Junior
1949 Millonarios Deportivo Cali
1950 Once Caldas Millonarios
1951 Millonarios Boca Juniors (Cali)
1952 Millonarios Boca Juniors (Cali)
1953 Millonarios Atlético Quindio
1954 Atlético Nacional Atlético Quindio
1955 D. Independiente Medellín Atlético Nacional
1956 Atlético Quindio Millonarios
1957 D. Independiente Medellín Deportes Tolima
1958 Independiente Santa Fe Millonarios
1959 Millonarios D. Independiente Medellín
1960 Independiente Santa Fe América de Cali
1961 Millonarios D. Independiente Medellín
1962 Millonarios Deportivo Cali
1963 Millonarios Independiente Santa Fe
1964 Millonarios Cúcuta Deportivo
1965 Deportivo Cali Atlético Nacional
1966 Independiente Santa Fe D. Independiente Medellín
1967 Deportivo Cali Millonarios
1968 Unión Magdalena Deportivo Cali
1969 Deportivo Cali América de Cali
1970 Deportivo Cali Atlético Junior
1971 Independiente Santa Fe Atlético Nacional
1972 Millonarios Deportivo Cali
1973 Atlético Nacional Millonarios
1974 Deportivo Cali Atlético Nacional
1975 Independiente Santa Fe Millonarios
1976 Atlético Nacional Deportivo Cali
1977 Atlético Junior Deportivo Cali
1978 Millonarios Deportivo Cali
1979 América de Cali Independiente Santa Fe
1980 Atlético Junior Deportivo Cali
1981 Atlético Nacional Deportes Tolima
1982 América de Cali Deportes Tolima
1983 América de Cali Atlético Junior
1984 América de Cali Millonarios
1985 América de Cali Deportivo Cali
1986 América de Cali Deportivo Cali
1987 Millonarios América de Cali
1988 Millonarios Atlético Nacional
1989 championship not awarded
1990 América de Cali Atlético Nacional
1991 Atlético Nacional América de Cali
1992 América de Cali Atlético Nacional
1993 Atlético Junior D. Independiente Medellín
1994 Atlético Nacional Millonarios
1995 Atlético Junior América de Cali
1995/96 Deportivo Cali Millonarios
1996/97 América de Cali Atlético Bucaramanga
1998 Deportivo Cali Once Caldas
1999 Atlético Nacional América de Cali
2000 América de Cali Atlético Junior
2001 América de Cali D. Independiente Medellín
2002 Ap América de Cali Atlético Nacional
Fi D. Independiente Medellín Deportivo Pasto
2003 Ap Once Caldas Atlético Junior
Fi Deportes Tolima Deportivo Cali
2004 Ap D. Independiente Medellín Atlético Nacional
Fi Atlético Junior Atlético Nacional
2005 Ap Atlético Nacional Independiente Santa Fe
Fi Deportivo Cali Real Cartagena
2006 Ap Deportivo Pasto Deportivo Cali
Fi Cúcuta Deportivo Deportes Tolima
2007 Ap Atlético Nacional Atlético Huila
Fi Atlético Nacional CD La Equidad
2008 Ap Boyacá Chicó FC América de Cali
Fi América de Cali D. Independiente Medellín
2009 Ap Once Caldas Atlético Junior
Fi D. Independiente Medellín Atlético Huila
2010 Ap Atlético Junior CD La Equidad
Cl Once Caldas Deportes Tolima
2011 Ap Atlético Nacional CD La Equidad
Cl Atlético Junior Once Caldas
2012 Ap Independiente Santa Fe Deportivo Pasto
Cl Millonarios D. Independiente Medellín
2013 Ap Atlético Nacional Independiente Santa Fe
Cl Atlético Nacional Deportivo Cali
2014 Ap Atlético Nacional Atlético Junior
