Envigado Fútbol Club (Spanish pronunciation: [embiˈɣaðo ˈfuðβol ˈkluβ]) is a Colombian professional football team based in Envigado, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Polideportivo Sur.

Envigado FC
Full nameEnvigado Fútbol Club S.A.
Nickname(s)El Equipo Naranja (The Orange Team)
Cantera de Héroes (Quarry of Heroes)
Founded14 October 1989; 35 years ago (1989-10-14)
GroundEstadio Polideportivo Sur
Capacity11,000[1]
ChairmanRamiro Ruiz
ManagerAndrés Orozco (caretaker)
LeagueCategoría Primera A
2024Primera A, 20th of 20
Websitehttp://www.envigadofc.co/

The club is renowned for the quality of its youth development and the number of international stars who have begun their careers with the team including James Rodríguez, Fredy Guarín, Juan Fernando Quintero, Jhon Córdoba, Mateus Uribe, Giovanni Moreno, Jhon Duran among others. It is frequently considered one of the best youth academies in South America, which is why it is known as "Cantera de Heroes" (Quarry of Heroes).[2]

History

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The club was founded on 14 October 1989 and became the first team to earn promotion to the Colombian top flight as they won the inaugural Categoría Primera B tournament, held in 1991.[3] In that tournament, they topped the final group ahead of Alianza Llanos, Club El Cóndor, and Atlético Huila.[4]

Envigado were able to consolidate themselves as a Primera A team, reaching the final stages of the league for the first time in 1994 after placing eighth. They were eliminated in the semifinals, placing third in their group. They also made it to the final stages of the competition in the 2002 Apertura, in which they also placed third in their semifinal group, and the 2005 Apertura, in which they placed second in their group, one point behind the eventual finalists Santa Fe.[5]

Envigado were relegated from the Primera A on 12 November 2006 after a 1–0 loss to Cúcuta Deportivo on the final round of the 2006 Finalización tournament,[6] thus ending a 15-year spell in the top flight, but quickly bounced back by winning the 2007 Primera B tournament with a team led by debutant playmakers James Rodríguez and Giovanni Moreno and managed by Jesús Barrios. Envigado secured promotion back to the top flight by beating Academia in the finals of both of the season's short tournaments.[7] The team has not been relegated ever since, although they played relegation play-offs in 2008 and 2010, defending successfully their Primera A status in both of them.

They made their best campaign in the top flight in the 2011 season, when they made it to the quarter-finals of both the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, which helped them place third in the season's aggregate table and achieve their first qualification for an international tournament, the 2012 Copa Sudamericana. There they were eliminated at the second stage after beating Unión Comercio from Peru 2–0 on aggregate and losing to Liverpool from Uruguay 2–1 on aggregate.[5]

In November 2014, Envigado F.C. and its major shareholder Juan Pablo Upegui were included into the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (also known as the Clinton List) by the United States's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) due to their links with the drug cartel Oficina de Envigado (Envigado Office). Although not all of the club's transactions were found to be illicit, the U.S. Treasury verified that the club had been used by the organization for money laundering, after 10 years of investigations.[8] Envigado was removed from the list on 26 April 2018, and shortly after it was announced that 55% of the club's shares had been sold to the equity fund ProFútbol.[9][10]

Honours

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Domestic

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Players

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Current squad

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As of 11 November 2024[11]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF   COL Didier Palacios
3 DF   COL Yeiler Mosquera
4 DF   COL Carlos Arboleda
5 DF   COL Santiago Noreña
6 MF   COL Julián Palacios
7 MF   COL Juan Manuel Cuesta (on loan from Independiente Medellín)
8 MF   COL Dorlan Pabón
9 FW   COL Yeison Moreno
10 MF   COL Bayron Garcés
12 GK   PAR Rubén Escobar
14 MF   COL Felipe Jaramillo (captain)
15 DF   COL Gendry Cuervo
16 MF   COL Juan Villa (on loan from América de Quito)
18 MF   COL William Hurtado
19 FW   COL Aly Palacios
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 FW   COL Leyder Robledo (on loan from Real Cartagena)
21 MF   COL Edison López
22 MF   COL Pablo Álvarez
23 GK   COL Joan Parra
24 MF   COL Yilmar Celedón
25 MF   URU Agustín Pérez Siri
26 MF   COL Daniel Arcila
27 FW   COL Diego Betancourth
29 DF   COL Carlos Ramírez
30 MF   COL Daniel Zapata
32 DF   COL Tomás Maya
33 DF   COL Kevin Tamayo (on loan from Leones)
34 MF   COL Luis Díaz
70 MF   COL Félix Charrupí
88 GK   COL Andrés Tovar

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF   COL Yeferson Rodallega (at Atlético Goianiense)
MF   COL Juan Zapata (at Atlético Nacional)
FW   COL Rubio César España (at Club Santos Laguna)
DF   COL Heller Mosquera (at Leones)
FW   COL Luis Gómez (at Orsomarso)

Managers

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References

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  1. ^ "Estadio". Archived from the original on 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  2. ^ "James Rodriguez, Envigado FC , and the Long Shadow of Pablo Escobar". Vice.com. 30 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Fue fundado el Envigado F.C." [Envigado F.C. was founded] (in Spanish). El Cinco Cero. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Envigado sí ascendió" [Envigado did promote] (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 1 December 1991. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Envigado FC" (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Cúcuta 1 vs 0 Envigado: El naranja vuelve a La Primera B" [Cúcuta 1 vs 0 Envigado: The orange returns to La Primera B] (in Spanish). Colombia.com. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Envigado regresa a la primera división del fútbol colombiano" [Envigado returns to the first division of Colombian football] (in Spanish). Caracol Radio. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Envigado Fútbol Club entra a la 'lista Clinton'" [Envigado Fútbol Club enters the "Clinton list"] (in Spanish). Semana. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Treasury Lifts Sanctions on Colombian Professional Soccer Team After Ties Severed to Designated Crime Group" (in Spanish). U.S. Department of the Treasury. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Envigado salió de la Lista Clinton y anunció nuevo dueño" [Envigado left the Clinton List and announced new owner] (in Spanish). Antena 2. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Envigado". Dimayor. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
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