Deportes Tolima


Club Deportes Tolima S.A., commonly known as Deportes Tolima, or simply as Tolima, is a Colombian professional football club based in Ibagué, Tolima Department that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded on 18 December 1954. They won the Colombian top tier twice, in the 2003–II and 2018–I tournaments. They play their home games at the Manuel Murillo Toro stadium.

History

Foundation

Deportes Tolima was founded by Manuel Rubio Chávez in 1954, when he gave Juan Barbieri a sum of $5.000 Colombian pesos in order to hire soccer players from his native country. Barbieri came back to Colombia with a mix of Argentine and Colombian players like Jorge Gandulfo, José Jamardo and Enrique Laino. This team competed for the first time in the Colombian football league in 1955, using the uniform of Racing Club of Argentina. Tolima finished 7th in the league competing with 9 other teams.

1980s and 1990s

In the late 1970s and beginning of 1980s Deportes Tolima, according to many people, had its best team ever. Senator Gabriel Camargo Salamanca was given the opportunity to work for the team. He accepted, becoming the biggest stock holder of the team. He bought important players such as Víctor del Río, Francisco Maturana, Cristino Centurión, Óscar Héctor Quintabani, Gustavo "La Piña" Mendoza, Hugo Gallego, Osvaldo Redondo, Heberto Carrillo, Sapuca, Arnoldo Iguarán, Óscar López, Tito Ramon Correa, and Janio Cabezas. With this team Deportes Tolima finished second through years 1981 and 1982. In the year 1983 Tolima participated for the first time in an international tournament, the Copa Libertadores of 1982 reaching the semi-finals. The team proceeded to have its best international showing against tams like Estudiantes de Mérida and Deportivo Táchira; both from Venezuela; Cobreloa from Chile and Olimpia from Paraguay. At the beginning of the 1990s, Tolima left the professional league due to poor results. Tolima played for one year in the second division of the Colombian Football league before rejoining professional football again in year 1995.

2003 title

Deportes Tolima had a very interesting group of players for the second half of 2003. These players included Ricardo Ciciliano, Henry Zambrano, Rogeiro Pereira, Yulián Anchico, Oscar Briceño, Jhon Charría, Jorge Artigas, Hernando Patiño, Nelson Rivas, and Diego Gómez among others. Deportes Tolima played in semi-finals against Atlético Nacional, Atlético Junior, and Independiente Medellín. When everyone predicted Atlético Junior would finish first in the mini league and would go to the final, Deportes Tolima beat Atlético Nacional 2–0 in Ibagué and Atlético Junior lost 1–0 to Independiente Medellín in Medellín. Deportes Tolima played against Deportivo Cali in the final games winning the first game 2–0 in Ibagué with an exceptional performance of Rogeiro Pereira, scoring both goals. In the second game of the final Deportes Tolima lost 3–1 forcing penalty shots, with an aggregate score of 3–3. In the penalty shots Deportes Tolima won after only missing one shot and the goalkeeper Diego Gómez blocking two from Deportivo Cali, this way Deportes Tolima was crowned champion of Colombia for the first time in their 49-year history.

2006 runners-up

2006 was a great year for Tolima. The team was second on the reclasificacion, scored the most goals in the year, and were runners up in the Copa Mustang II. At the beginning of 2006, Deportes Tolima did not seem like a very strong team for the season as it did not sign any new players. The coach was Jorge Luis Bernal, who had been the coach for the reserve team for many years. Deportes Tolima scored well in both home and away games, with victories against Envigado 7–3, Atlético Nacional 5–1, and Millonarios 3–0. They reached the semi-finals of the Copa Mustang I and were placed in a group with Deportivo Pereira, Deportivo Cali, and Once Caldas, but did not make it into the finals.
The Copa Mustang II was even better than the first one. Tolima ended first in the league, and played the semi-finals against Atlético Nacional, Deportivo Pasto, and Boyacá Chicó. Atlético Nacional were leaders of the group most of the time, while Deportes Tolima remained a point behind. A dramatic 2–1 away win over Atlético Nacional made them leaders, and they advanced to the final against Cúcuta Deportivo after a 2–0 win over Boyacá Chicó. The first game was away and Tolima lost 1–0; later in Ibagué the game ended tied 1–1, with Yulián Anchico scoring Tolima's goal.

Apertura 2007 and Copa Libertadores

For the 2007 season Deportes Tolima signed important players like Nicolás Ayr, Diego Cochas, Gustavo Savoia, Gustavo Bolívar, Leiner Rolong, Jorge Perlaza, Hernando Patiño, Roller Cambindo, Javier Arizala, Jésus Sinisterra, Ricardo Álvarez and Haider Arboleda. With new coach Jaime de la Pava, Tolima started competing in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Mustang. In the Copa Libertadores Tolima defeated Deportivo Táchira in 2 games, that way Tolima entered to the group of Grêmio, Cerro Porteño and curiously Cúcuta Deportivo.

2010s

In 2010, the team qualified for the third Colombian place at the first stage of the 2011 Copa Libertadores.

Stadium

Honours

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable players

YearName
1955–59 Juan Barbieri
1959–61 Alejandrino Genes
1961–62 Roberto Aballay
1963 Luis López
1963–64 Lorenzo Delli
1964 Antonio De La Hoz
1965 Marcos Coll
1965 Roberto Pacheco
1966 Marcos Coll
1966–67 Roberto Aballay
1967–68 Marcos Coll
1968–71 Oscar Ramos
1971 Germán Castellanos
1972 Oscar Ramos
1973 Germán Castellanos
1973–75 Oscar Ramos
1976 Delio Gamboa
1976–77 Omar Devanni
1977 Germán Castellanos
1977 Jorge Ginarte
1978 Alberto Cardacci
1978 Germán Castellanos
1979 Edgar Barona
1979 César López Fretes
1980 José María Rodríguez
1980 Óscar Quintabani
1980 Manuel Rosendo Magan
1980 Hugo Gallego
1980 Leonel Montoya

YearName
1981 Ramón Rodríguez
1981 Carlos Cancela
1981 :es:Víctor Hugo del Río|Víctor del Río
1981 Luis Montúfar
1981 Tito Ramón Correa
1981 José Ricardo De León
1981 Pedro Nel Ospina
1981 Otoniel Quintana
1982 Juan Mujica
1982 Nelson Silva Pacheco
1982 Juan Mujica
1983 Raúl Navarro
1983 Jacinto Roldán
1983 Omar Rodolfo Porté
1983 Eduardo Emilio Vilarete
1983 Francisco Salomone
1984 Baudilio Jáuregui
1985 Germán Aceros
1985 Baudilio Jáuregui
1986 Santos Cristo
1986 Jorge Bernal
1986 Simo Vilić
1986–87 Jorge Bernal
1987 Eladio Vásquez
1988 Jaime Rodríguez Suárez
1989 Heberto Carrillo
1989 Roberto Vasco
1990–91 Jorge Bernal
1991 Aurelio Silva

YearName
1991 Germán González
1992 Baudilio Jáuregui
1992–93 Jaime Rodríguez Suárez
1993–94 Arturo Boyacá
1995–96 Humberto Ortiz
1995 Juan Francisco Arteaga
1996 Julio Avelino Comesaña
1996 Álvaro Escobar
1996 Jorge Bernal
1996 Humberto Ortiz
1996–97 Gerardo González
1996–97 Juan Mujica
1998 Carlos Restrepo
1998 Jorge Bernal
1999 Humberto Ortiz
1999 Luis Augusto García
1999 Diego Umaña
Jan 1, 1999 – June 30, 2001 Néstor Otero
2001–02 Miguel Prince
2002 Jorge Bernal
2002 Luis Fernando Suárez
2003 Luis Augusto García
2004–05 Miguel Prince
2006 Jorge Bernal
Jan 1, 2007 – June 30, 2007 Jaime De La Pava
July 1, 2007 – Dec 27, 2011 Hernán Torres
Jan 1, 2012 – Aug 26, 2012 Jorge Luis Bernal
Aug 30, 2012–1? Carlos César Castro
201?– Alberto Gamero