Club Bolívar
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 military leader Simón Bolívar, the club has used light blue kits throughout its history, which is why it is nicknamed "Celeste" (The Sky Blue).
Full name | Club Bolívar | |||
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Nickname(s) | La Academia (The Academy) El Rey de Copas (The King of Cups) El Más Grande (The Biggest One) Los Celestes (The Sky Blues) | |||
Founded | April 12, 1925; 95 years ago | |||
Ground | Estadio Hernando Siles Estadio Libertador Simón Bolívar La Paz, Bolivia | |||
Capacity | 41,143 | |||
Owner | Marcelo Claure | |||
Chairman | Marcelo Claure | |||
Manager | Flavio Robatto | |||
League | División Profesional | |||
2023 | División Profesional, 2nd of 17 | |||
Website | Club website | |||
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2008 | Manchester City F.C.* |
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2009–2012 | |
2013 | New York City FC§ |
2014 | Melbourne City FC* |
Yokohama F. Marinos*§ | |
2015–2016 | |
2017 | Montevideo City Torque* |
Girona FC*§ | |
2018 | |
2019 | Shenzhen Peng City F.C.*§ |
Mumbai City FC*§ | |
2020 | Lommel S.K.* |
ES Troyes AC* | |
2021 | |
2022 | Palermo F.C.*§ |
2023 | Bahia*§ |
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, and in the 1932 tournament the club won its first championship title. The club won consecutive championships in 1939, 1940, 1941, and 1942, becoming the second team to achieve a four-time championship.
In the professional era, the club won the first tournament of the Bolivian Primera División in 1950, and since then has won 30 league titles, making it the most successful Bolivian football club. 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.
At an international level, Club Bolívar is statistically the club that has best represented Bolivia in international tournaments. The Bolivian club is in the 9th position of the Historical table of the Copa Libertadores; it has participated 37 times in this tournament, being in this way the seventh team at the South American level with the most participations and also the ninth team with most victories in the history of the Libertadores, with 101 in total. Among its 37 appearances in the Copa Libertadores, its best performances were in the 1986 and 2014 editions, where Bolivar finished as a semi-finalist, and as of today is the only Bolivian club to reach this stage.
Bolívar played its first international final in 2004, where it was runner-up to Boca Juniors in that year's Copa Sudamericana. Bolivar has 12 participations in this tournament, and is the only Bolivian team to reach the final.
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.