Alianza

Full name	Alianza Fútbol Club
Founded	16 January 2024; 4 months ago (2024-01-16)
Ground	Estadio Armando Maestre Pavajeau
Capacity	11,000
Chairman	Carlos Ferreira
Manager	Hubert Bodhert
League	Categoría Primera A
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Alianza Fútbol Club is a Colombian professional football team based in Valledupar, Cesar Department, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded on 16 January 2024 and plays its home games at the Armando Maestre Pavajeau stadium.

History

Alianza F.C. was founded by the owner and chairman of Alianza Petrolera, Carlos Orlando Ferreira, who relocated the club from Barrancabermeja, Santander Department after being offered financial support by the newly elected authorities and private enterprises from Valledupar and the Cesar Department.

Whilst Alianza Petrolera came from an eighth-place finish in the aggregate table of the 2023 Categoría Primera A season that qualified them for their first international competition, the 2024 Copa Sudamericana, by early January 2024 issues regarding financial support as well as the fact that Estadio Daniel Villa Zapata in Barrancabermeja was not suitable to host international games came up, along with an interest from Valledupar for the club to play their home matches there. ^[1] On 16 January 2024 Alianza Petrolera officially confirmed their departure from Barrancabermeja due to the lack of financial support from local authorities while also dropping the word Petrolera from their name and the yellow and black colors that identified them. ^[2] That same day, Alianza Fútbol Club was presented at a press conference held in Valledupar, where it was confirmed that the club will play under a new crest and will adopt as new colors those representative of the city. ^[3]

The club played its first match on 21 January 2024, losing 3–1 to Atlético Nacional for the first round of the 2024 Apertura tournament. ^[4] On 6 March Alianza played their first international match, defeating América de Cali 2–1 in the first stage of the Copa Sudamericana to advance to the group stage of the competition. ^[5]

Stadium

Alianza F.C. play their home matches at Estadio Armando Maestre Pavajeau in Valledupar, built in 1974 and renovated between 2013 and 2015 to host the 2015 South American U-15 Championship. The stadium, with a capacity of 11,000 spectators, served previously as home stadium for former Categoría Primera B club Valledupar F.C., which folded in June 2023.

Players

First-team squad

As of 9 March 2024 ^[6]

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   COL Carlos Mosquera 2 DF   COL Efraín Navarro 3 DF   COL Jesús Figueroa 4 DF   COL Alfonso Simarra 5 DF   COL Pedro Franco ( captain) 6 DF   COL Santiago Orozco 7 MF   COL Jhair Castillo 8 MF   COL Freddy Flórez 9 FW   COL Michael Rangel 10 MF   COL Sherman Cárdenas 11 FW   COL Andrés Rentería 12 GK   COL Jaime Mora 14 FW   COL Johan Parra 15 DF   COL Cristian Blanco 16 DF   COL Leonardo Saldaña 17 FW   COL Andrés Morales

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF   COL Nelson Reyes 19 FW   COL Ruyeri Blanco 20 FW   COL Juan David Rueda 21 MF   COL Rubén Manjarrés 22 DF   COL Luciano Ospina 23 MF   COL Ever Meza 24 FW   COL Jesús Muñoz 25 MF   COL Royscer Colpa 26 FW   SLV Mayer Gil 27 FW   COL Emerson Batalla (on loan from Talleres de Córdoba) 28 MF   COL Brayan Gómez 29 MF   COL Joel Contreras (on loan from Unión Magdalena) 30 GK   COL Pier Grazziani 31 FW   COL Sebastián Acosta 33 FW   COL Marlon Torres 35 MF   COL Kevin Torres

Out on loan

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

References