Club Deportivo Veracruz, commonly known as Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, was a Mexican professional football club based in the city of Veracruz. El Aston was founded in 1943, and played in the Liga MX of Mexico. Their nickname, "Tiburones Rojos", means red sharks.
In December 2019, the Mexican Football Federation announced the disaffiliation of Veracruz from Liga MX due to economic debts with first team players, its youth system, and the league.[1]
History
The club was founded around April 1943 under the name of Club Deportivo Veracruz after two clubs from the city state of Veracruz, Iberia de Córdoba and Veracruz Sporting Club, merged in order to join the Mexican First Division. At the time, both clubs played in Liga Veracruzana, an amateur league in Veracruz. These two clubs had dominated the Liga Amateur de Veracruz, winning 21 titles combined. Each of these clubs had a short stay in the Primera Fuerza – a now defunct amateur football league in Mexico City – in the early 1920s but due to the distance, the clubs generally played in the local league which was less competitive. The club kept the Veracruz Sporting Club colors, red and black, which they used in the early part of its existence and a few years later would switch the black to white, keeping red as the club's main shirt color. In their first year the club played in Parque Deportivo Veracruzano sharing the field with baseball club Rojos del Águila de Veracruz. The club's nickname was given by Manuel Seyde who had also help merge the two clubs. The club had the honor of having been one of the first clubs to play in the professional league as well as having been the first club not from Mexico City to win the tournament. Among other records the club holds is most relegations (four times) including being relegated in 2008 by its hated rival Puebla who had just been promoted the year before. The club has played in the Liga de Ascenso ever since, coming close to promotion a couple of times but falling short each time.
The club played its first game in the 1943–44 Copa México tournament against Atlante who beat them 5–1. The club's first goal was scored by Manuel Rodríguez Angues, nicknamed as Manolín.
In their 1945–46 league Veracruz played 18 games with a streak of 14 wins and 4 draws. Veracruz also won their first title in that year. In the season 1947–48 they won their first Mexican Cup by beating the Chivas 3–1. Soon Veracruz won their second title, in the 1949–50 season, with the most overwhelming victory in the history of Mexican football, beating Monterrey, 14–0.
Years later Veracruz acquired famous players such as René Higuita, Braulio Luna, Adolfo Ríos, Luis Hernández, Fernando Arce, Alfredo Tena and others. After being relegated to the Primera División A Veracruz came back in 2002 after being declared Primera División A champions and finished 11th place in the Summer of 2002. The Apertura 2004 season had been one of the best for Veracruz as they finished 1st place thanks to new signings such as Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Christian Giménez, Kléber Boas and others. Veracruz has had 59 managers so far, as of 2008. On the night of Friday April 25, 2008 at Luis "Pirata" Fuente stadium (Home of the Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz), UNAM defeated Veracruz with a final score of 4–2, sending Veracruz to the Primera A division league. Veracruz was officially relegated from the Mexican Primera División league on the night of Friday May 2, 2008 in the final match of the regular season against Tecos UAG ending in a 0–0 draw.
First title
1945–46 championship club.
In the club's third year of existence in the 1945–46 tournament, the club went on to win 18 games with a record of 14 wins and 4 draws, managing to win 8 straight. The club scored 105 goals that year, leading the club in scoring was the Argentine Jorge Enrico followed by Raimundo Gonzalez with 24. Luis de la Fuente was considered the club's best player because of his unique playing style.
It was on 2 June 1946, in the second to last round of the tournament in the Parque Asturias in Mexico City, home of Real Club España where the club won 2–3 and so were able to claim themselves champions for the first time. With goals scored by José Valdivia, Luis de la Fuente and Raimundo Gonzalez, they ended a 26-year streak of the tournament being won by a club from Mexico City. That same year the club went on to lose the Campeón de Campeones title against Atlas.
First Copa México title
In the 1947–48 Copa México tournament, with the departure of the club's best players (the Argentine Jorge Enrico along with other good players such as Lazcano and Pachuco Durán, and maybe the club's most important trainer, Palomini) the still club managed to win its first Copa México. The final was played against Guadalajara with a final score of 3–1 under the management of the Spaniard Joaquin Urquiaga. That is the only cup to date the club has won, finishing runner-up 3 times: in 1949–50, 1967–68 and 1994–95.
Second title
In the 1949–50 tournament the club managed to win its last Mexican Primera División title till date. The club started off that year with a rejuvenated squad led by Juan Luque de Serrallonga who had just come from a stay with the Mexico national football team the year before. This year is also remembered because the club had its first goal scoring champion: the Peruvian Julio Ayllon, also known as El Negro, black promotional football players in Mexico being uncommon at that time; Julio went on to score 30 goals that year.
The end of a Golden Era
The club welcomed the new decade with the start of the end of its golden age. The 1950–51 tournament became the first losing year due to economical problems the club faced under the ownership of Miguel Alemán Valdez and governor of the state Marco Antonio Muñoz.
The worst season came in the 1951–52 tournament after a long relegation fight that came down to the end against Club América; they lost and were relegated for the first time in history to the newly created Segunda División de México. That year the club finished with a record of 3 wins, 6 draws, and 13 losses allowing 54 goals and only scoring 22 for a total of 12 points, just 3 behind Club América (who kept the category and is one of two clubs that has never been relegated since the professionalization of the sport in Mexico).
In the 1952–53 tournament, playing in the Segunda División de México, the club finished the year just one point away from been promoted behind Toluca, who has played in the first division ever since. After that disappointing year almost all the players left the club following the 1953 cup tournament. As a result, the leagues decided to disband the club.
Return 1960s–1970s
In 1961, thanks to a group of supporters, they established a patronage in which José Lajud Kuri was named president and so revived the club in order to take part in the 1961–62 Segunda División de México tournament. The first couple of years were mediocre and they didn't have any success.
In 1964 the club was presented with an opportunity to be promoted after the league decided to increase the number of clubs from 14 to 16. That year, the worst first division club, Nacional de Guadalajara, played a promotional playoff tournament against Segunda División de MéxicoPetroleros de Ciudad Madero. Poza Rica and Veracruz had finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th (not counting Cruz Azul who had earned an automatic promotion after winning the tournament). That tournament ended with Nacional de Guadalajara and Veracruz earning first and second with Petroleros de Ciudad Madero third and Poza Rica fourth. The club had returned to the first division after 12 years of bitter, bitter waiting.
In the 1964–65 first division tournament the club played their first game on June 7, 1964, against Atletico Morelia in the city of Morelia in a 3–3 draw. The club's first goal since coming back was scored by Jesus Mercado. That year the club had a record of 10 wins, 8 draws, and 12 defeats; they scored 41 and allowed 44 for a total of 28 points and fishing 10 overall in the league. Their best game was played in the 8th round when they defeated Zacatepec 5–1. In 1978–79 the club was relegated for the second time after losing 22 games allowing 83 goals and finishing last in the competition. One thing to mention is that the club had five different trainers that year. One week before their last game in the first division the club secured their relegation after losing, 5–2, against Club Universidad de Guadalajara in the city of Guadalajara. The last game the club played in that tournament was against Tigres de la UANL one June 3, 1979, at home where they had a draw of 1–1 and so ended their second stay in the first division while ending another decade.
1980s
The club started the 1980s in the Segunda División de México . After the 1983–84 tournament the club was sold to the city of Yucatán where it became Venados de Yucatán. This club lasted a couple years before folding in 1998.
After several years of not having a football club representing the state of Veracruz, various attempts were made in order revive the club. One such was to buy the Ángeles de Puebla franchise which at the time was on sale due to the lack of supporters. The club had been in the same city as Puebla who had won two league titles and 2 Copa México titles in the 1980s. But in 1989, a group of local businessmen along with funding by the governor of the city of Veracruz bought the newly promoted club Potros Neza which at the time was affiliated with first division club Atlante. The club played their first tournament game that same year and lost to Puebla under the management of Héctor Sanabria. That year the club finished 5th in group 4 with a total of 34 - nonetheless the club managed to win over supporters by been a club that played with a lot of heart.[clarification needed] Players such as Davidovich, José Luís Marroquín, Castañon, Salcedo, Pascual Ramírez, Jardon Eduardo Rergis, Eduardo Moses, Omar Palma, and Jorge Comas stood out. That year is remembered as La Tiburomania because no matter where the club played it always had a great deal[clarification needed] of support no matter the distance. The club return started a euphoria in the city in the 1989–90 tournament when the club had 19 straight sell-outs. It all came to a climax when the club played top club Club América in the Estadio Azteca where 50,000 Veracruz supporters poured into a stadium with a capacity of 114,000 and they set a record for the most supports attending an away game. That game ended in a 3–5 win for the home team in a controversial match refereed by Javier Castellanos.
That same year there was a four-way special tournament inviting Brazilian club Botafogo, Spanish club Real Madrid and local club UNAM. Botafogo ended up taking home the cup but the fans remember this tournament because the club beat Real Madrid, 4–2, with a goal by the Argentine Omar Palma.
The 1990s began with a group of players and a fan base which became known as La Tiburomaniam who cheer own fan favorite players Jorge ComasAdolfo Ríos, Joaquín Del Olmo, Octavio Becerril, Pascual Ramírez, José Luís González China under management of the Brazilian Edu. The club failed to qualify to the play-offs after a long battle for 2nd place in group 3 against Cruz Azul.
In the 1991–92 tournament the club give its supporters something to cheer for after a bad start of the tournament which caused the existed of them club taker Angel Lopez who was replaced by Roberto Matosas. After the change of trainer the club had a much better tournament which qualified the club to a knockout play-off series against Correcaminos UAT which they won, 4–3, which they handed done since the club was reform in 1970. The club faced Necaxa in quarterfinals where they lost, 6–2.
In the 1993–94 the club celebrated its 50 anniversary with a special ceremony prior to the tournament where former club greats reunited to play a special match. That preseason the club signed former greats Carlos Poblete and Rubén Omar Romano. That year is also remembered for that great friendly match the club had against Atlético Madrid.
In the 1994–95 tournament under the management of Anibal Ruiz who with a peculiar[clarification needed] defensive style of coaching made the fans lose interest in the club nonetheless the club qualified to play a knock-out match against its hated rival Puebla who advanced to the quarterfinals after a 1–1 draw moving on due to a better position in the league. The club came close that year to winning the 1994–95 Copa México title after beating Irapuato, Estudiantes Tecos and Santos Laguna in that order facing Necaxa in the final match that took place in neutral ground in the Estadio Cuauhtémoc in the city of Puebla where the club fell 2–0. In 1995 the club was sold to local TV network Televisa who brought in better playgoers to the club reviving once again the hopes of the supporters.
In the 1996–97 the new owners signed José Mari Bakero who had just finished a long career with Spanish giant Barcelona along with key players from the Colombia national team Leonel Álvarez, Iván Valenciano, Alexis Mendoza mating important players and fan favorite goalkeeper Adolfo Ríos. With the hype of the club's new players many gave the club a chance of taking the league title but after a tournament field with injuries and with a divided locker-room the club managed to gain only 9 points and finished last leaving the club in relegation problems for the nest campaign.
In the 1997–98 tournament the club let go most of the players bringing in the international known goalkeeper René Higuita along with players that were unknown in the league in order to avoid their 3rd relegation. With lack of experience the players had the club ended that tournament with a record of 3 wins, 5 draws losing 9 games for a total of 14 points and so once selling their 3rd relegation in club history.
In the Invierno del 98 playing now in the Primera A the club started their journey to return once again to the top division hiring Juan Manuel Alvarez who had achieved this task before with Club Celaya a few years back. With the supports still hurt by the relegation at mid tournament Juan Manuel Alvarez was replaced by "El Turco" Aude coach who had much experience in the league and managed to rally the players reaching the semi-finals that year, losing the series to Venados de Yucatán.
In 1999 the club was sold to city of Veracruz along with local business owners. The club had one of the worst seasons in its history that inverno 99 with a club mostly formed by veteran players along with young experienced players. In that tournament the club failed to qualify for the play-offs and the promotion seemed impossible each day – and that is how the club ended that decade with some strong clubs in the early part of the decade and with the club's third relation at the end of it.
In the 2000–01 tournament the club finally lived up to its expectation becoming a competitive club in the Primera A the first have under the management of Carlos Trucco and Roberto Saporiti in other half, these two managers went on to win several games that would qualify them to the playoff where they were eliminated but had revived interest in the locals. At the end of that tournament the first division expanded from 18 to 20 which promoted two clubs that year. La Piedad was promoted after winning the Verano 2001 Primera A tournament and going on to win the Promotion match against Toros Neza. A promotion series was played between Atlante who had the worst relegation percentage against the club that had gain the most points in the Primera A that been Veracruz. A second promotion match was played between those two clubs the first match was played in jam packed Estadio Luis de la Fuente in Veracruz in match that ended in a 0–0 draw. The second match was played in the Estadio Azteca where Atlante defeated the Veracruz, 4–1, and remained in the top division.
In the 2007 Apertura the club finished second to last in the percentage table just above Puebla and below Tigres UANL with a percentage of 1.0706.
In the Primera División de México Clausura 2008 the club once again had a bad year with a record of 4 wins, 5 draws and losing 8 for a total of 17 points finishing 16 in the league. The club shed its relegation after losing at home against their direct rivals in the relegation fight Puebla with a score of 2–0. The club's relegation was made official in the following match against UNAM at home losing 4–2 and setting a new league record for a relegation with 4.
The club played in the Liga de Ascenso since the Apertura 2008 and came close several times but always coming short.
2011 Disaffiliation
On June 3, 2011, the FMF disaffiliated the Tiburones Rojos because of a failure of payments to the FMF.
“The Federacion Mexicana de Futbol Asociacion, AC informs that the Ordinary General Assembly at its meeting today, once it analyzed the situation of Representaciones Soha, Inc., SA de CV, (Club Veracruz and / or Club Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz), a member of the Liga de Ascenso, The Mexican Football Federation, AC unanimously decided, with its power under Articles 17, 25 and other related and applicable Statute of the FMF, revoke the Certificate of Membership and consequently disaffiliate such an entity, for failing to meet its financial obligations to FMF and its affiliates.”[3]
After that announcement, it was accorded between Veracruz and Albinegros de Orizaba to unify their teams after the debts the team had.
2013 Club Change
Club San Luis was relocated to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas to play at the Estadio Víctor Manuel Reyna, under the name Chiapas Football Club. Club La Piedad was relocated to the state of Veracruz to play at the Estadio Luis "Pirata" Fuente, under the name of Veracruz.
2019 disaffiliation
After enduring a 41-game winless run dating from September 2018 to October 2019, multiple reports of players not receiving payment, an in-game protest against Tigres UANL in the 2019 Apertura, where they conceded 3 goals in the first 8 minutes, and repeated discontent with owner Fidel Kurri, the FMF officially disaffiliated Veracruz from Liga MX following the 2019 Apertura. Their players became free agents, free to sign with any club, and their women's team was also kicked out of the Liga MX Femenil. All other branches of the club, including its academies and reserves, dissolved as well. As a result, Liga MX began its 2020 Clausura with only 18 teams.
2020 reestablishment of reserves
In 2020, their former reserve team (2013–2016), Atlético Veracruz, was one of the teams reestablished to play in the Liga de Balompié Mexicano.[4][5] On February 10, 2021, the club announced its retirement from the LBM to seek integration into the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, with the aim of being able to participate in the Liga de Expansión MX as of the 2021–22 season.[6] Subsequently, the team decided to redirect their application and began the procedure to join the Liga Premier de México.[7] On May 23, 2022, the Club Deportivo Veracruz Facebook page published a statement stating that they had finally paid all their debts. Also, they stated that the Mexican Football Federation had falsely accused them of having debt, and opened a lawsuit against the Mexican Football Federation for wrongful disaffiliation, looking to return to Liga MX if the case is won.
The club had a long-standing rivalry with Puebla. This rivalry dated back to the amateur era from the early 1930s, before both clubs had been admitted into the professional division in 1944.
In all Puebla and Veracruz played 68 official matches including league and Copa México. Puebla had the best record with 30 wins 15 draws.
