Club Universitario de Deportes
Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club based in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of San Marcos but was forced to rename in 1931. Since 1928, the club competes in the top tier of Peruvian football, the Torneo Descentralizado. In 2000, they opened the 80,000-capacity stadium Estadio Monumental, currently the largest stadium in Peru and second-largest in South America, retiring their smaller Estadio Teodoro Lolo Fernández. Universitario and Alianza Lima participate in the Peruvian Clásico, which has its roots in the club's first participation in the Primera División in 1928. It also has rivalries with Sporting Cristal, Deportivo Municipal, and Sport Boys.
Club Universitario de Deportes
The Universitario squad that won their first Primera División title in 1929: Alva; C. Galindo, Rotta, Denegri, P. Galindo, Astengo, M. Pacheco, P. Pacheco, Góngora, Cillóniz and Souza Ferreira.
Fernández in his first season with Universitario.
The Universitario squad of the 1950s.
Football is the most popular sport in Peru. Football/soccer in Peru was introduced by British immigrants, Peruvians returning from Great Britain, and by English sailors in the later half of the 19th century during their frequent stops at the port of Callao, which at that point was considered one of the most important ports of the Pacific Ocean. According to the work entitled La Difusión del Fútbol en Lima, during the last decade of the 19th century, records show that sailors were known to practice sports such as football/soccer and played against teams made up of Englishmen, Peruvians, or a mix between Englishmen and Peruvians.
Romanian goalkeeper against the Peruvian striker Lores during the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
Juan Valdivieso, goalkeeper of the Peru national football team, reaches out for the football during the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics match between Austria and Peru.
Image: Estadio Monumental 2021
Image: Unsaestadio 4