Club Deportivo Guadalajara often simply known as Guadalajara and their nickname Chivas, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco, Mexico. The team competes in the Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Primera División (Liga MX) and is one of seven teams that have never been relegated.
Guadalajara have played their home matches at Estadio Akron in Zapopan since 2010, having previously played at Estadio Jalisco. Guadalajara is the only football club in Mexico that does not allow foreign players to play for their club. The team has historically relied on home-grown (cantera) players and has been the launching pad of many internationally successful players, including Javier Hernández, Carlos Vela and Carlos Salcido, among others. The team's three colors (red, white, and blue) symbolize "Fraternity, Union, and Sports". The team adopted the colors that linked them back to their founder's hometown, Bruges. Chivas supporters use a flag identical to the French flag to support their team.
Chivas is one of Mexico's most successful teams with 12 league titles, and holds the league record for the longest winning streak at the beginning of a season, with 8 consecutive wins. Internationally, Guadalajara is the best Mexican side to compete in Copa Libertadores having reached the semifinals twice (2005 and 2006) and being runner-ups in the 2010 edition.
According to a 2016 study of preferred football clubs Guadalajara is the most popular team in Mexico, with 44.1% of supporters in the country. In 2020, Forbes estimated that the club was the most valuable of the league, ranking sixth overall in the Americas, worth approximately $311.5 million.
History
Early history
The team was founded by Edgar Everaert, who arrived in Mexico in 1906. Their kit was modeled on that of the founder's favourite team, the Belgian Club Brugge K.V., borrowing the vertical stripes and colour scheme of the Brugge strip in that era (Brugge has since changed their team colours). Some historians assert that the colours came from the French Tricolour because some of the club's first players were French. The first team comprised Mexican, Belgian, and French players. First named "Union" because of the camaraderie between the players of different nationalities, most of whom were employees of the Fábricas de Francia store, with founder Everaert as coach. A few Spanish and English also became members of the Unión Football Club.
On a tour of Europe, Everaert noticed that European teams named after their respective town or city seemed to generate more support from fans in their communities. So, in 1908, with the approval of Everaert and the players, Club de Futbol Union was renamed as Club Deportivo Guadalajara to engender a sense of loyalty within the city's population. In 1908, it was also decided that the team would only field Mexican-born players because of the growing sense of oppression Mexican nationals felt towards non-Mexican nationals. Following the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, amateur football tournaments throughout the country flourished and Guadalajara was always involved. Between 1906 and 1943 (the amateur era of Mexican football and the Primera Fuerza), Guadalajara won 13 amateur titles, the first in 1908. Also during this period, the oldest rivalry in Mexican football began to form, between Guadalajara and America.
Professional Era, El Ya Merito (1943–1953) In 1943 the Liga Mayor was founded after the merging of several regional leagues and the era of professional football began. Guadalajara struggled during the early years, with the exception of the 1948–49 season when they finished third. This same year Guadalajara was given the name "Chivas Locas" (Crazy Goats) during a game against Atlas. The name was initially considered an insult, but later adopted as the team's nickname due to the overwhelming popularity of the club. During the 1951–52 and 1954–55 seasons, the team finished as runner-up in the league, leading to the nickname "Ya Merito" ("Almost There!").