LD Alajuelense
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| Alajuela | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Liga Deportiva Alajuelense | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | La Liga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | June 18, 1919 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, El Llano de Alajuela |
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| Capacity | 17,895 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Pilar Fundamental Association | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Alvaro Solano |
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| League | Primera División, Costa Rica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006-07 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA), is a Costa Rican football club, currently playing in the Primera División, and together with Deportivo Saprissa shares the majority of National Championships, 24 in total. Alajuelense has also the majority of titles in the short-tournaments with a total of nine, with four Apertura championships and 5 Clausura championships. Alajuelense was the first Costa Rican team to win a CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The most popular club in Costa Rica[1] is known by their fans as La Liga and won the 2005 UNCAF Champions Cup, which ended in the invitation to the 2006 Copa Sudamericana. The only club in Costa Rica football history with at least one Championship gained in each decade and along with Club Sport Herediano shares the honors of never to have descended from the first category since its creation in 1920.
[edit] Liga Deportiva Alajuelense History
The club was founded in June 18, 1919 in Alajuela, Costa Rica by a group of friends who belonged to a team that, at the time, was known as El Once de Abril (The Eleventh of April), giving the Province of Alajuela its first soccer team. On August 2, 1919 Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, or La Liga, played its first game in the city of Cartago against Club Sport Cartagines and achieved one of its many victories with a score of 3-1. In 1921 Costa Rica officially formed a National League creating the first National Championship (Campeonato Nacional) for the country, and La Liga officially became one of the first seven clubs to join. The other clubs that joined were Club Sport Herediano, Club Sport Cartagines, and the now defunct teams of Sociedad Gimnástica Española, Club Sport La Unión de Tres Ríos, Club Sport La Libertad, and Sociedad Gimnástica Limonense. The first year of the Costa Rican National Championship saw nothing but failure for La Liga, as it finished the season in last place. But in 1928, La Liga managed to win the first of many national championships thanks to the skills of a young man that would become one of Costa Rica's most historic soccer figures ever, Alejandro Morera Soto. On September 7, 1930 La Liga had its first ever international victory, defeating Cuba's club team Fortuna 4-2. In February of 1932, Alejandro Morera Soto was signed by Spanish League team Barcelona where he helped FC Barcelona achieve a Spanish League Championship in 1934, being the lead scorer for the team and earning him the nickname of "El Mago del Balón" (The Wizard of the Ball). On October 12, 1949 La Liga and Saprissa played the first of what would become the Costa Rican Classico, where La Liga beat Saprissa 6-5 in El Estadio Nacional. Since 1919, La Liga has been able to obtain 24 Costa Rican National Championships including the most recent one in 2005. They were also the CONCACAF Club Champions in 1986 (disputing the Copa Interamericana against River Plate in 1987), and in 2004. They also have obtained Central America Champion status in 1992, and in 1996 they became the champions of "Campeones Grandes de Centro America", they participated in the Copa Merconorte with a high performing, and in 2005 they won an UNCAF Cup championship, earning the invitation for the Copa Sudamericana 2006.
[edit] Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto en el Llano de Alajuela
Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is known as the Cathedral of Costa Rican Soccer. The stadium is owned and operated by La Liga Deportiva Alajuelense and is located in El Llano de Alajuela. The project to find a proper site for a permanent home started in 1938 when the director of the club, Carlos Bolaños, proposed that the club should purchase its own land. The land was purchased in 1940, but the site would not be soccer-ready until 1942, when Alajuelense played its first match at the site. The first game was played on January 18, 1942 when Liga Deportiva Alajuelense played Club Sport Cartagines. The Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto is known as the Cathedral of Costa Rican Soccer.
On July 20, 1966, due to a motion by the Municipality of Alajuela, the stadium was renamed to honor the great Alajuelense and Barcelona player Alejandro Morera Soto. On March 19, 1970 the stadium saw its first night game when Alajuelense faced Honduras Club team Motagua, beating them 4-1. The stadium is not only home to Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, but it is also shares itself along with Estadio Ricardo Saprissa as the home of the Costa Rican National team.
[edit] El Leon Alajuelense
El Leon Alajuelense (The Alajuelan Lion) is the official Mascot of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. El Leon represents four values that are important to Liga Deportiva Alajuelense: braveness, fortitude, dynamics, and fidelity. Before El Leon became the official mascot in the 1990's, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense's mascot was a Mango, in homage to the town of Alajuela which is nicknamed The City of Mangoes.
[edit] La Doce
La Doce ("the twelve") is Liga's radical fan club. They are called "La Doce" because they refer to themselves as the twelfth player of the team. This fan group sings and jumps during the whole game and follows the team across the country. They have been known to set off fireworks in stadiums and have a reputation for being die-hard fans.
[edit] Notable players
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[edit] Notable Coaches
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[edit] Costa Rican National Championships
Liga Deportiva Alajuelense has won 24 Costa Rican Championships:
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[edit] Costa Rican Short-Tournament Championships
- 1997 Torneo de Apertura
- 1999 Torneo de Apertura
- 2000 Torneo de Apertura
- 2000 Torneo de Clausura
- 2001 Torneo de Clausura
- 2002 Torneo de Apertura
- 2002 Torneo de Clausura
- 2003 Torneo de Clausura
- 2005 Torneo de Clausura
[edit] International Tournament Championships
- 1961 Central American & Caribbean Champions
- 1986 CONCACAF Club Champions
- 1992 Central American Champions
- 1996 Grandes de Centro America Champions
- 2000 Copa LG Uncaf (Panama) Champions
- 2002 UNCAF Cup Champions
- 2004 CONCACAF Club Champions
- 2004 Copa Taca de Campeon de Campeones de America Champions (Not Official Cup)
- 2005 UNCAF Cup Champions
[edit] Current squad 2006/07
The palyers and numbers are established according to the official website:[1]. As of 15 August 2006.
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[edit] Squad changes during 2006/07 season
In:
Ricardo González - Return From Comunicaciones
Victor Núñez - Return From C.S. Cartaginés- Pablo Salazar - Return From C.S. Cartaginés
- Marvin Calvo - Signed From Municipal Liberia
Carlos Salazar - Loan From Deportivo Cali
Armando Gun - Loan From America de Cali- Julio Romaña - Loan From Cúcuta Deportivo
Out:
- Johan Condega - Loaned To Municipal Pérez Zeledón
- Neighel Drummond - Loaned To Brujas F.C.
- Alejandro Alpizar - Transferred To Deportivo Saprissa
- Brayan Ruiz - Transferred To K.A.A. Gent
- Pablo Chinchilla - Transferred To SCR Altach
Emil Martínez - Return To Club Deportivo Marathón
Pablo Izaguirre - Retired- Luis Marín - Transferred To Maccabi Netanya
- Carlos Castro - Fired
- Julio Romaña - Fired
- Carlos Salazar - Fired
- Armando Gun - Fired
- Ricardo González - Transfered To CS Herediano
- Erick Scott - Transfered To Club Deportivo Marathón
- Erick Jimenez - Transfered To C.S. Cartaginés
- Minor Díaz - Transfered To C.S. Cartaginés
- Gabriel Gastón Oyola - Fired
[edit] 2006-07 Starting line-up
- This was the lineup used by Alvaro Solano against Club Sport Cartagines March 4, 2007.
# 26
# 28
# 17
# 4
# 18
# 27
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Alajuelense es el equipo preferido en Costa Rica. Phoenix Arizona News, Spanish version (2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-29. "Article which states Liga Deportiva Alajuelense's superiority in popularity over Deportivo Saprissa (Spanish)."
| Primera División de Costa Rica 2006/07 teams: |
| LD Alajuelense | Brujas FC | AD Carmelita | CS Cartaginés | CS Herediano | Liberia Pérez Zeledón | Puntarenas FC | AD San Carlos | AD Santacruceña | Santos | Saprissa |
