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Football in Toluca came with the idea of the German brothers Manuel and Francisco Henkel, owners of the "La Huerta" hacienda located in Zinacantepec near the city of Toluca. The Henkels implemented football on the farm, with the desire to entertain their farmhands during their free hours; Some time later, they launched the official creation of the "La Huerta" team, made up of the hacienda's workers.
Another of the main promoters of football in the city of Toluca was Román Ferrat Alday, who met every Sunday with a group of friends to practice football on some land near Alameda Central. On his part, the Henkel family used the services of the outstanding physical trainer Filiberto Navas Valdés, who was distinguished by his career in athletics, basketball, Greco-Roman wrestling and boxing.
The Henkels' idea of promoting football in Toluca was carried out with the creation of a second team, called Xinantécatl in honor of the Nevado de Toluca and made up of workers from the Toluca-Tenango Railway and the Light Company, directed by Eduardo Henkel, father of Manuel and Francisco.
As time went by, concern about football in Toluca increased and meetings began to be organized in the Ferrat family home and in the "La Valenciana" store, around the creation of a team that would represent the city in the state and national leagues. There were many meetings in which Román Ferrat Alday, Fernando and Armando Mañón, Alfonso Faure, José Estrada Madrid, Raymundo Pichardo, Joaquín Lajous, Arnulfo García Daniel Valero, Manuel Henkel, Flavio Martínez, Filiberto Navas and José Placencia participated.
Finally, on February 12, 1917, the charter of Deportivo Toluca was drawn up in the Ferrat-Solá family home, located at number #37 on Juárez Avenue; forming a board of directors that was joined by personalities such as Leonardo and Joaquín Sánchez, Abel Moreno and Manuel Lara. However, the founding document of the Toluca Sports Club was lost with the beginnings of the Revolution that hit Mexico at that time and was never recovered.
The objective of turning the team into a protagonist of national football began with the hiring of Moisés Plata who had started at Xinantécatl. The board of directors of the Toluca Sports Club acquired the land of the so-called "Gachupines Dam" located on what is now Vasco de Quiroga Street, between Hidalgo Poniente, Aurelio J. Venegas and Buenaventura Merlín, property of Francisco Negrete.
The Ferrat family was in charge of financially supporting the newly formed team, acquiring land located on Colón Avenue (today Paseo Colón) where the first official headquarters of Deportivo Toluca was established, which consisted of a small football field. And some wooden stands with a covered section to protect the ladies who attended the game. In 1919, the land of the so-called "Gachupines Dam" located on the streets of Vasco de Quiroga, Hidalgo poniente, Aurelio Venegas and Buenaventura Merlín, which were owned by Francisco Negrete, was acquired.
Between 1918 and 1919, new teams emerged such as; the “Azteca”, the “Unión” and the “Águila”, the latter sponsored by Fernando Barreto who would later be linked to Deportivo Toluca; Fernando Barreto ventured into football with the creation of several teams, with which he sought to win the Mexican State Championship. His first team was "Águila", however it only achieved a runner-up finish in 1919 and the team was replaced by "Cuauhtémoc" and this in turn by "Reforma".
In 1921, the governor of the State of Mexico, Manuel Campos Mena, organized a series of celebrations in which Deportivo Toluca participated, with the Tivoli field as its headquarters, which is currently a residential area that it preserves in its name. According to a newspaper from that time, players from Barreto's team appeared in Toluca such as Reynaldo Torres, Francisco Silva and Juan Albarrán, better known as "the devil" (later the inspiration of the Toluca Sports Club for its nickname of the "red devils"). "); However, it was not specified whether the players had been loaned or had been acquired as reinforcements for the club.
With the end of the Revolution, the country entered into crisis and many shareholders of Deportivo Toluca were forced to emigrate from the Mexican capital. With this, Deportivo Toluca entered into crisis and was forced to invite new investors, among whom was Fernando Barreto. In mid-1926, Barreto received an invitation from Atlético León to play a series of three games in the city of León, Guanajuato of which Deportivo Toluca achieved two unexpected victories.
By 1930, the two most important championships in Mexico City were that of the Football Federation and that of the Central Federation. That same year, Deportivo Toluca was invited to participate in one of the two most important championships in the Federal District, organized by the Central Federation together with traditional teams such as España, Necaxa and América that had separated from the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF) that same year.
Since 1930, Deportivo Toluca carried out a restructuring through which Deportivo became a Public Limited Company with the prolonged contributions of Moisés Plata. With this restructuring, the club sought to give more benefits to its members not only in the area of football, but also in basketball, baseball, tennis, racquetball and casino games. However, with the incursion into new sports, most of the members neglected football, which was only covered by Jesús Piña and Fernando Barreto.
By 1931, and after having achieved a well-deserved third place in the Central Federation championship; Deportivo Toluca returned to the state championships; arriving with the aura of having played a tournament with the three most outstanding teams in the Federal District. The prestige that the team had been enjoying increased further with the matches that Deportivo Toluca played against Club España, Atlas de Guadalajara and Club América, whom it defeated 3-2 on December 21, 1930.
Another of the most relevant events at this time was the confrontation of Deportivo Toluca against Libertad of Costa Rica since it represented the first international duel in the history of the Scarlets. Players like Rodolfo Muñoz, Goldoni and Hutt stand out in the match.
In 1935, players such as David Albiter, Carlos Ballesteros, Alberto Mendoza and Samuel Martínez García appeared, who would be a fundamental key to the team's promotion to the Primera División de México. In 1936, Fernando Torres became president and the team retained the title of National Amateur Champion with players such as Horacio Garduño, Manuel Esquivel, Eustolio Enríquez, Aníbal Espinoza, Alfonso García, Manuel Estana, Guillermo Estrada, Ricardo Barraza, Héctor Barraza, Pascual Valdés, Rodolfo Guadarrama, Vicente Quintana and Aurelio Moreno.
One of the great players who emerged in Deportivo during this era was Alberto Mendoza, known as "El Caballo". Alberto started at Deportivo as a reserve and little by little he earned a place as a starter in the team; However, the popularity of "Caballo" reached its peak when Deportivo Toluca beat a Spanish club called Euskadi with four goals from Mendoza on June 16, 1939.
The triumph of Deportivo Toluca against the Spanish surprised everyone and raised the pride of Deportivo Toluca; This was mainly due to the fact that Deportivo Toluca did not participate in any renowned tournament and was a purely amateur team. The squad that Deportivo Toluca presented in that victory was made up of Almaquio Castañeda, Martí Ventolrà, José Gómez, Ricardo Barraza, Jorge Quesada, Adolfo Téllez, José Quesada and Amado López, Óscar Hernández, among others.
Between 1944 and 1945, Deportivo Toluca faced an economic crisis because the fees paid by its shareholders were not enough to maintain the needs of the club. Faced with this situation, the then president of Deportivo Toluca, Ignacio Longares, decided to increase the shares of his shareholders, causing discouragement in many of them, who chose to sell their shares to Longares himself.
In 1943, the professional era of the Primera División de México, made up of 5 teams from the Federal District (América, Marte, España, Atlante and Asturias), 3 from Veracruz (Veracruz, Orizaba and Moctezuma) and 2 from Jalisco (Atlas and Guadalajara). During the next two years, the Federation began to receive new applications to join the league, so teams such as León, Oro de Jalisco, Puebla, Monterrey, San Sebastián and Tampico joined as well.
In 1945, Samuel Martínez García became president, who soon became identified with Deportivo Toluca, with whom he won the Mexican State Championship that same year. After winning the championship, Deportivo Toluca was invited to play in the Federal District Reserve League, losing its inaugural match by a thunderous score of 10-0 against Red Star; However, Deportivo Toluca was able to overcome its shaky start and finished the tournament in third place, only below Real España and Club América.
During this stage, Deportivo Toluca obtained its last title in the Mexican State Championship, with the “Tivoli” facilities as its headquarters on the field called “Patria” located between Aurelio J. Venegas, Morelos Poniente, Felipe Villanueva and Constituciónes streets, exactly where the Estadio Nemesio Díez is located today, known as "La Bombonera" in Toluca for its similarity to a "box of chocolates."
The popularity and desire of many teams to enter the Primera División motivated to begin preparations for the creation of the Segunda División de México, implementing the mandatory relegation of the team that finished last in the Primera División, and at the same time, the promotion of the champion team in the Segunda División.
The Major League published a call, with a series of requirements for teams interested in entering the Segunda División. The Deportivo Toluca board began to meet the requirements imposed by the Major League, however the consolidation of the Segunda División would take three more years due to the merger of the Major League and the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, which took place between 1948 and 1950. The last team of Deportivo Toluca in the Reserves Tournament held at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, was made up of Porfirio Peña, Edid Isaac, Ricardo Barreto, Santiago Ramírez, Juan Moya, Miguel Vélez, José Luis Zavalla, Alfredo Becerril, Francisco García, Álvaro Pineda and Felipe Galindo.
The Toluca Red Devils officially debuted on February 18, 1951 in the newly formed Segunda División; having as its official headquarters the “Tivoli” field and Rodolfo Butch Muñoz as technical director and David Albiter as his assistant. The tournament concluded on May 27 and the champions turned out to be those of Club Zacatepec who were promoted to the Primera División to take the place of Club San Sebastián; For its part, Deportivo Toluca was not successful in the season and finished in penultimate place in the general table.
For the following season, two more teams join the Segunda División, while Club Deportivo Toluca carries out a restructuring of its board of directors, with Engineer José Martínez Ruíz becoming president. Other personalities who made up the new sports board were Manuel Zárate as treasurer (later replaced by Arturo González), and Fernando Barreto, Samuel Martínez and Jesús Piña as members of the team.
The team begins to use the grounds of "Campo Patria" to hold its games, thanks to the offer of Aníbal Espinoza. During the second round of the tournament, the readaptation of the stands begins, as well as the placement of the fencing, the latter being one of the main requirements of the Football Federation. David Albiter remains in charge of the technical direction of the team and without assistants achieves a surprising third place.
In Deportivo Toluca's third and final campaign in the Segunda División; David Albiter presents his resignation to the board and is replaced by Tomás Fábregas. The team was reinforced with the arrivals of Ovidio Arnauda, Salvador Rábago, Rubén Pichardo and Trino. The kickoff of the championship was given by Elsa Maawad before an impressive crowd; The scarlet fans began to become increasingly noticeable, following the team even in their away games.
The championship was made up of twelve teams; Deportivo Toluca, San Sebastián de León, Moctezuma de Orizaba, Atlético de Veracruz, Deportivo Zamora, La Concepción de la Ciudad de Puebla, Veracruz, Irapuato, Morelia, Veracruz, Querétaro, Estrella Roja and Monterrey. The team played 22 games, of which they won 14, tied 7 and only suffered one defeat at the hands of Club de Fútbol Monterrey, who finished the season as last overall.
The long-awaited promotion finally took place on January 18, 1953 with a three-goal draw against Club Deportivo Irapuato with a double score from Rubén Pichardo and one from the tournament's top scorer Mateo de la Tijera; finally establishing themselves as champions at the end of the tournament. The title obtained by the Toluca Sports Club gained importance by leaving the Red Sharks of Veracruz in second place, who were strong favorites to win the title and set a series of records that are still remembered.
The Toluca Sports Club finally obtained its promotion after 36 years of its foundation, however having achieved promotion resulted in increased expenses for the board due to the demands of the Mexican Federation increasing and also the sporting issues that required strengthening the team in order to achieve a worthy campaign in the Primera División de México. The total expense was out of the reach of the red board and in order to maintain the team, José Ramírez Ruiz decided to form a board of trustees made up of the city's main businessmen, among whom stood out; Juan Salgado, Pedro López, Manuel Villaverde, Jaime García, Francisco Negrete, Mario Mena Palacios, and Luis Gutiérrez Dosal, who kept the team alive.
On August 8, 1954, the Estadio Nemesio Díez was formally inaugurated, which was later renamed: "Héctor Barraza", "Luis Gutiérrez Dosal", "Toluca 70", "Toluca 70- 86", "La Bombonera" (the name that identifies the stadium to this day) and finally "Nemesio Díez". All this arose about the location of Campo Patria.
The first official match of Deportivo Toluca in the Primera División was against the colts of Club de Fútbol Atlante in which Toluca would take the victory by a final score of two for one. In said match the team's fans were present and it was then that a character dressed as a devil appeared as a mascot in the Sports City who; It was immediately adopted by the fans as the club's official mascot, which prevails to this day and gave the Mexican team its characteristic nickname of "the red devils."
At the end of the 1953-54 season of the Primera División de México, Deportivo Toluca achieved fifth place, tying with Club Deportivo Tampico F.C. and only three points behind the champion who turned out to be Club Deportivo Marte.
For the 1954-55 season, Deportivo Toluca finished sixth in the general table and as a consequence it was decided to hire Fernando Marcos González in the technical direction and Gonzalo Iturbe, Gabriel Uñate, Jesús Segovia and the goalkeeper Manuel Camacho as reinforcements for the campaign in which the red team finished in fourth place overall.
The first title for the institution would be a Copa México that would come in the year 1956, when Club Deportivo Toluca defeated Club Irapuato on May 27, 1956 with a final score of two goals to one with players like Manuel Camacho, Segovia, Jorge Romo, Hernández, Máximo Vázquez, Wedell, Enrique Sesma, Blanco, Uñate, Carlos Láscarez and Barraza.
In the 1956–57 and 1957-58 seasons, Deportivo Toluca reaffirmed its good streak, achieving two runners-up finishes below Club Deportivo Guadalajara and Club Zacatepec respectively.
However, a black page appears in the history of the club with the death of Don Luis Gutiérrez Dosal, on June 24, 1959, leaving Enrique Enríquez, a close collaborator of Gutiérrez Dosal, as provisional president. In that same year, at the suggestion of the then president of Mexico, Adolfo López Mateos, a man arrived at the institution who is remembered as the great "patron" of the Nemesio Díez Riega team, who acquired Deportivo Toluca as well as the stadium (twice World Cup winner) which several years later would bear his name.
First successes (1967-1980)
The second title for the institution and first in the league would come in the 1966-1967 season. The tournament was very close and became important when the dispute for the title was between Club América and Deportivo Toluca; Both teams faced each other on matchday 27, with a 0-0 tie prevailing that did not allow the title to be defined; However, being on the last day of the tournament, Club América tied their match against Nuevo León, while Club Deportivo Toluca beat Necaxa 2 goals to zero, both scored by Juan "el maestrito" Dosal, thus conquering their first league championship, under the direction of Ignacio Trelles.
At the end of the 1966-1967 season, Club Deportivo Toluca competed for the title of Champion of Champions against Club León; one of the most winning teams of the time, with 4 titles, 2 cups and 2 Champion of Champions. The match was held on February 26, 1967 and Club Deportivo Toluca managed to beat the Leonese team, with a solitary goal from Manuel Cerda Canela. The Toluca Sports Club achieved its first Champion of Champions title, more than responding to the trust that men like Albino Morales, Eduardo Monrroy, Alfonso Faure, Germán Sánchez and Carlos Zarza, the Peruvian, had placed in the group. Claudio Lostaunau, among others.
For the 67-68 season, Deportivo Toluca maintained its same level and basically its same squad, except for the additions of Tomás Reynoso and Felipe Ruvalcaba as well as the losses of Carlos Lara and Claudio Lostanau. The key match of the tournament took place on January 7, 1968 when Deportivo Toluca received a visit from Club Universidad Nacional three dates before the end of the tournament. The party was dominated by the university; However, in the 22nd minute, Vicente Pereda scored the first goal for the red team in a "popcorn" play from a pass from Ruvalcaba, the victory for Toluca was assured by Juan Dosal who scored 2 Final -0 that would give the team the two-time championship.
Toluca won its second Champion of Champions title, facing Atlas in a series of two games in which points and not goals would count. The first match was won by Deportivo Toluca 3 to 1, and the second match was won by Atlas 1 to 0; After the end of regular time, both teams faced each other in a series of penalties that Deportivo Toluca won with 3 scores from Albino Morales.
On April 3, 1968, the fourth edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup began, with as participants Club Deportivo Toluca (Mexican Champion), New York Greek-American (United States Champion), Somerset CC (Champion of Bermuda), Scherpenheuvel (Champion of the Netherlands Antilles), SV Transvaal (Champion of Suriname), Aurora F.C. (Champion of Guatemala), Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (Champion of Costa Rica), Club Deportivo Olimpia (Champion of Honduras) and Alianza (Champion of El Salvador). Club Deportivo Toluca debuted on September 29, 1968, defeating New York Greek-American 4 to 1 and 3 to 2 in the second leg held on October 6, however, the tournament did not end successfully after the disqualifications of Aurora F.C. and SV Transvaal, so Club Deportivo Toluca was declared champion.
In 1970, after the World Cup, the Mexican Football Federation changed the way the tournaments were played; The 18 teams were divided into 2 groups and at the end a league was played to determine the champion. The league consisted of the leader of each group having to face each other in a final. Group A was made up of Atlante, América, Guadalajara, León, Monterrey, Pachuca, Puebla, Torreón and Veracruz, and Group B was made up of Atlas, Cruz Azul, Jalisco, Laguna, Irapuato, Necaxa, Toluca, Pumas and Zacatepec.
Deportivo Toluca finished as leader of Group B and played the final against a very powerful América, leader of Group A. The first match took place in La Bombonera on June 25, 1971 with a 0-0 draw; The second match was played on August 1, culminating with a score of 2-0 in favor of América.
In the 1974-1975 season, Deportivo Toluca was directed by José Ricardo de León, who was preceded by great fame after having achieved runner-up status with Atlético Español; Along with Ricardo, there were the arrivals of Walter Gassire, Roberto Matosas, Arturo López and the Ecuadorian striker Ítalo Estupiñán, whose price caused expectations. That same season, Fernando Corona Álvarez would become president of the team, and together with the technical direction, he began to work with the basic forces from which players such as Eleuterio López and Ángel Ramos emerged.
Toluca achieved a regular season thanks to the system implemented by Ricardo de León that managed to position Deportivo Toluca in first place at the end of the first round of the championship with 26 total points and 2 difference over Club León who was its closest competitor.
The regular season ended on June 8, 1975 and the teams classified for the final home run were Toluca and Cruz Azul as members of the group of nones and respectively the Unión de Curtidores and Club León on the part of The pairs; in accordance with those established by the Mexican Federation; The first two places in each group had to face each other, with the team that obtained the most points becoming the champion.
In its first five games, Toluca achieved four victories and one defeat and took the title in the fifth game by winning 1-0 against Club León with the score by Italo Estupiñán in the 51st minute, accumulating a total of eight points in the home run; However, it was not until June 26, 1975 that he would be formally consecrated as champion of the tournament by losing 3-1 against Club León.
In July 1977, the Toluca Sports Club celebrated its 60th anniversary with the publication of the book "History of the Toluca Sports Club" by Juan Manuel Cid. The 60th anniversary of Deportivo Toluca also represented the departure of Fernando Corona Álvarez as president of the team and consequently, the arrival of Germán Sánchez Fabela. The years began to pass and Deportivo Toluca suffered a drop in play since that third title, which over time would become a drought.
The title drought (1980-1997)
For the 81-82 season, Ernesto Nemer Naime became president of the team; and Deportivo Toluca finished the competition placing ninth. For the following season, Toluca's luck did not improve and finally Naime left the presidency in the hands of Jesús Fernández and at the same time Jorge Marí was replaced by José Antonio Roca in the technical direction of the scarlet team.
The 1982-83 campaign was considerably good, finishing the season in fifth place overall; However, for the following season Fernández left the presidency of the team and was replaced by Germán Sánchez Fabela, who managed to recruit Miguel Ángel Cornero, finishing the season in tenth place overall.
The bad results for Toluca continued and in the 1984-85 season José Antonio Roca García left the technical direction of the team as did Germán Sánchez who was replaced as president again by Jesús Fernández; who appointed José Luis Estrada as the team's coach, culminating again in the last places in the competition.
For the Primera División de México PRODE 85 and Mexico 86 tournaments, Fernando Corona Álvarez returned for the second time as president of the team and Eduardo Ramos Escobedo as coach, however the results did not improve both Álvarez and Escobedo They were replaced in the 1986-87 campaign by Germán Sánchez Fabela and Arpad Fekete respectively; The new board achieved the incorporation of Wilson Graniolatti and Toluca finished in 13th place overall.
As the 80's era was ending, the board appointed Kurt Visetti Vogelbach as president of the institution in the 87-88 season and Roberto Matosas as technical director, as well as Ricardo Ferretti; The Mexican team finished the season in ninth place overall.
It was 14 years that passed after their last title for Deportivo Toluca to become champion again, in the 1989 Cup. In total, Toluca scored 18 goals and conceded 13, the Red Devils defeated Pumas UNAM in Ciudad Universitaria and Irapuato in the Estadio Revolución and Cruz Azul in the Estadio Azteca. The grand final was played against the University of Guadalajara, which took the lead on the scoreboard in the first minutes of the match, however, in the 93rd minute Washington Olivera scored for Club Deportivo Toluca, and the final went to extra time.
In extra time, Deportivo Toluca came back on the scoreboard with the score of Jorge Rodríguez Esquivel, this caused the start of a more aggressive game that culminated with the expulsion of Alfonso Sosa from the U. de G., so the so-called "Leones Negros" were left with 6 men on the field and lost the match by default. The cup was presented by Marcelino García Paniagua, president of the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol to Club Deportivo Toluca, which became champion of the Copa México for the second time.
Beginning in the 90s, Visetti Vogelbach left the team's presidency and Antonio Mañón began directing him, Toluca hired Raúl Cárdenas and finished in tenth place overall. The drought of titles increased in Toluca and seemed to have no end, because during the following tournaments Deportivo Toluca continued with poor results and the directors of the institution continued to change.
In the 1991-92 season, José Antonio Roca assumed the presidency of the team and appointed Mario Velarde as technical director of the institution; That season ended by placing Toluca in 12th place overall. José Antonio Roca was replaced by Jesús Fernández del Cojo while the 1992-93 season went on, in the same way José Vantolra (who began the season as technical director) was displaced by Roberto Silva finishing the tournament in 14th place overall.
By this time, in the national reserves tournament, the final was reached with a team well coached by Rubén Salas, a former player of the club. The names of this reserve team already included the names of: Julio Aguilar, Salvador Carmona, Ricardo Velázquez, El Camarón Díaz Leal, Felipe Aguirre, Rubén González, José Manuel Abundis. In the end some of these were figures in the first team.
In the 93-94 season, Toluca finally achieved improvement, concluding its participation in the tournament as third place overall. That season was marked by the arrivals of Hernán Cristante, Nidelson Silva de Mello, Rodrigo Fernández and Blas Armando Giunta as well as he returned to the presidency of Jesús Fernández del Cojo.
In the 1994–95 and 1995-96 championships, Toluca registered several changes, in the first season Silva Para was replaced in the technical direction by Moisés Figueroa and this in turn Aurelio Pescuttini and finally in the years 95-96 Sergio Peláez Farell he would become president to continue with the changes; Marco Antonio Trejo and later Miguel Ángel López became the technical director, however the changes in the institution were about to stabilize as Toluca's bad times were coming to an end.
In the Invierno 1997, Deportivo Toluca decided to appoint Rafael Lebrija Guiot as new president and Enrique Meza as coach; However, the results would not improve until the following season in the Verano 1998, when Deportivo Toluca began to give expected results after more than 23 years of drought. In the tournament he managed to place himself in first place overall, beating teams such as Tigres UANL, Club Necaxa and Club de Fútbol Monterrey to achieve their classification to the league.
The golden era (1998-2010)
Rafael Lebrija, Enrique Meza and the three-time championship of titles (1998-2000)
In the quarterfinals, Toluca defeated Club de Fútbol Atlante and in the semifinals Club América; reaching the final to face Club Necaxa; The match started and Club Necaxa took a 2-1 lead. For the second leg in Toluca, Club Necaxa increased its lead to 4-1 and that was when Toluca began to shine, coming back on the scoreboard and beating Club Necaxa with a 5-2 and a 6-4 aggregate to be crowned champions on May 10, 1998. All the first leg games of this Liguilla were played at the Estadio Azteca, the venue that hosts the home matches of Club de Fútbol Atlante, Club América and Club Necaxa.
In the Verano 1999, Toluca achieved an undefeated record that lasted for 12 days, which they lost to the Cruz Azul, at the end of the tournament they were once again ranked as general leaders with a total of 39 points, fifty goals and only two defeats. Once classified, they defeated Club Necaxa in the Quarterfinals with an aggregate score of 4-3 and qualified for the final by defeating Santos Laguna in the semifinal; once again proclaiming themselves champions, after defeating Atlas de Guadalajara in the penalty shootout on June 6, 1999 with an aggregate of 5-5 in regulation time and 5-4 in sudden death penalties to win 10-9 in a final aggregate. Being the most epic and even Final of all time according to experts thanks to the fact that both teams canceled each other and for their attractive offensive game that produced a 3-3 in the first leg and a 2-2 in the second leg, proclaiming itself the end of the 20th century.
The first decade of the 21st century ultimately became the most successful for Club Deportivo Toluca. In the first half of the year and during the Summer tournament, Deportivo qualified for the league, in which they beat Puebla Fútbol Club by aggregate score (9-0) (the biggest win in the final phase) and in semifinals to Club Deportivo Guadalajara with an aggregate score (6-3). Another final came for Deportivo Toluca, this time against Club Santos Laguna, whom they defeated by an aggregate score of 7 to 1 to become league champions for the sixth time on June 3, 2000.
National successes and the departure of Lebrija (2000-2007)
In 2000, Enrique Meza was appointed coach of the Mexican National Team and his position was in the hands of Ricardo Ferrero, who arrived 1-3 at a disadvantage in the final of the Winter 2000 and finally losing it in sudden death on penalties 4-5 against Monarcas Morelia on December 16, 2000 despite the fact that they managed to tie the aggregate at 3-3 in regulation time, this match being one of the saddest in the history of the club because of the way it was lost. Deportivo Toluca takes a negative streak in the subsequent tournament, turning the Verano 2001 into one of the most disastrous tournaments in its history after what was achieved months ago; continued with good results with Ricardo La Volpe in the Invierno 2001 and Verano 2002 tournaments, qualifying for both leagues, but it was until the Apertura 2002 when he again obtained a title in the Primera División under the command of Alberto Jorge defeating Monarcas Morelia by an aggregate score of 4 to 2, being crowned champions again December 21, 2002 and complete his revenge after what happened in the Final between both teams 2 years ago.
In 2003, he obtained his second international title by winning the Concacaf Champions Cup under the command of Ricardo Ferretti again against Monarcas Morelia and later the title of Champion of Champions in 2003 against to Club de Fútbol Monterrey who had just won the Clausura 2003. For the Apertura 2005 Deportivo Toluca, now without José Saturnino Cardozo, won its eighth league title against Club de Fútbol Monterrey under the command of Américo Rubén Gallego and the champion of Champions 2005-2006 of that same season against the Tuzos de Pachuca who had just won the Clausura 2006.
After the 2005 title, the team entered a bad streak in which underperforming players were hired and this resulted in the departure of Rafael Lebrija, with whom Toluca won five league titles in short tournaments.
Fernando Corona, the tenth league and top winner in short tournaments (2007-2010)
Although the golden era seemed to be coming to an end, the Toluca board appointed Fernando Corona Álvarez as the new sports president in 2007; and this in turn appointed José Manuel de la Torre as technical director in 2008.
With the new presidency in charge, Deportivo Toluca once again won the title in the Apertura 2008 by beating Deportivo Cruz Azul 7-6 in sudden death in the penalty series for a total of 9 -8 total, establishing itself as the winningest team in Mexico in the short tournaments and the third historically since it surpassed the same Cruz Azul with 9 championships since both were looking for the ninth star for their shield in that Final; Great players were acquired such as Héctor Raúl Mancilla, who achieved the two-time goal scoring championship in the Apertura 2008 and Clausura 2009. On August 20, 2009, Toluca debuted as Mexico 1st in the Concacaf Champions League, which was established in 2008 as a new edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
During the first half of 2010, the Mexican Football Federation decided to rename the tournament "Bicentennial 2010" in honor of the 200 years celebrated by the Independence of Mexico. Deportivo Toluca remained under the technical direction of José Manuel de la Torre and finished the tournament as second place in its group and third place overall; After qualifying for the league, Deportivo Toluca eliminated Club América in the quarterfinals and Pachuca in the semifinals to qualify again for the final in which they would culminate in being crowned champions after beating Santos Laguna in the penalty shootout held at the Nemesio Díez Stadium. .
The decade without titles (2011-2023)
After a 3-year process with José Saturnino Cardozo as coach, a radical change was necessary for the club. On May 31, 2016, he was presented as director of sports development José Luis Real and a new project was presented as technical director, headed by a Legend and idol of the institution Hernán Cristante, who would arrive with another reference of the club such as Enrique Alfaro along with Joaquín Velázquez as his technical assistants, during the process an icon of Mexican football and idol, legend of the institution, former national team and World Cup Sinha with the aim of finishing his successful career within the club, then in the Mexican football draft the goalkeeper was brought on loan Luis Manuel García as the only reinforcement of the Mexican market, with a solid base within the club after the losses of Richard Ortiz, Christian Cueva, Heriberto Vidales and Lucas Lobos finally contract, and Liborio Sánchez, Christian Pérez, Mario Quezada, Roberto Nicolás Saucedo and Omar Arellano Riverón were added to the casualties who were ending their loan, other casualties were Daniel González Vega and Héctor Acosta Quintero who were loaned to Chiapas Fútbol Club and Alebrijes de Oaxaca in that same order, were not incorporated into the current team and their loans were renewed to other teams Club Deportivo Guadalajara and Venados Fútbol Club respectively, while the team was in the preseason, he joined the coaching staff David Rangel, who as a player of the institution, would become captain and champion in the years 98' 99' and 2000 with Enrique Alfaro and with Hernán Cristante in 1999 and 2000, while in 2005 he also won the title with Sinha.
For the part of foreign reinforcements for the Apertura 2016 tournament an old acquaintance who was champion in the institution in 2010 would arrive again, the Chilean Osvaldo González, plus the Brazilian Maikon Leite who previously played in Mexico in 2014 for Club Atlas de Guadalajara; Other reinforcements were the Argentines Rodrigo Gómez from Club Atlético Independiente, another Argentine will join the squad Pablo Barrientos who during the last season played with San Lorenzo from Almagro, plus the incorporation of the English-Mexican Antonio Pedroza who arrived from Club Sport Herediano of Costa Rica and the last reinforcement to close the squad was the Argentine Jesús Méndez who arrived from Club Atlético Independiente. The last loss was when the Apertura 2016 tournament was in progress and it was Darío Bottinelli who would return to Argentina to play with Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.
Deportivo Toluca found itself playing at home at the Estadio Universitario Alberto "Chivo" Córdoba, because the Estadio Nemesio Díez was undergoing renovation work for the upcoming celebrations of the 100 years of life of the club. red squad, until matchday 17 of the Apertura 2016 the Diablos threw themselves into place #10 in the general table, unsuccessfully seeking a ticket for the Liguilla and fight for the title, being eliminated by Club Santos Laguna while they were eliminated from the Copa MX by Querétaro F.C. in the Semifinals.
With a view to the Clausura 2017 and the Estadio Nemesio Díez fully ready, the championship was played at its centenary party, with the absences of Gerardo Flores Zuñiga and Carlos Gerardo Rodríguez, joining the ranks of the scarlet squad Rodrigo Salinas, Gabriel Hauche and Efraín Velarde. In addition, Rubens Sambueza arrived as bomb reinforcement. In that Clausura 2017, they reached the semifinals where they were eliminated by Club Deportivo Guadalajara, which ultimately became the champion. Later in the Apertura tournament, they reached the quarterfinals as fifth place, being defeated by Monarcas Morelia, so in their centenary they did not obtain any title. For 2018, Velarde, Rodrigo Gómez, Maikon Leite and Pedroza left due to the end of his loan, there were surprise incorporations of Luis Quiñones, Leonel López and Ángel Reyna. In that first half of 2018, they reached the final of the Copa MX tournament, being defeated by Club Necaxa. While in the league tournament Toluca was the overall leader, dramatically eliminating Morelia in the quarterfinals, in the semifinals they beat Club Tijuana and in the final they faced Santos Laguna, a team they had already defeated in the late 2000s and 2010. This time the laguneros were the champions with an overall score of 3-2.
For the Apertura 2018, Toluca hired William Fernando da Silva, Adolfo Domínguez Gerardo, Amaury Escoto, Richard Ruíz, Luis Ángel Mendoza, Héctor Acosta Quintero, Fernando Tobio and the return of Enrique Triverio, during the tournament he spent all 17 days in Liguilla positions, to culminate in 7th place. In the quarterfinals they faced América, who would ultimately become champions, being eliminated 5-4 on aggregate. In the following tournament, Cristante was kept, in its first two games the team remained as Superleader, but then there was a streak of 6 games without winning, 5 losses and a draw. In which Cristante was dismissed and his replacement was Ricardo La Volpe who began his second stage, during La Volpe's stage there was improvement, but it was not possible to qualify for the league.
During the Apertura 2019, La Volpe remains in the technical direction, but his results did not improve, having his worst tournament since the Verano 2001. La Volpe resigned with one day left to finish. They finished in second to last position with only 17 points.
For the Clausura 2020, the tournament was temporarily suspended as of March 15, and after having decided to play the matches on matchday 10 behind closed doors, all as a consequence of the contingency health due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. The postponement of the contest reached a critical point, until on May 22, 2020, the Extraordinary Assembly of the Liga MX decreed the end of the tournament before its regular date, leaving the competition without a champion. Toluca finished the tournament in 15th position, as a result of 2 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses, obtaining 10 points.
For the Guard1anes 2020 and Guard1anes Clausura 2021 tournaments, Toluca finished in 11th position, so they had to play the reclassification in a single match, facing Tigres, losing 2-1 in Monterrey, with this result, Toluca ended its participation in the tournament. For the next tournament, Toluca finished again in eleventh position, again playing the reclassification in a single match, this time they faced the current champion León, being a complicated match, again a visitor due to their position in the table, they won in a round of penalties, after tying 2-2 in regulation time, winning on penalties 2-4, reaching the quarterfinals, facing Cruz Azul, in a fairly disputed match, ended back and forth at the Estadio Azteca, losing 4-3 in favor of Cruz Azul and in this way Toluca culminated its participation in the tournament, highlighting the individual scoring championship of the Toluca player Alexis Canelo with 11 scores.
For the Apertura 2021 tournament, Toluca made a more outstanding performance than the previous tournaments, culminating in position number 6, again playing for reclassification, but this time at home, although it did not serve as a lot, since Toluca was defeated by Pumas with a score of 1-2 in the match at Nemesio Diez, culminating again in a reclassification match.
Supporters
The most common nickname of the team is "red devils", a tradition that began with the promotion of Toluca to the Primera División de México in 1953; During the amateur era, Toluca's colors were blue and white, however as time went by the team began to use the red color that identifies it to this day. Toluca also has other nicknames used less frequently to refer to the team; such as: los escarlatas due to the color of their uniform or los choriceros, chorizo being one of the characteristic foods of the city of Toluca.
Deportivo Toluca has five registered fan groups: the classic Perra Brava, Los Hijos del Averno, La Banda del Rojo, Garra Diablos and La Fuerza Roja. According to surveys carried out in 2007 and 2009 by Grupo Reforma, Récord and Consulta Mitofsky, Toluca is the fifth team with the most fans in Mexico and the team with the greatest fan growth. Today, according to Mitofsky in 2022, Toluca is the seventh most popular team in Mexico with 3.0% preference with around 4.0 million fans.
The first facilities of the Deportivo Toluca franchise were located on the old Avenida Colón (today Paseo Colón) in the city of Toluca and basically consisted of a small football field and some wooden stands with a covered area reserved for the ladies. In 1919, the then president of the team; Román Ferrat acquired the so-called "Gachupines Dam" to convert it into the new headquarters of Toluca. In this field, Deportivo Toluca received a visit from a team from the capital for the first time; the Real Club España who by then was already four-time champion of the Mexican League.
The "Presa de Gachupines" was the official field of Deportivo Toluca for a few years, because in 1921 the team began to use the "Campo del Tívoli" as the official venue of the Mexican State Championship. At the Tivoli (located three blocks from the Estadio Nemesio Díez); Deportivo Toluca received a visit from a foreign team for the first time, this being Libertad from Costa Rica. By qualifying for the Segunda División de México; Tivoli was established as the official headquarters of Toluca already in professional football. However, a year later, in 1952, the team began to use "Campo Patria" as a new headquarters and on which the Estadio Nemesio Díez would be built.
Estadio Nemesio Díez (1954-2024)
During the 1940s and 1950s, Toluca played its home games at a ground near downtown Toluca known then as Tivoli. Later, wooden stands were built in the ground and it was named Campo Patria. On that same spot, in 1953, the club started building its own stadium. The stadium was inaugurated on August 8, 1954, with a match between Deportivo Toluca and Yugoslavian team GNK Dinamo Zagreb. The game was won by Dinamo 4–1. The only goal for Toluca and also the first in the history of the stadium was scored by Enrique Sesma.
Initially, the stadium was opened as Estadio Club Deportivo Toluca. That name lasted until 1955, when it was changed to Estadio Héctor Barraza. Other names the stadium has had are: Estadio Luis Gutiérrez Dosal (1959–1970), Estadio Toluca 70 (1970–1986), Estadio Toluca 70–86 (1986–2000). After the death of Nemesio Díez Riega, president and then owner of the club, in June 2000, the stadium name was changed to Estadio Nemesio Díez.
With an investment of $800 million MXN (about $40 million USD), the announcement to remodel the Estadio Nemesio Diez by 2017 was made, when Club Deportivo Toluca celebrated its centenary and did so with a remodeled and more functional stadium. Within the Estadio Nemesio Diez, four macro support columns that would sustain the stadium structure would be built to replace the current columns obstructing visibility. In the shadow stands, a second level would be built so the capacity, which stood at 22,000 would increase to 30,000. The project also included four giant screens at each end of the building, replacement of all seats and a sunroof in the preferred (shaded) section, to assist in the process of maintaining the natural grass in the field.
The remodeled stadium officially opened on January 15, 2017, with a league match against América. The first goal was scored by Gabriel Hauche for Toluca with a screamer outside of the box. Deportivo Toluca won that match 2–1. The stadium was completed in the summer 2017 where it had been confirmed that the club would play against Atlético Madrid for the official inauguration of the remodeled stadium.
Friendly matches against european clubs
Date
Rival
Result
25-07-1954
G.N.K. Dinamo Zagreb
1–4
29-05-1990
Real Madrid C.F.
1–3
25-03-2003
Valencia C.F.
3–1
24-07-2008
C. Atlético de Madrid
1–1
25-07-2017
C. Atlético de Madrid
0–0
17-05-2022
Bayer Leverkusen F.G.
1–0
Crest and kits
Badge
The current design of the shield used by Deportivo Toluca has undergone only three modifications. The first design was a circle split on the right simulating a letter "C" in which the abbreviation "D.T" was found, referring to the official name of the team: Club Deportivo Toluca, said logo was displayed on a white background and with red letters., and currently it is still used for the institution's international meetings in which the "retro" Toluca uniform is usually used. Later, said shield was inverted, to such a degree that its letters were written in white and the background in red.
In addition, the name of the institution was printed around the shield decorated in black, red and white. Currently, the team uses the original shield, implanted on a complete circle with the inscription "Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club", and on whose surface there are olive branches and in its upper part there is a crown attached with the stars obtained by the institution, which represent the national championships won throughout its history.
Kit evolution and colors
1917: The uniform was in charge of Joaquín Lajous, but it was designed by Román Ferrat and differs greatly from the current one: White shirt, dark blue pants with a vertical white stripe, dark blue socks.
1925: The uniform undergoes a modification, a blue stripe appears across the chest and the traditional shield with the letters "CDT" in red on the chest.
1929: The shirt is completely dyed red and the shorts turn white, however, the shield leaves the outfit, this uniform is only used for a game against "A.D.O." from Orizaba.
1930: The team appears with a red shirt and blue shorts, but continues without the shield.
1932: The uniform is modified once again, this time not for aesthetic reasons, but rather due to the economic problems that plagued the club, so from that year on Deportivo Toluca wore a red shirt and white shorts with red socks, the shield was still absent from the Mexican attire.
1932 - 1997: Deportivo Toluca used it for many years: Red shirt, white pants, red socks. Currently, this (retro) uniform is used in international competitions such as the Concacaf Champions League, the Copa Sudamericana and the Copa Libertadores.
1998 - 2010: The Deportivo Toluca uniform becomes all red: Red shirt, red pants, red socks. This uniform is used from the Verano 98 tournament when Toluca manages to win the crown again after 23 years. He had 3 sponsors during this period: Corona Sport, Diadora and Atlética (the latter brand being the one with which he was crowned the most times in this period of time).
2010 - 2011: Club Deportivo Toluca ends relations with Atlética and changes to Under Armour; The team continues playing with red shorts, however the shirt undergoes a modification; Although the base remains red, a white horizontal stripe appears at chest height.
2011 - 2012: The shirt continues with the Under Armor sports brand. The design consists of 4 parallel lines in the shape of a "V" with the shield on the right and the brand logo on the left. The shorts stay red as do the socks.
2012 - 2013: This time, Under Armor proposes an innovative design to the team. White stripes on the arms and a wine-colored stripe on the breast with a zig-zag inlaid fork design. The shorts and socks maintain the red colors. In the 2013 Copa Libertadores, Deportivo Toluca used a black jersey with a white stripe at the chest.
2013 - 2014: Returning to the classic values of the Deportivo Toluca t-shirts, Under Armor launches a classic collection, remembering the t-shirts of the 00's. A thin white stripe that surrounds the "v"-shaped neck and another pair that surrounds the sleeves. For the first time since the American brand sponsors the team, Toluca launches a jersey with a "retro" shield from the 60's era in gray for the Concacaf champions tournament.
2014 - 2015: As a tribute to the fans who cheer from the Sol stands of the Estadio Nemesio Díez, the Under Armor brand makes a t-shirt with a sublimated design on the front and back with the appearance of said area of the scarlet venue. The design is repeated on the sleeves of the away shirt, and on the inside of the neck of the sweaters. Once again, a "retro" t-shirt is launched, this time in black, as a third uniform option.
2015 - 2017: The red jersey features a white stripe that runs from the middle of the chest to shoulder height, covering the area of the shield and the brand that makes the shirt. The neck and sleeves are in the same tone of red, with a small stripe above the cut of the sleeve in white. The away shirt uses a more conservative style, applying red sleeves and a slight stripe in the same tone at the bottom of the shirt, covering the sides. The third option is in purple, repeating the design of the home, but with purple as the main color and black as the secondary color, applying white details, and using a "retro" shield.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Current reserves and academy systems including the Deportivo Toluca Premier team U20 and U23 sides that act to develop young footballers on behalf of Deportivo Toluca F.C.
This is a list of the ten most recent seasons played by Deportivo Toluca F.C.; for the complete season-by-season history, see: List of Deportivo Toluca F.C. seasons.
The following is a list of players who have made 100 or more first team appearances for the club. This consists of appearances in Liga MX, Ascenso MX, Copa MX, CONCACAF Champions League, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and their predecessors. Players with fewer appearances are also included if they are a club record holder, or have won a notable individual award with the club.
Its beginnings occurred during 1978 when Laguna Fútbol Club was sold and moved to the city of Neza, State of Mexico; headquarters, of the Toluca Sports Club.
It was celebrated for 10 years until the disappearance of Club Deportivo Coyotes Neza in 1988 when it was transferred to Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas under the name of Correcaminos de la UAT. In 1988, in an attempt to revive the Neza Coyotes; The Correcaminos returned to Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl under the name of Potros Neza. However, the project would fail and the team would end up becoming the subsidiary of the Atlante franchise.
Despite the great rivalry that existed between Deportivo Toluca and the Club Deportivo Coyotes Neza, it was not until 1993 when the Clásico Mexiquense emerged after the rise of the Technological University of Neza and the founding of Toros Neza.
The new rivalry between Toluca and Toros Neza, which emulated the old rivalry that existed between Deportivo Toluca and Club Deportivo Coyotes Neza; It reemerged with greater strength, eventually competing in the Copa Orgullosamente Mexiquense, in a series of 3 games won by Deportivo Toluca in 1998.
The rivalry remained until the late 1990s; when the president and owner of Toros Neza, Juan Antonio Hernández Venegas, announced a change of headquarters that would culminate in the disappearance of the team, and therefore of the Clásico Mexiquense until 2010 with the reappearance of Toros Neza in the Liga de Ascenso de México.
In December 2010, Grupo Salinas, then owner of Monarcas Morelia and Mérida F.C. announced a headquarters exchange between the Venados and the Potros UTN, owned by Grupo Pegasso, acquiring the Ciudad plaza. Neza to once again found the legendary Toros Neza, under the name of Neza F.C. Despite this, the Mexican classic would not be played again, since in 2013 it was announced that the Neza franchise would be relocated to Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche to create the Delfines Fútbol Club, on May 20 of that same year.
In March 2014, it was announced that Toros Neza would return to the Segunda División de México with their traditional name. With this, they received the possibility that both teams would play friendlies, and the Mexican classic would be played again.
Toluca Premier is a subsidiary of Club Deportivo Toluca that plays in the Premier Promotion League. It was founded in 2015 and plays home matches at the Metepec Facilities, with capacity for 1000 spectators. Along with 16 other subsidiary teams from the Primera División de México Toluca Premier is part of a joint project to improve the performance of the Premier Promotion League and monitor players over the age of 20 years.
Deportivo Toluca Femenil is the women's football section of Deportivo Toluca that was founded in 2017. They play in the Liga MX Femenil, the top level women's football league in Mexico. The team plays some of its home games at the Estadio Nemesio Díez, which it shares with the men's team. For less important matches, the women's team plays at the Metepec Facilities, the club's training complex.[citation needed] Toluca hosted the inaugural Copa MX Femenil ahead of the league's first season in 2017.[2]
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