Full name | Club Social y Deportivo Macará |
---|---|
Nickname(s) |
El Idolo de Ambato (The Idol of Ambato) Celestes (Sky blues) Guaytambos |
Founded | August 25, 1939 |
Ground |
Estadio Bellavista Ambato, Ecuador |
Capacity | 16,467 |
Chairman | Miller Salazar |
Coach | Paúl Vélez |
League | Serie B |
2016 | Serie B, 1st (promoted) |
Club Social y Deportivo Macará is a professional football club based in Ambato, Ecuador. Their home stadium is Bellavista, which they share with city rivals Técnico Universitario.
In July 1939, a group of young students from Colegio Nacional Bolívar gathered to form an independent sporting club, and shortly afterwards entered a minor tournament under the name 'Independiente'. However, in searching for further guidance, they talked to Army Captain Galo Molina (a student's relative) and together they formed Macará, naming the team after Ecuador's southern army stronghold.
They offered the presidency to Mr. Jorge Vicente Alvarez, and he pronounced the following words: "Del Carchi al Macará... Macará ganará" (From Carchi to Macará... Macará will win); thus accepting the position.
Whilst Macará took part in Ecuadorian regional tournaments, the introduction of a National Championship saw them struggle to find a place among the best in the early 1960s. It took a while for the team to become strong and earn a permanent place in Primera A. Great players in the late 1960s and early and mid-1970s, such as Ítalo Estupiñán, Rómulo Dudar Mina, Arnaldo Sanchez Perrone(one of the best defenders Ecuador had in the late 1960s pretended from Barcelona of Guayaquil, Everest, and Ecuadorian Nacional team to play for his country in ``London World Cup`` in 1965) and Polo Carrera, made the team competitive. They were relegated in 1978 but eventually returned to Primera A.
With such class players as Peruvian all-time great Germán Leguía, fellow countryman and international Juan Martín Caballero, Uruguayan playmaker Rodolfo Abalde and such leading Ecuadorian players as Geovanny Mera, Jorge Alvear, Angel Buenaño, Juan Carlos Suárez, Ricardo Porras and Milton Rodríguez; the team became serious title contenders in the late 1980s and, although never becoming champions, they were recognized as a great national footballing side that would on several occasions maul the country's greatest teams including Barcelona and Liga, and their classic rivals, Técnico Universitario.