Club Deportivo Universidad Católica
 |
|
| Full name | Club Deportivo Universidad Católica |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | 'UC Cato La Católica (The Catholic) Los Cruzados (The Crusaders) Caballeros Cruzados (The Crusader Knights) |
| Founded | 21 April 1937 |
| Ground |
Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo Santiago |
| Capacity | 14,118 |
| Chairman | Juan Tagle |
| Manager | Mario Salas |
| League | Campeonato Nacional |
| 2016 Apertura | 1st |
| Website | Club home page |
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile, which plays in the Primera División.
Universidad Católica is one of the most successful and popular Chilean football clubs and considered one of the Chile's "Big Three".
Its traditional rival is Universidad de Chile. They contest the Clásico Universitario. Colo-Colo is the other big rival of the club.
While the club was born as one of the many sport branches of the Universidad Católica de Chile, officially founded in 1937, it began, strictly speaking, around 1910, when students of the University would reunite to play football matches, frequently facing historical rival Universidad de Chile. In time, the idea of creating a professional club emerged, and on 21 April 1937, the club officially and legally began. It made its professional debut, in the second division, against the Universidad de Chile. Rivalry, both in sports and in academic issues, made these matches between the universities become more and more important, eventually reaching the national status of "Universities' Derby". The rivalry maintains itself until today, with each match between these teams being considered a must-see for every football fan in the country.
The Universidad Católica has attained fame as a favorite of the higher classes, because of many factors, which range from the location of the club's stadium, San Carlos de Apoquindo (in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods of the capital) and Headquarters, although there are "UC" fans all around the country, including popular regions or towns. For this reason, is planned to build a new stadium in a more popular place of Santiago. Due to the neighbourhood's strong influence (wealthy families), the club has been unable to be approved for projects to enlarge the stadium and thus draw larger crowds. Only until in recent years the club was allowed by the commune of Las Condes, to host their clasicos matches against Universidad de Chile and Colo-Colo in their own stadium. Although just a limited number of its rivals' supporters are allowed to be present at these matches due to security reasons inside the stadium and around its high-end neighborhood.
...
Wikipedia