Historia del Club Alianza Lima

Aliancistas escoceses: Andina y Sadie
Andina Aliaga vio campeonar al Alianza Lima el 2008
final realizada en Matute, frente al Cienciano del Cusco.

Abuelo Jorge y nieta Andina, aliancistas

Jorge Aliaga Cacho y Jorge Aliaga Merino, aliancistas

The club was founded with the name Sport Alianza on 15 February 1901 by workers in the Alianza Racing Horse Stud, then property of twice President of Peru Augusto B. Leguía. The stud was located in downtown Lima at the time. The club is one of the oldest professional football teams in Peru. It was founded on 15 February 1901, as Sport Alianza, named for the stable that hosted its first games. It is the only surviving founding member of the Peruvian Football League, created in 1912. The club's first kit was green and white, honoring founding member Eduardo Pedreschi's Italian heritage. Beginning in 1912, the colors of the Alianza stables, blue, white and black were used, and by the 1920s the classic vertically-striped jersey had become the definitive kit. After a name change to Alianza Lima in 1920, the club continued to compete on an amateur level until 1951, when the League turned professional. Alianza participated in the amateur era of the Peruvian football league since the inaugural season 1912, winning its first title in 1918. During its first years, it played irregularly against other teams from Lima and the port of Callao. Its matches against Atlético Chalaco from Callao stirred interest as a clash between limeños and chalacos. Sport Alianza had started to become a popular team drawing large support and this was the first derby or "clasico".

Four-peat and relegation

While the Alianza stud changed owners and locations continuously, the team was forced to constantly relocate in turn, until 1928, when under the new name Alianza Lima, the club settled in the third block of the Manco Capac avenue in the La Victoria District, where it would stay and become emotionally attached. That same year they played against the Federación Universitaria (University Federation) for the first time, which would be later renamed Universitario de Deportes and become their greatest rivals in what is today the most important Peruvian derby. The 1930s brought great joy and frustration to the team. In 1931, 1932, 1933 an 1934, Alianza Lima won four championships in a row for the first and so far only time in Peruvian football.[3] However the Peruvian Football Federation don´t recognize the championchiop of 1934 as won by Alianza. Instead it gives it to its heathen rival Universitario. The memory of the four-peat was tainted by the relegation in 1938. After a year in the Second Division the team returned to the First Division and has stayed there ever since.

Titles and cup performances

During the 1940s, and start of the professional era in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Alianza would win 10 championships. The club won two Peruvian titles in a row in 1977 and 1978, when its players formed the majority of the Peru national football team. The team had its greatest success at the international level in the 1976 and 1978 Copa Libertadores, in which managed to reach the semi-finals but lost to Deportivo Cali 1–4. Since then, its Copa Libertadores campaigns were not successful,during the 1990s the club managed to reach round of 16 several times including a semi-finals participation in the 1999 Conmebol's Copa Merconorte losing to penalty shootout against Colombian side America de Cali the same way it had been defeated by Uruguay's Peñarol a year before in the 1998 Copa Libertadores. Then had one of its worst campaigns in 2007, until the 2010 edition, when they did a great campaign even defeating the defending champion Estudiantes de la Plata by 4–1 in Lima, being one of the 3 top teams at the end of the first round however, in the Round of 16, they lost the chance to advance further withUniversidad de Chile, after a controversial match in Chile, where Ecuadorian referee Carlos Vera gave the Chilean side a goal that had already been flagged by the sideline referee as offside and the play had been called off, however Universidad de Chile's coaching staff including team mates and the pressure of a large local croud seem to have given referee Carlos Vera the fast initiave to validate the goal, Alianza Lima had been eliminated in what Peruvian media and other South American media believed to be a robbery, Fox Sports network and ESPN agreed the play should not have been validated, Alianza Lima's president Guillermo Alarcon flew to Asuncion, Paraguay to speak to Conmebol and claiming a straight entry to the next Copa Libertadores, the case was also taken to FIFA headquarters but was not approved. In the 2011 preliminary phase of the Copa Libertadores Alianza Lima came into the tournament as Peru's 3rd place having to face Mexico's Jaguares de Chiapas in a back to back home and away matches for a pass to the Cup's group stage but would lose both games 2–0 and lost a chance to participate . This 2012 version of the Copa Libertadores, Alianza Lima will participate in group 5 as Peru's No. 2 seed againstNacional (Uruguay), Vasco da Gama (Brazil) and the winner of Ecuador's 3rd and Paraguays 3rd.

1980s decade

The 1980s were probably the most bitter years in the club's history. During the first years of the decade, despite having very good players, Alianza could not obtain titles, some which were snatched by Sporting Cristal, which was establishing itself as one of the three big football clubs of Peru.

1987 air tragedy

Alianza finished the championship playing with members of the youth team and a few players on loan from Chile club Colo-Colo, which had offered to help sending four players (José Letelier, Parko Quiróz, Francisco Huerta and René Pinto). Friendship between both teams has been strong since then. Alianza could not keep the first place and its greatest rival, Universitario de Deportes, obtained the title. The team had to restart from scratch and even former players who had already retired, like Teófilo Cubillas, or others who were about to, like Cesar Cueto, played to help the club get out of these bitter times.Alianza Lima was close to relegation in 1988, but it managed to hold on in the last matches. In the next few years, despite being competitive, it failed to obtain a title.In 1987, Alianza Lima was first in the standings with a few matches left, and it looked like a new title would be obtained, but tragedy got in the way. On 7 December of that year, Alianza made a trip to Pucallpa to play against Deportivo Pucallpa for the league. The match was won 2–0, with Carlos Bustamante scoring. The team took a charter flight for the trip back. The flight departed on 8 December in a Peruvian Navy Fokker F27 airplane, which crashed into the sea when it was a few kilometers away from the Lima-Callao Airport, close to the Ventanilla district in Callao. The only survivor was the pilot, all the players and coaching staff died, being a game away from conquering the another title.

 The titles and the centenary

In 1997, Alianza Lima obtained its first title after 18 years, under Colombian manager Jorge Luis Pinto. In 1999 it came in second place, after losing to Universitario in the finals. In the early hours 2000, tragedy struck again when young captain Sandro Baylón died in a car accident after crashing with a post while driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2001 the club celebrated its centenary and obtained the national title after beating Cienciano in Cusco on penalty kicks. Later on, Alianza Lima would win the 2003 and 2004 championships, defeating Sporting Cristal in both finals, this time under Argentinian manager Gustavo Costas. In 2006 Alianza Lima won again the championship beating Cienciano del Cusco in the final play-off, enabling them to play the Copa Libertadores. Alianza Lima has been the most successful Peruvian club in this century, having won four championships.

Source: wikipedia