F.C. Atlas A.C.

Infobox football club
name = clubname = Atlas


fullname = F.C. Atlas A.C.
nickname = Zorros
Los Rojinegros
La Academia
Niños Catedráticos

founded = 1916
ground = Jalisco,
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
capacity = 56,713
president = flagicon|Mexico Fernando Acosta
manager = flagicon|Argentina Dario Franco
league = Primera División de México
season = Clausura 2008
position = 10th (league)
pattern_la1=_redborder|pattern_b1=_redhalf|pattern_ra1=_redborder
leftarm1=000000|body1=000000|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000| pattern_la2=_redborder|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=_redborder|body2=000000
shorts2=000000|socks2=000000|pattern_b2=_redwhitestriped_sides|leftarm2=000000|rightarm2=000000

F.C. Atlas A.C. is a Mexican professional football club. Atlas is one of three teams that play in Mexico's second important city, Guadalajara, along with Chivas and Tecos. in the Primera División de México. The club shares its home stadium, Estadio Jalisco, with Chivas.

History

The Atlas Football Club was founded in a café of Guadalajara, Mexico, where a few college friends recalled their British football experience at university squads where they had spent the last few years. Alfonso and Juan José "Lico" Cortina, Pedro "Perico" and Carlos Fernández del Valle, the three Orendain brothers and Federico Collignon (who had studied in Berlin) finally decided in the summer of 1916, to set up a football team called "Club de fútbol Atlas" and founded it in Tlaquepaque, outside the city of Guadalajara.

The technical ability that the "Atlistas" employed - triangular passing and skillful dribblig to avoid opponents' tackles - were impressive that they were seen as better than local squads. Atlas and Chivas have also been rivals because they are the oldest of all Mexican teams in their division, they are both known for their elicit histories, and because they play in the same city; the games they play against one another are known as the 'Clásico Tapatío'. Although Atlas has only won the league championship once, their academy has been famous for developing national idols like Jared Borgetti, Daniel Osorno, José de Jesús Corona, Pável Pardo, Oswaldo Sánchez, Rafael Márquez, Juan Carlos Medina, Jorge Hernández, and Andrés Guardado. As of 2007, most teams in Mexico's Primera División have at least one player who started their career in CF Atlas. In 2008 Atlas broke the tradition of having Mexican goalkeepers when they signed Rodrigo Bava who is from Uruguay.

CF Atlas had a golden age in the year 1998 with at the time promising players like Rafael Márquez, Daniel Osorno, Juan Pablo Rodriguez, Mario Mendez, Omar Briceño, Erubey Cabuto, and Miguel Zepeda. They lost the final to Toluca and next season became dominant 1st place overall but never claimed a title. Considered to be the best squad to not win a trophy the youngsters lead Atlas to a legendary Copa Libertadores making it to the semifinals and losing to River Plate in a memorable game. Today many of the once young jewels of the team are on elite squads and play important roles.

Estadio Jalisco

Atlas currently shares its home stadium, Estadio Jalisco, with Chivas. Estadio Jalisco is the third largest stadium in Mexico and was constructed on January 31, 1960. It is a venue that has played host to historic matches and teams including Pelé's Brazil in 1970. In total, It was host for 8 games in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, 6 of which were from group stage matches, and two were quarter and semi-finals. Subsequently, the stadium was again host for 9 games in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, 6 of which were group stage matches, 1 was round of sixteen and the last 2 were quarter and semi-finals.

Fans

Atlas fans are collectively called _es. La Fiel (the faithful); La Barra 51 is the main organized supporter group. La Barra 51's name recalls Atlas' last (and only) championship in the Primera División de México in 1951. Through the team's sad performance _es. La Fiel has earned its name, supporting the team for more than 50 years without any major silverware. In terms of the team's popularity, a recent football fan survey counted more than 750,000 supporters. According to various fan polls, Atlas has consistently been shown to be the fifth most supported team in Mexico, behind Chivas, America, Pumas and Cruz Azul but ahead of more successful teams like Pachuca and Toluca.

Chants

Current squad

Uniform

First kit is half red and half black shirt divided up vertically, with some gray details, black short and socks.

Second kit is a black shirt with some red details, black short and socks.

Third kit is a white shirt with 2 red and black vertical lines in the middle, white short and socks.

Honors

*Amateur League: 5
** 1917-18, 1918-19, 1919-20, 1920-21,1935-36

*Primera División: 1
** 1950-1951

*Segunda División: 3
** 1954-1955, 1971-1972, 1978-1979

*Campeón de Copa: 4
** 1945-1946, 1949-1950, 1961-1962, 1967-1968

*Campeón de Campeones: 4
** 1945-1946, 1949-1950, 1950-1951, 1961-1962

Official BeerCorona

Famous Atlas players playing abroad

Notable coaches

* Ricardo Lavolpe
* Miguel Ángel Brindisi
* Enrique Meza Enriquez
* Fernando Quirarte
* Dario Franco

External links

*es icon [http://www.atlas.com.mx/ Official site]
*es icon [http://www.femexfut.org.mx/PrimeraDivision/ Primera División]
*es icon [http://barra51.com.mx/ Barra 51 Support website]
*List of fan-owned sports teams