A.D. Carmelita

Carmelita
Full nameAsociación Deportiva Carmelita
Nickname(s)El Carmen
Los Carmelos
FoundedOctober 20, 1948; 76 years ago (1948-10-20)
GroundRafael Bolaños
Stadium, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Capacity2,400
ChairmanEdgar Artavia
ManagerAlexander Vargas
LeagueLiga de Ascenso
Clausura 20223° – Group A

Asociación Deportiva Carmelita is a Costa Rican football team playing in the Segunda División. The team is based in Barrio El Carmen, Alajuela, Costa Rica and their home stadium is Rafael Bolaños Stadium in El Coyol, Alajuela[1]

History

[edit]

El Carmen

[edit]

Founded as Costa Rica on 20 October 1948 by Manuel Guillén Fernández, the club joined the Costa Rican Third Division in 1949 and changed its name to Carmen Asociación Deportiva or just El Carmen de Alajuela a year later. They spent a few years in that league before reaching the second division[2] in 1953 and on 9 April 1958 they debuted in the Primera División de Costa Rica against Alajuelense.[3]

1961 League title dispute

[edit]

They won one championship in 1961,[4] when the big clubs left the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol and founded their own ASOFUTBOL league and the title was contested between three club only: Carmen, Uruguay de Coronado and Gimnástica Española. However, the ASOFUTBOL teams returned to the league and their league winners Herediano were named champions[2] only to recognize Carmen's title 40 years later.

Carmelita

[edit]

From 1968 through 1975 they played in the third tier of the Costa Rican football pyramid again and from 1975 through 1991 they were in the second division except for one season in the top division in 1983. Renamed Carmelita, they won promotion to the Premier Division after Pérez Zeledón and Generaleña merged. In 2009 they dropped down again after 16 years in the Primera, only to bounce back again in summer 2012 after beating Orión in a promotion/relegation play-off.[5]

Stadium

[edit]

In 2017, the construction and remodeling of a soccer field suitable for First Division matches began, and finally that same year the works for the installation of the artificial turf and the bleachers that will have capacity for around 2,400 people were concluded., to the south from the city of Alajuela. After its inauguration, it was baptized with the name of Rafael Bolaños Stadium, who administers the Wílmer “El Pato” López Sports Complex, where the facilities are located. The stadium was used for the first time in the 2018 Clausura Championship on January 21, 2018 in the Carmelita Sports Association match against Pérez Zeledón, with a score of 0-1 in favor of the visitors.

Honours

[edit]
1961

Current squad

[edit]

As of July 30, 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF Costa Rica CRC Sergio Rosales
3 DF Costa Rica CRC Cedric Solano
4 DF Costa Rica CRC Fernando Brenes
5 DF Costa Rica CRC Antonio Aguilar
8 DF Costa Rica CRC Jose Garro (Captain)
7 MF Costa Rica CRC Sebastián Castro
6 MF Costa Rica CRC Danny Arroyo
9 FW Costa Rica CRC Bryan Jiménez
10 FW Costa Rica CRC Luis Campos
11 FW Costa Rica CRC Fernando Rodriguez
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 FW Mexico MEX Salvador González
15 MF Costa Rica CRC Ignacio Quesada
16 MF Costa Rica CRC Juan Pablo Arce
17 MF Costa Rica CRC Jose Pablo González
18 MF Venezuela VEN Víctor Pérez
19 MF Costa Rica CRC Junior Dávila
22 DF Costa Rica CRC Endrick Alvarado
24 MF Costa Rica CRC Carlos Umaña
28 DF Costa Rica CRC John Jairo Lara
30 GK Costa Rica CRC Jose Daniel Rojas

Historic scorers

[edit]
  • Costa Rica Carlos Wanchope 34 goals
  • Argentina Marcelo Donato Bruno 31 goals
  • Costa Rica Bryan Rojas 19 goals
  • Costa Rica David Diach 13 goals
  • Costa Rica Alejandro Sequeira 12 goals
  • Costa Rica Minor Díaz 10 goals
  • Costa Rica Alejandro Aguilar 10 goals

Championship 1961

[edit]

List of players and coaching staff who won the Costa Rica First Division National Soccer Championship on August 6, 1961 under the name of Carmen Fútbol Club.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
Costa Rica CRC José Francisco Fonseca
Costa Rica CRC Jorge Luis Segura
Costa Rica CRC Joaquín Bernardo Guillén
Costa Rica CRC Demetrio Molina
Costa Rica CRC Francisco Young
Costa Rica CRC Gilberto Dormond
Costa Rica CRC Jorge Bolaños
Costa Rica CRC Luis Alberto Miranda
Costa Rica CRC Álvaro Araya
Costa Rica CRC Chucheca Álvarez
Costa Rica CRC Arturo Herrera
Costa Rica CRC Eduardo Bato Montero
No. Pos. Nation Player
Costa Rica CRC Francisco Solera
Costa Rica CRC José Luis Vargas
Costa Rica CRC Daniel Salmerón
Costa Rica CRC José Chito Soto
Costa Rica CRC Walter Casorla
Costa Rica CRC Marco Tulio Bravo
Costa Rica CRC Marcial Dijeres
Costa Rica CRC José Rafael Villalobos
Costa Rica CRC Guillermo Memo Elizondo
Costa Rica CRC Rodrigo Obando
Costa Rica CRC Carlos Morales

History

[edit]

Barely 13 years after its official foundation, on November 20, 1948, Carmen FC de Alajuela won the first division title in 1961, organized by the National Football Federation (today the Costa Rican Football Federation, Fedefútbol), after a two-round triangular that was awarded without losing to Club Sport Uruguay, from Coronado, and the Sociedad Gimnástica Española.

In that short competition, the purslane reached the Major League championship with seven points won out of a possible eight (87.5% return), product of three wins and one draw in four games, with nine goals for and three against.

Monarchs were crowned on August 6, 1961, when they defeated Uruguay 2-1 at the National Stadium in San José. It was the last Tico club that reached the title as an unbeaten team.

The scoring leadership was shared between two Carmelite figures, Jorge Bolaños and José Chito Soto, along with Eduardo Pachuco Meléndez, from Club Sport Uruguay de Coronado, all with three conquests.

At the same time, in one of the biggest internal conflicts in local football in its history, there were five dissident clubs – Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, Club Sport Herediano, Club Sport Cartaginés, Deportivo Saprissa and Orión FC – who left the Federation and founded the Association National Football (Asofutbol), endorsed by the General Directorate of Sports.

This tournament was won by Herediano with 25 points obtained from 32 in dispute in 16 games (yield of 78%). So there were then two monarchs in that year.

The purslane club underwent a transformation in 1992, when Generaleña merged with Pérez Zeledón, monarch of the Second Division, so the vacancy in the highest category was filled by Carmen FC, which changed its name: Carmelite Sports Association.

Later, the Carmelos waged a lengthy legal claim to be credited with the 1961 title. Finally, in 2003, the Union of First Division Clubs (Unafut) recognized Carmelita and Herediano as winners of each contest, the first in the Federation and the second of the Asofutbol.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Carmelita cumplió su sueño de tener estadio propio". La Nación, Grupo Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-10-26.
  2. ^ a b Carmelita Historia Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine – UNAFUT (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Historial de Carmelita Archived August 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine – Carmelita (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Costa Rica 1961 – RSSSF
  5. ^ Verdolagas sin tiempo que perder – Nación (in Spanish)
[edit]