Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Palogrande stadium.

Once Caldas
Full nameOnce Caldas S.A.
Nickname(s)El Blanco (The White);
El Blanco Blanco de Manizales (Manizales's White-White);
Los Albos (the Albos);
El Equipo Albo (The Albo Team)
Founded16 April 1947 (1947-04-16) (Foundation of Deportes Caldas)
15 January 1961; 63 years ago (1961-01-15) (Merger with Once Deportivo)[1]
GroundEstadio Palogrande
Capacity28,678[2]
ChairmanTulio Mario Castrillón
CoachHernán Darío Herrera
LeagueCategoría Primera A
2023Primera A, 16th of 20
WebsiteClub website

They were the surprise winners of the Copa Libertadores in 2004. The club was founded in 1961[1] after the merger of Deportes Caldas and Deportivo Manizales (also known as Once Deportivo).[3]

History edit

In 1950, Deportes Caldas won the Campeonato Profesional, as the Colombian professional football league was named at the time.

Once Caldas ("Caldas Eleven") was founded in 1959 after the fusion of Once Deportivo and Deportes Caldas. Once Deportivo was founded in 1930 while Deportes Caldas was founded at the end of the 1940s. However, both teams, for various reasons, went defunct. Carlos Gómez Escobar was in favor of reviving Deportes Caldas, but Eduardo Gómez Arrubla's idea was to bring back Once Deportivo. Thanks to the mediation of Dr. Hermán Bueno Ramirez, the three co-founders arrived at the compromise to fuse the existing teams into an entirely new entity, Once Caldas.

In 1961, the merged club debuted in the Campeonato Profesional. The club finished in the 7th position of the competition.

In 1998, Once Caldas was the first division's runner-up. Deportivo Cali defeated the club in the final. In the first leg, in Cali, the home team won 4–0. The second leg, in Manizales, ended in a 0–0 draw. That year the club also disputed its first international competition, the Copa CONMEBOL. Once Caldas was eliminated in the first round by Santos, of Brazil. In the first leg, in Santos, Santos won 2–1. In the second leg, in Manizales, Once Caldas won 2–1, but was defeated 3–2 in the penalty shootout.

In 1999, the club participated in the Copa Libertadores de América for the first time. Once Caldas was in the same group as Deportivo Cali and two Argentine clubs, Vélez Sársfield and River Plate. The side finished in the last position, but only two points behind Vélez Sársfield, which was the group's leader.

In 2002, Once Caldas played in the Copa Libertadores again. Olimpia, of Paraguay, Universidad Católica, of Chile, and Flamengo, of Brazil were in Once Caldas' group. After finishing in the third position, only ahead of Flamengo, the club was eliminated.

In 2003, the side won the first division's Apertura championship, after beating Junior in the final. In Barranquilla, the match ended in a 0–0 draw. In the second leg, Once Caldas won 1–0 in Manizales.

In 2004, the club again played in the Copa Libertadores. After beating Boca Juniors in the penalty shootout, the side, managed by Luis Fernando Montoya, won the competition for the first time. As the Copa Libertadores champions, the club played the Intercontinental Cup against UEFA Champions League champions Porto, of Portugal, in Yokohama, Japan. After a 0–0 draw, the club was defeated 8–7 in the penalty shootout. This would be the last edition of the Intercontinental Cup, being replaced the following year with the FIFA Club World Cup.

In 2005, as the previous year's champion, Once Caldas tried to defend its title in the Copa Libertadores. Chivas de Guadalajara (Mexico), Cobreloa (Chile), and San Lorenzo (Argentina) were in Once Caldas' group. The club finished in second place, two points behind Chivas. In the second stage, the side was eliminated by Tigres UANL of Mexico. In that year, the club also participated in the Recopa Sudamericana, having played against Boca Juniors. In the first leg, in Buenos Aires, Boca Juniors won 3–1. In the second leg, in Manizales, Once Caldas won 2–1 but Boca won 4–3 on aggregate score.

2004 Copa Libertadores campaign edit

In 2004, Once Caldas won the Copa Libertadores. The matches played by the club are listed below:

Coach

Players

Position Player Notes
GK   Juan Carlos Henao
GK   Juan Carlos González
DF   Miguel Rojas
DF   Samuel Vanegas
DF   Édgar Cataño
DF   Edwin García
DF   Jefrey Díaz
MF   Jonathan Fabbro
MF   Jhon Viáfara
MF   Rubén Darío Velázquez
MF   Diego Arango
MF   Elkin Soto
MF   Arnulfo Valentierra
MF   Herly Alcázar
MF   Raúl Marín
FW   Jorge Agudelo
FW   Javier Araujo
FW   Dayro Moreno
FW   Wilmer Ortegón

Uniform edit

In early 2005, Once Caldas decided to leave behind the brand Bogota FSS and go to the German brand Adidas.[4] After concluding its contract with Adidas, Once Caldas switches to Peruvian company Walon Sport, since the 2008 season.[5] until 2016 where they left Walon Sport for Errea. In the 2019 season Once Caldas left Errea to dress the local brand Sheffy. In the 2023 season, they left Sheffy and joined local brand Hillside.


  • Home: White shirt, white shorts and white socks.
  • Away: Black shirt, black shorts and black socks.

Stadium edit

Once Caldas plays its home matches at Estadio Palogrande, located in Manizales. The stadium was inaugurated in 1936, and had its maximum capacity expanded to its current 43,553[6] spectators in 2010.

Honours edit

Domestic edit

International edit

Players edit

Current squad edit

As of 1 February 2024[7][8]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   ARG Ezequiel Mastrolía
4 DF   COL Leyder Morán
5 MF   COL Iván Rojas
6 MF   COL Álvaro Montaño
7 FW   COL Gustavo Torres
8 MF   COL Esteban Beltrán
9 FW   COL Johar Mejía
10 MF   COL Róger Torres
11 FW   ECU Billy Arce
12 GK   COL James Aguirre
13 DF   COL Daniel Quiñones
14 FW   COL Luis Palacios
15 FW   COL Kevin Villada
16 DF   COL Mauricio Castaño
17 FW   COL Dayro Moreno (captain)
18 DF   COL Jáider Riquett
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF   COL Mateo García
20 MF   COL Alejandro García
21 FW   COL John Deiby Araujo
22 DF   COL Juan Cuesta
23 DF   COL Sergio Palacios
26 MF   COL Yeiler Valencia
27 FW   COL Felipe Cifuentes
28 FW   COL David Lemos
29 DF   COL Yonatan Murillo
31 MF   COL Santiago Mera
32 MF   COL Juan David Betancur
33 DF   COL Juan Pablo Patiño
34 MF   COL Jorge Cardona
GK   COL Camilo Páez
FW   COL Santiago Cubides

World Cup players edit

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Once Caldas.

Records edit

Most appearances edit

# Name Matches
  Juan Carlos Henao 605
  Arnulfo Valentierra 481
  Robeiro Fernando Moreno 451
  Sergio Galván 377
  Rodrigo Gómez 373

Top scorers edit

As of 16 March 2024
# Name Goals
  Sergio Galván 185
  Arnulfo Valentierra 138
  Dayro Moreno 124
  Roberto Mirabelli 66
  Nicolás Lobatón 59

Managers edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Colombia – Foundation Dates of Clubs". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  2. ^ FIFA.com
  3. ^ (in Spanish) History of Once Caldas Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ bestiariodelbalon.com. "Once Caldas FSS-Adidas". Archived from the original on 3 July 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  5. ^ "Cambio de auspicio – En la Jugada". enlajugada.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Football stadiums of the world – Stadium List South America – Football stadiums of the world". fussballtempel.net. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Once Caldas". Dimayor. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  8. ^ "EQUIPO PROFESIONAL LIGA BETPLAY DIMAYOR 2 2021 – Once Caldas S.A." 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2021.

External links edit