Club Blooming
Full name | Club Social, Cultural y Deportivo Blooming | ||
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Nickname(s) | La Academia Cruceña Celestes | ||
Founded | 1 May 1946 | ||
Ground | Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera | ||
Capacity | 38,000 | ||
Chairman | Sebastián Peña | ||
Manager | Carlos Bustos | ||
League | División Profesional | ||
2023 | División Profesional, 9th of 17 | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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Club Social, Cultural y Deportivo de Blooming, commonly known as Blooming, is a Bolivian professional
Founded in 1946, its home colours are sky blue, white and navy.[1] They play at the Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera (38,000 seats). Its main rival is Oriente Petrolero, also from Santa Cruz. When they face each other in the local derby also known as "clásico cruceño", it is considered one of the most important matches in Bolivian football due to the fanaticism and passion of its fans, as well as, the intensity of the match itself.
History
1946 to 1970s
On 1 May 1946, a group of young men led by Humberto Vaca Pereyra Montaño, agreed to establish a new football club after the rupture of a previous team they had put together called "Blue Sky". In their quest to find a name, they looked for inspiration in the city of Santa Cruz's flourishing youth; therefore, they decided to name the team officially as "Club Blooming". In the years following its foundation, Blooming became a very successful club in the amateur league, winning several tournaments held in the region. By 1953, the board of directors determined that it was time to enhance the club's status.
Hence, Blooming made the transition from amateur to professional football after defeating two other local teams in a short tournament. From that moment, the team earned the right to be a member of the Asociación Cruceña de Fútbol (ACF), a regional association which happened to be the highest football entity in the Santa Cruz department during that time.
In 1977, the
1980s
After playing in first division for a few seasons, Blooming managed to solidify a team that became one of the finest in Bolivian football during the early 1980s.
The manager at that time was Chilean native Raúl "El Mago" Pino. Under his directions he had a group of talented players including Silvio Rojas,
Consequently, Blooming participated in the
1990s
Entering this decade, Blooming regained that winning spirit that got lost towards the end of the 1980s. A new generation of players including
It was an unforgettable 5–0 victory with goals scored by Hebert Arandia (2), Jaime Moreno (2) and Juan Carlos Chávez. However, the game wasn't completed because Oriente's supporters invaded the field in protest on the 75th minute and the game was suspended. It resumed and was completed the next day behind closed doors.[2][3] After such a colossal victory, Blooming stayed motivated throughout the season obtaining good results and making the play-offs, but ultimately they finished in third place behind La Paz's clubs The Strongest and Bolívar, and missed another opportunity to take part in an international tournament.
During the second semester of 1994, Blooming began experiencing difficult times financially. The condition had severe implications in the players as they went on strike in several occasions. The evident lack of motivation was soon reflected on the field, as the team didn't qualify to any of the two championship play-offs, and to make things worse, it compromised its permanence in first division football due to poor performances throughout the season. Entering 1995 the financial crisis exacerbated. Blooming no longer had the capacity to pay its players. Tired of this situation, most of them left the institution and signed for other teams. Clearly the club had no other alternative, but to turn to its youth sector as the last resort to compete in the local tournament. Despite the tremendous effort exhibited by these youngsters, the team finished second-bottom of the league having to play a relegation series with the Copa Simón Bolívar's runners-up. On November of that year in La Paz, Blooming lost to Chaco Petrolero 6–5 on penalty kicks, after a 1–1 score during regular time. Hence, the team was relegated for the first time since the league was founded in 1977.
The following year Blooming celebrated its 50th anniversary playing in second division; however, a fresh board of directors with Juan Callaú in command, promised the supporters that the team would return to first division in 1997. The first step was to find a manager with a strong background, who was familiar with Bolivian football and had the willingness to undertake this pretentious project. That's how they determined to bring onboard Carlos Aragonés, a prominent manager who had won the national title with The Strongest a few years back. The club was also strengthened with great off-season acquisitions like young talented midfielder Limberg Gutiérrez, experienced striker Víctor Hugo Antelo, Tahuichi right-back Renny Ribera and other important players, which got on well with rest of the squad; forming a solid and consistent team that won the promotion in 1996 by defeating Club Universidad from Santa Cruz in the Copa Simón Bolívar finals.
With the imminent return of Blooming to first division football, the club once again occupied a seat of honor among the best teams in Bolivia. In 1997, la academia made a successful comeback; in the Apertura the club finished first in its group; nevertheless it fell short from winning the title by getting knocked-out in semi-finals by Bolívar. In the Clausura Blooming qualified as second best in its group, but in the "Hexagonal Final" the team ended up third behind Bolívar and Oriente; therefore, being left out of another Copa Libertadores berth. The following year and after leaving all the frustrations behind, Blooming resumed its protagonism in the league. With the basis of that group of players, along with the arrival of other key figures such as Bolivian internationals
The city of Santa Cruz turned into a carnival parade in mid December. The fans were exceedingly cheerful and euphoric to see their team win the first national championship in fourteen years. Luckily for them, the reason to celebrate a new championship didn't drag on. The following year, Blooming won the 1999 Apertura with seven points ahead of the second-placed team, Bolívar. Later, they faced the Clausura winners to determine the champions of 1999. Blooming dominated the series over The Strongest by a similar scores of 3–2 on both games, and retained the trophy for another year, with Carlos Aragonés as coach.
As an important fact, Blooming is the first team from Santa Cruz to win the title in consecutive seasons.
The 1998 title meant Blooming returned to the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 14 years, for the 1999 edition. However, they came last in their group.
2000–present
In 2001, Blooming began renovating its squad since some of the talented players that took part in the back-to-back championship run left the institution. As a result, in the following years Blooming had modest participations in the league, maintaining a low profile and lacking ambition.
Finally in the 2005 Apertura, Blooming gave its fans a new reason to celebrate when they won the tournament with a young and rejuvenated team under the guidance of Gustavo Quinteros. Blooming secured the title on December 8, in the last game with a 3–2 away victory over The Strongest. Thus, the team finished first in the final group stage or "final six" with five points ahead of Bolívar. Players such as Joselito Vaca, Gualberto Mojica, Lisandro Sacripanti and Pedro Higa were fundamental in enlightening the road towards the title.
The following year, the victorious path extended for Blooming as the team obtained the
When the Clausura kicked off, the team showed a considerable improvement and built up its confidence again. As a result, Blooming qualified to the championship play-offs as the number one seed in its group. In semi-finals the club faced
The
Blooming qualified for Copa Sudamericana in
Honours
- First Division – Professional Era
- Winners (5): 1984, 1998, 1999, 2005-A, 2009-C
- Runners-up (3): 1982, 1983, 2008-C
- Santa Cruz Championship – Professional Era (1953–76)
- Winners (6): 1954, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1968
- Second Division/Copa Simón Bolívar
- Winners (1): 1996
- Copa Aerosur
- Copa Bolivia
- Winners (2): 1983, 1987
- Runners-up (1): (1998)
- Copa Cine Center
- Winners (1): 2015
Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
- Copa Libertadores: 7 appearances
- Copa Sudamericana: 4 appearances
- Recopa Sudamericana: 0 appearances
- Copa Merconorte: 1 appearance
- 2001 – Group stage
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable former players
See also Category:Club Blooming players.
Former head coaches
Club Blooming coaching history from 1978 to present[8] | |
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Top goalscorers in Bolivian first division
Year | Player | Goals | Nationality |
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1979 | Horacio Baldessari |
31 | |
1981 | Juan Carlos Sánchez | 30 | |
1983 | Juan Carlos Sánchez | 30 | |
1997 | Víctor Hugo Antelo | 24 | |
1998 | Víctor Hugo Antelo | 31 | |
1999 | Víctor Hugo Antelo | 31 | |
2008 (A) | Anderson Gonzaga | 16 |
Presidential history
Here is a complete list of Club Blooming presidents from 1946 to present day.[9]
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References
- ^ Vanauskas, Laura (1999). An Encyclopedia of Football in Bolivia – 1914 to 1998. Heart Books – Belgium. p. 192.
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ignored (help) - ^ "Momentos históricos del clásico cruceño". eju.tv (in Spanish). 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-07-08. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Los seis momentos gloriosos de Oriente y Blooming en los clásicos". gol.com.bo. 28 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-09-02. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Semifinal Clausura 2008: Blooming 5 – La Paz FC 0" (in Spanish). gol.com.bo. 24 October 2008.
- ^ "Aurora Campeon del Clausura 2008" (in Spanish). El Deber. 4 November 2008.
- ^ "Blooming – Plantel" [Blooming – Squad] (in Spanish). Diez. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ Club Blooming squad at Soccerway, soccerway.com
- ^ Manager History Worldfootball.net
- ^ "Past-Presidents" (in Spanish). clubblooming.com.bo. Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
External links
- (in Spanish) Official website (archived)
- (in Spanish) Blooming Noticias (archived)
- (in Spanish) Los Chiflados – fan website (archived)