The Club Atlético Celaya was a Mexican
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club from
Celaya, Guanajuato
Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality f ...
. The club was formed in 1994 when the two second-division clubs Atletico Cuernavaca (Morelos) and Escuadra Celeste de Celaya (Guanajuato) merged. Another team,
Atlético Español
Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to:
Sports Teams Athletico
* Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy
* Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...
, was also merged at a later date. The club folded in 2003.
History
All merging clubs have brought a piece of their old identity into the new formed club: from Atlético Cuernavaca were taken the name to the new club (although its name is also identical with former Atlético Español), from Celeste de Celaya were taken their light blue colors and from Atlético Español the mascot, the bull, which has also given the new team their nickname ''toros'' (bulls).
Atlético Celaya has taken the second-division position of their predecessors and has immediately reached the top-level. The first year in
Primera División was also their most successful season ever. First, they could win their group and in the play-offs they could make their way up to the finals in which they lost only due to the away-goal-rule after playing 1:1 and 0:0 with
Necaxa.
But from now on the club finds itself in lower regions of the table. They had also financial problems which led to the sale of their first-division-license to an industrialist from Morelos in winter 2002–03. He formed a new team with the name
Colibríes de Morelos but it disappeared as fast as it once appeared. At the same time when Atlético Celaya has disappeared, their older city neighbour
Club Celaya
Club Celaya is a Mexican professional football club based in Celaya, Guanajuato. Celaya currently plays in the Liga de Expansión MX. Initially formed on Sunday 7 February 1954, the team was reorganized in Winter 2003 after their city neighbour ...
was reactivated again when
CF La Piedad moved to Celaya.
Crest and colours
The club's original colors in the 1950s were red and white. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the club started using black and white with a topical v shape across the chest for home games and a black stripe shirt for away games, which they still use to this date.
Colours
;First kit evolution
Famous players
*
Diego Cagna
*
Diego Latorre
*
Antonio Mohamed
Ricardo Antonio Mohamed Matijević (born 2 April 1970) is an Argentine football manager and former player.
Mohamed played as a striker, making his senior debut with Huracán in 1988 and being sold to Italian club Fiorentina in 1991. He ne ...
*
Richard Zambrano
Luis Richard Zambrano Chávez (; born 20 May 1967), known as just Richard Zambrano, is a Chilean former footballer.
Career
Zambrano had successful spells in his country and Mexico and retired in 2006, aged 39. His last club was Arturo Fernán ...
*
Ivan Hurtado
Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...
"El Avetruz"
*
Julio César de León
Julio César de León Dailey (; born 13 September 1979) is a Honduran footballer who currently plays for Olancho F.C. in the Honduran Liga Nacional de Ascenso as a midfielder. He is known for being a free-kick specialist and was an importan ...
"El Leon Indomable"
*
Carlos Pavón
Carlos Alberto Pavón Plummer (born 9 October 1973) is a Honduran former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of the best Honduran footballers in history, and by most as the nation's greatest player ever.
Mos ...
"El Tanque Catracho"
*
Ignacio Ambríz
*
José Damasceno
José Santos Damasceno Filho (born July 13, 1970 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil), also known as Tiba, is a Mexican-Brazilian footballer.
Career
Born in Salvador, Bahia, Damasceno was signed by Mexican club Pumas UNAM on the recommendation of for ...
"Tiba"
*
Félix Fernández
*
Jaime Lozano
Jaime Arturo "Jimmy" Lozano Espín (born 29 September 1978) is a Mexican professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Lozano spent the majority of his playing career with Club Universidad Nacional, playing in ...
*
Hugo Sánchez
Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager, who played as a forward. A prolific goalscorer known for his spectacular strikes and volleys, he is widely regarded as the greatest Mexican ...
*
Pepe Soto
*
Emilio Butragueño
Emilio Butragueño Santos (; born 22 July 1963) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker.
He was best known for his spell with Real Madrid. Nicknamed ''El Buitre'' (The Vulture), he was a member of the '' La Quinta del Buitre'' ...
*
Rafael Martín Vázquez
Rafael Martín Vázquez (born 25 September 1965) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder.
He represented most notably Real Madrid, having two different spells and amassing La Liga totals of 252 ...
*
Míchel
*
Rafael Paz
Rafael 'Rafa' Paz Marín (born 2 August 1965) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played mainly as a right midfielder.
Club career
Paz was born in Puebla de Don Fadrique, Province of Granada. After starting out as a youth with CP Gr ...
Honours
*Won promotion to the Primera División in 1994–95
*Emilio Butrageño & Hugo Sanchez retired from Atletico Celaya
Football clubs in Celaya
Association football clubs established in 1994
Ascenso MX teams
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