Boca Juniors de Cali is a professional football club which represented the city of Cali since its creation in 1937 until its exit from professional football in 1957 and again from 2019 onwards competing in the

Categoría Primera B Categoría Primera B, commonly referred to as Torneo BetPlay Dimayor due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay (formerly ''Torneo Águila''), is the second-division football league in Colombia. Format DIMAYOR has applied a new form ...

, the second tier of Colombian football. Since its early years it adopted the jersey from Argentine team Boca Juniors.

History

Early years

Founded on 25 September 1937, and joining the

professional league Professional sports, Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are one that developed in Europe, characterized by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation in order to determine participati ...

in 1949, Boca Juniors de Cali was one of the most important teams of the El Dorado era, rivalling with clubs such as

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

from Bogotá and crosstown rivals América de Cali. Boca Juniors placed as runners-up in the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

and

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

seasons, finishing behind Millonarios in both cases and third in the following season, behind Millonarios and

Deportes Quindío Deportes Quindío is a professional Colombian football club based in Armenia that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on 8 January 1951, and its best achievement was winning the 1956 league tournament. They play thei ...

. After those three campaigns, and although the team's performance started dwindling, it was able to stabilize in the middle of the table. During this period, the club also won the

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...

in the 1950–51 and 1951–52 seasons. In the 1952–53 season, they finished as runners-up in that competition, once again behind Millonarios. In 1958, Boca Juniors de Cali did not take part in the professional league. The club suffered the economic crisis that engulfed several Colombian clubs after El Dorado, and the lack of sponsorships, fanbase, and income caused the club to withdraw, leading to its disbanding and making way for the return of Deportivo Cali, who bought their membership in the professional league and along with América went on to become the city's most representative clubs.

Refounding and return to professional football

In 1987, a group of football executives led by

Hernando Ángel Hernando is a common Spanish given name, equivalent to Fernando and the English Ferdinand. It may refer to: Places ;Canada * Hernando Island, British Columbia ;United States * Hernando, Florida * Hernando County, Florida * Hernando, Mississippi ...

refounded Boca Juniors as an amateur club and football academy taking part in the tournaments of the Valle del Cauca regional league. It has also participated in the youth tournaments organized by the FCF and has built an important reputation due to its success in different tournaments and the number of players it promotes to professional football. Several well-known players such as Giovanni Hernández, Wilman Conde, Hugo Rodallega and others have emerged from its ranks. Owing to Ángel also owning both

and

Universitario Popayán Universitario Popayán was a professional Colombian football team based in Popayán, that played in the Categoría Primera B from 2011 to 2019. They played their home games at the Ciro López stadium. History Universitario Popayán was founded ...

, the latter clubs became a platform for the Boca Juniors players to access professional football, being first promoted to Universitario and then to Deportes Quindío. On 12 March 2019, the General Assembly of Dimayor approved a proposal to relocate Universitario Popayán from

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...

to Cali starting from the second half of the 2019 season, with the aforementioned club being rebranded as Boca Juniors. This move allowed the return of Boca Juniors to professional football after 61 years.

Current squad

Honours

* Categoría Primera A: ::Runners-up (2):

: ::Winners (1): 1950–51 ::Runners-up (1): 1952–53

References

External links

* {{Colombian Primera B Football clubs in Colombia 1937 establishments in Colombia 1957 disestablishments in Colombia 1987 establishments in Colombia Categoría Primera A clubs Categoría Primera B clubs