Montevideo City Torque is a
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
an
football club based in
Montevideo. The club currently plays in the
Uruguayan Primera División
The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional football league in Uru ...
, the first division of
Uruguayan league system, having achieved promotion to the Primera División for the first time ahead of the
2018 season.
Founded in 2007 as Club Atlético Torque, the club has been owned by the
City Football Group
City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations; of which 81% is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, 18% by the American firm Si ...
(CFG) since April 2017, which eventually resulted in the change to the club's name in 2020. Montevideo City Torque shares ties with teams such as
Manchester City,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
Melbourne City, as clubs that are also owned by CFG.
History
Club Atlético Torque were founded on 26 December 2007 by
Cancún
Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...
-based Uruguayan businessman Raúl Aquino Reynoso, building on a vision of achieving glory from scratch.
To help him build his dream, Aquino contacted Marcelo Yaurreche, an
electromechanic by trade, who had
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...
ged on the concept of sporting ventures. Yaurreche's line of work ultimately went on to inspire the name of the team through the mechanical principle of
torque
In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...
as an indication of strength. The nascent club's first season of competition was played in the local Liga de Punta Carretas.
Segunda División Amateur
Starting from the 2008–09, Torque entered the
Uruguayan football league system The Uruguayan football (soccer), football league system is a series of interconnected football leagues for clubs in Uruguay, and is organized by the Uruguayan Football Association at the national level. The Uruguayan Primera División, Uruguayan Lea ...
in the third (and lowest) tier, the
Segunda División Amateur. Their first season was very positive, going unbeaten for the 11 games of the
Clausura
The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...
tournament before losing the play-off for the overall league title against
Oriental. Oriental opted to turn down their promotion to the
Segunda División, prompting Torque to submit an application to take it up in their place, but their application was rejected.
In the following seasons the club continued to place highly, never finishing lower than fifth in either the Apertura or Clausura tournaments. In May 2011 Torque merged with
Huracán of the Segunda División to form a new club called ''Huracán Torque'', but by August of the same year the merger was dissolved with the new side having played no games. Torque resumed its place in the Segunda División Amateur and at the fourth time of asking finally finished top of the overall table, winning promotion to the Segunda División for the
2012–13 season.
Segunda División Profesional
Torque's first season in professional football again finished positively with a fifth-place finish, including denying high-flyers
Tacuarembó
Tacuarembó ( Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay.
Location and geography
The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the c ...
automatic promotion to the Uruguayan top tier and potentially even the league title itself with a 4–0 victory in the final game of the season. Torque themselves qualified for the promotion play-offs, where they again defeated Tacuarembó, but they ultimately lost the play-off final on penalties.
The following season was the club's first season of underachievement with Torque finishing in last place and eight points adrift of their nearest competitor. They were, however, spared the ignominy of relegation as the division expanded to 15 clubs, causing the league's organisers to opt against relegating any clubs. The following seasons offered little improvement, with the club finishing some distance from the promotion places each time.
City Football Group acquisition and promotion to the Primera División
On 20 March 2017, Uruguayan online sports news site Ovacion reported that the
City Football Group
City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations; of which 81% is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, 18% by the American firm Si ...
, owners of
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
side
Manchester City and
MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
team
New York City FC
New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...
amongst others, were close to completing negotiations for the purchase of Torque with the aim of using the club to assist in the signing of
South American
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
players.
Also reported was that CFG had been working with the club for some time in anticipation of the purchase to build it a new sports complex as well as to refurbish the
Estadio Juan Antonio Lavalleja in
Minas
Minas or MINAS may refer to:
People with the given name Minas
* Menas of Ethiopia (died 1563)
* Saint Menas (Minas, 285–309)
* Minias of Florence (Minas, Miniato, died 250)
* Minas Alozidis (born 1984), Greek hurdler
* Minas Avetisyan (1928â ...
with a view to relocating the side to the city in order to help establish an identity for the club as well as to give it a larger potential fanbase.
Following a series of further rumours of the imminence of the deal, it was publicly announced on 5 April 2017 that the takeover had been completed and ratified by the
Uruguayan Football Association
The Uruguayan Football Association ( es, Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol — ) is the governing body of football in Uruguay. It was founded in 1900, as The Uruguayan Association Football League, and affiliated to FIFA in 1923. It is a founding m ...
.
In 2017, led by
Paulo Pezzolano, Torque formed a very strong team for the category and achieved the title with ease. Football players of the stature of
Diego Martiñones,
Ernesto Goñi,
Hernán Figueredo
Hernán Figueredo Alonzo (born 15 May 1985) is a Uruguayan footballer who plays as a midfielder for Defensor Sporting.
Career
Figueredo started his career playing with his home team C.A. Bella Vista. In mid 2008, he was sent out on loan for si ...
,
MartÃn Bonjour,
Jonathan Cubero,
Julián Lalinde and
Leonardo Pais, among others; added to quality foreign reinforcements such as the Venezuelan
Nahuel Ferraresi, the Colombian
Javier Calle and the Argentine
ValentÃn Castellanos. As soon as the promotion was confirmed, Pezzolano announced that he would not continue in the next season.
Pablo Marini
Pablo Alejandro Marini (born 31 January 1967) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a forward.
Career
Born in Santa Fe, Argentina, Marini played professional football from 1987 to 2002, scoring 154 goals. He began hi ...
, another Argentine, was brought in to replace him.
In the debut in the
Primera División, the team will be directed by the Argentine
Pablo Marini
Pablo Alejandro Marini (born 31 January 1967) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a forward.
Career
Born in Santa Fe, Argentina, Marini played professional football from 1987 to 2002, scoring 154 goals. He began hi ...
.
Qualification for the play-off of the Torneo Intermedio, which Torque lost 3–2 to
Nacional, was tempered by a poor run of results in both the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura, and Torque were relegated in 14th place based on average points per game at the end of the 2018 season. The 2019 season saw Torque take the Segunda División title for a second time as they beat
Maldonado by three points to win the title on the final day of the season.
Name change and return to the Primera División
On 22 January 2020 it was announced that Club Atletico Torque had changed their club name to Montevideo City Torque, with an accompanying change in team badge.
The name and badge were chosen to be reflective of their links to
Manchester City and the other clubs of the
City Football Group
City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations; of which 81% is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, 18% by the American firm Si ...
.
At the same time it was announced that the club would begin work on the construction of a new
academy and administrative complex, intended to be one of the most advanced academy centres in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
.
Uniform
* First uniform: light blue shirt, black pants, black averages.
* Second uniform: white shirt, black pants, black averages.
All Torque title shirts have been light blue, but from 2016 on, the shirt has included a big blue "T" on the chest on a light blue background. The alternative shirts are generally white, although it was gray in 2013. It is currently white with a big blue "T".
Kit manufacturers
Players
First team squad
Out on loan
Club information
Updated data for the 2018 season
* Seasons in
Uruguayan Primera División
The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional football league in Uru ...
: 2 (
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
,
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
)
** Debut:
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
* First match: Torque 2–4
Nacional, on 3 February 2018
* First goal in history:
Jhoaho Hinestroza (Torque 2–4
Nacional, 3 February 2018)
* Seasons in
Uruguayan Segunda División
Segunda División Profesional is the second division of professional football in Uruguay, established in 1942. The league is sometimes referred to as ''Primera B''. Segunda División was first held in 1942 to replace amateur Divisional Intermed ...
: 7 (
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
to 2017, 2019).
** Debut:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
* Seasons in
Uruguayan Tercera División: 4 (2008–09 to 2011–12)
* First match: Torque 0–2
Platense, on 12 October 2008.
RSSSF - Uruguay Third Level 2008/09
/ref>
* First goal in history: Gonzalo Larrosa (Torque 2–3 Uruguay Montevideo, on 16 October 2008).
* First triumph: Torque 2–1 CA Basáñez, on 1 November 2008.
Trajectory
Honours
* Segunda División
** Winners (2): 2017, 2019
* Tercera División
Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...
** Winners (1): 2011–12
** Runner-up (1): 2008–09
See also
* Manchester City FC
Manchester City Football Club are an English football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Association Footba ...
* Melbourne City FC
Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Professio ...
* New York City FC
New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...
* Mumbai City FC
References
External links
*
*
El Ascenso Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montevideo City Torque
Football clubs in Uruguay
Football clubs in Montevideo
Association football clubs established in 2007
2007 establishments in Uruguay