Defensor Sporting Club is a

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

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 ...

. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with

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 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievements in Uruguay and internationally. It is the third most highest winning club in Uruguay, with 25 official titles, only surpassed by

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

and

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

. The club's best performance at the international stage was in 2014, when they reached the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores, eventually losing to

Club Nacional Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico. In ...

2-1 on aggregate. They have won the

Uruguayan Championship 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 ...

four times: in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, 1987, 1991, and 2007-08. Their 1976 title win was especially notable in Uruguay's football history as it ended 44 years of dominance by Nacional and Peñarol.

History

Founded on March 15, 1913 as ''Club Atlético Defensor'', the name of the club was changed in 1989 to ''Defensor Sporting Club'' after a merger with ''Sporting Club Uruguay''. They played in the first professional league season in Uruguay, the 1932 Uruguayan Primera División Defensor has won many qualifying tournaments (Pre-Liguilla) to the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and has represented Uruguay on numerous occasions internationally. Regarded as one of the teams that creates and develops many players in Uruguay that become successful players worldwide, It is the first club of numerous players like Jorge "Polilla" da Silva, Sergio "Manteca" Martínez,

Sebastián Abreu Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo (; born 17 October 1976) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Peruvian club Universidad César Vallejo. He is best known for his record of ap ...

Andrés Fleurquin Andrés José Fleurquin Rubio (born 8 February 1975) is a Uruguayan retired footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Born in Montevideo, Fleurquin started playing football with local Defensor Sporting. In 1999 he moved abroa ...

Marcelo Tejera Marcelo Tejera (born August 6, 1973) is a former Uruguayan footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Tejera made his debut for the Uruguay national team in a friendly match against Mexico (1–1 draw) on November 20, 1991 in Veracruz ...

Darío Silva Darío Debray Silva Pereira (born 2 November 1972) is a Uruguayan retired professional footballer who played as a striker. After making a name for himself in his country and in Italy with Cagliari, he spent the following seven years of his car ...

Gonzalo Vargas Gonzalo Vargas Abella (born 22 September 1981) is a Uruguayan former football striker. He last played for Rampla Juniors. Vargas is nicknamed ''Turbo'' because of his explosive dribbles and high speed sprints. Career Club He also played fo ...

, Diego "Ruso" Pérez, Nicolás Olivera,

Martín Cáceres José Martín Cáceres Silva (; born 7 April 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy and the Uruguay national team. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play on either flank, mostly as a rig ...

Maxi Pereira Maxi may refer to: People Given name * Maxi Biancucchi (born 1984), Argentine footballer who plays for Flamengo * Maxi López (born 1984), Argentine footballer who plays in Europe * Maxi Pereira, Uruguayan footballer who plays for SL Benfica * ...

, Álvaro González, and

Tabaré Viúdez Tabaré may refer to: * ''Tabaré'' (poem), an 1888 epic poem by Juan Zorrilla de San Martín * Tabaré (given name), including a list of people with the name * Tabare Rural LLG, Papua New Guinea * ''Tabaré'' (opera by Alfonso Broqua), an oper ...

. Legendary coach Prof. José Ricardo de León brought Defensor to the national championship in 1976 and originated a football (fútbol) school of thought, consistently criticized as ultra defensive, that is still present nowadays in several teams and coaches. In September 2007, the club was considered the World's Club Team of the Month by the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

. Defensor Sporting's most famous supporter is singer/composer

Jaime Roos Jaime Roos (born November 12, 1953 in Montevideo) is an Uruguayan singer, composer and record producer. In 2000, he won a Silver Condor Award for Best Score Musician in El Amateur. He has French blood from his father's side. His grandfather mig ...

Stadium

Defensor plays its home games at its own stadium called

Estadio Luis Franzini The Estadio Luis Franzini (or Luis Franzini Stadium) is an outdoor football stadium located in Montevideo, Uruguay. The stadium's maximum capacity is 16,000 people, and it is the home ground of Defensor Sporting. The stadium was closed during th ...

which has a capacity for 18,000 spectators. The stadium was opened on 31 December 1963, and is located in

Parque Rodó Parque Rodó is both a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood or district) of Montevideo, Uruguay and a park which lies mostly outside the limits of the barrio itself and belongs to Punta Carretas. The name "Rodó" has been given in memory of José Enrique Rod� ...

Rivalries

Defensor Sporting has had a rivalry with

Danubio Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1932, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo, which has a capacity o ...

in recent years, because of the two clubs being the next biggest clubs in Uruguay after the historical two: Peñarol and Nacional. Matches between them are called the "Clásico de los medianos" (Spanish for Classic of the Mediums).

Honours

Domestic

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 Association football, ...

: 4 :: 1976, 1987, 1991, 2008 * Segunda División Uruguay: 2 :: 1950, 1965 * Copa AUF Uruguay: 1 ::

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Other Official Domestic Honours

*Apertura: 4 :: 1994, 2007, 2010, 2017 *Clausura: 4 :: 1997, 2009, 2012, 2013 *Liguilla Pre Libertadores: 8 ::1976, 1979, 1981, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2006 *Copa Montevideana: 8 ::1976, 1979, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997 *Campeón Nacional Copa Artigas: 1 ::1960 *Cuadrangular: 1 ::1957 *Torneo Honor: 1 ::1947

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

: 16 appearances :: 1977: Group Stage :: 1980: Group Stage :: 1982: Group Stage ::

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

: Round of 16 :: 1992: Round of 16 ::

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

: Round of 16 :: 1996: Round of 16 :: 2001: Group Stage ::

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

: First Round :: 2007: Quarter-finals :: 2009: Quarter-finals ::

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

: Group Stage ::

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

: First Stage :: 2014: Semi-finals :: 2018: Group Stage :: 2019: Third Qualifying Stage *

U-20 Copa Libertadores The Under-20 CONMEBOL Libertadores (Portuguese and Spanish: CONMEBOL Libertadores Sub-20) is the international association football club competition for teams that play in CONMEBOL leagues. It was created by Manuel Burga Seoane and the Peruvian ...

: 1 appearance ::

: Runner-up *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

: 7 appearances :: 2005: Second Round :: 2007: Quarter-finals :: 2008: Round of 16 :: 2010: Round of 16 :: 2015: Quarter-finals :: 2017: First Stage :: 2018: Second Stage *

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL ( en, CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contes ...

: 2 appearances ::

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

: First Round :: 1997: First Round

Kit evolution

Current squad

Out on loan

Notable former players

Diego Jaume Diego Jaume Favaro (born 9 October 1973) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during ...

Notable coaches

Hugo Bagnulo Víctor Hugo Bagnulo Fernández (23 July 1915 – 7 February 2008) was a Uruguayan football player and manager. He is most famous for his managing success at Uruguayan giants Peñarol, with whom he won five national league titles. Career Bagnu ...

(1952 – 1957), (1960 – 1961) *

Gregorio Pérez Gregorio Elso Pérez PerdigónPersonal data (ABC.com.py)
(born 16 January 1948 i ...

(1983 – 1984) * Juan Ahuntchaín (1996) * Ricardo Ortiz (1996 – 1997) * Juan Tejera (2004 – 2005) *

Jorge da Silva Jorge Orosmán da Silva Echeverrito (born 11 December 1961) is a Uruguayan former Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Nicknamed "Polilla" ("Moth" in English), he played professional ...

(2005 – 2009) *

Gustavo Ferrín Gustavo Antonio Ferrín Rodríguez is a Uruguayan football manager. He is the current youth football coordinator of Liverpool Montevideo. Coaching career He qualified the Uruguay U20 national team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup after 8 years. In ...

(2009 – 2010) *

Pablo Repetto Pablo Eduardo Repetto Aquino (born 14 March 1974) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Colombian club Atlético Nacional. Playing career Born in Montevideo, Repetto began h ...

(2010 – 2011) *

Gustavo Díaz Gustavo "Chavo" Díaz Domínguez (born 7 November 1974) is a Uruguayan former football manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It ...

(2011 – 2012) * Tabaré Silva (2012 – 2013) * Fernando Curutchet (2013 – 2014) * Mauricio Larriera (2015 – 2016) *

Eduardo Acevedo Eduardo Mario Acevedo Cardozo (born 25 September 1959) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a defender and manager. He obtained a total number of 41 international caps for the Uruguay national football team and was a member of the te ...

(2016 – 2018)

References

External links

* {{Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol 1913 establishments in Uruguay Association football clubs established in 1913 Football clubs in Uruguay