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 24 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. Inte ...

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 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, 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 app ...

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 association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. After making a name for himself in his country and in Italy with Ca ...

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 migr ...

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

Senior titles

Other titles

Titles won in lower divisions:

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

: 17 appearances ::

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

: Group Stage ::

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

: Group Stage ::

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

: 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 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

: 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 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

: Round of 16 ::

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

: 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 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

: 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 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: Semi-finals ::

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 United ...

: Group Stage ::

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Third Qualifying Stage ::

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

: First 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 ...

: 8 appearances ::

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: Second Round ::

: Quarter-finals ::

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: Round of 16 ::

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Round of 16 ::

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

: First Stage ::

: Second Stage ::

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

: First 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 cont ...

: 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 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

: First Round

Kit evolution

Current squad

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 Tabaré Abayubá Silva Aguilar (born 30 August 1974) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a defender. Playing career Silva started his playing career in 1993 with Defensor Sporting Club, he soon won a call up to the U ...

(2012–2013) * Fernando Curutchet (2013–2014) *

Mauricio Larriera José Mauricio Larriera Dibarboure (born 26 August 1970) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a right back. Career Larriera started his managerial career with Club Sol de América. After that, he coached Racing Club d ...

(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