Asociación Civil Deportivo Lara
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Asociación Civil Deportivo Lara (usually called ACD Lara, or just Lara) is a professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club based in
Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...
,
Lara State Lara State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Lara is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. The state capital is Barquisimeto. Lara State covers a total surface area of and, in 2015, had a census population of 2,019,211. ...
, that was promoted to the Venezuelan league in 2009, in their first year of existence. It was one of four teams that has won the
Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; ), or Liga Venezolana (; ) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. Format Starting i ...
championship by winning both short tournaments of the season as well as being the team that has accrued the most points in a season, when it obtained 83 points in the 2011–12 campaign, under the reins of Eduardo Saragó and the help of players with experience in the Venezuela national team such as
Miguel Mea Vitali Miguel Ángel Mea Vitali (born February 19, 1981, in Caracas) is a Venezuelan former football midfielder. Club career Mea Vitali started his career with Caracas FC in his home town. He has played professional football in several countries in Eur ...
,
José Manuel Rey José Manuel Rey Cortegoso (born 20 May 1975) is a Venezuelan former footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Known as ''Pokémon'' and ''Tetero'', and a free kick specialist, he represented mainly Caracas in a 20-year ...
and Rafael Castellín. One of the club's most significant milestones was achieved on March 1, 2018, in their first
2018 Copa Libertadores The 2018 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 59th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. River Plate defeated Boca Juniors in ...
match, when they beat the top winner of the competition Independiente 1–0 with a goal by Carlos Sierra.


History

Club Deportivo Lara was founded on July 2, 2009, by Arid García, Luís Yépez, Juan Conde, and Carlos Eduardo Hernández to maintain a
Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; ), or Liga Venezolana (; ) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. Format Starting i ...
team in the
Lara State Lara State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Lara is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. The state capital is Barquisimeto. Lara State covers a total surface area of and, in 2015, had a census population of 2,019,211. ...
as the former team
Guaros de Lara The Guaros de Lara is a Venezuelan professional basketball club, that is based in Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela. Guaros de Lara BBC has existed as a club in various different forms since 1983. It has existed in its current form since 2003. The c ...
had been struggling financially and eventually disappeared. The new team was created under the slogan "Believe in Lara." In its first year in the top flight, the team placed in the top four of the cumulative overall, just behind
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
,
Deportivo Táchira ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...
and
Deportivo Italia Deportivo Miranda Fútbol Club (previously named Deportivo Italia Fútbol Club, Deportivo Italchacao, Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club and Petare Fútbol Club) is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C ...
, the latter having its title aspirations severed by the team in both the Apertura and Clausura.


First international participation

On May 9, 2010, the team sealed its qualification for the
2010 Copa Sudamericana The 2010 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2010 Copa Nissan Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of CONMEBOL's secondary international club tournament. The winner qualified for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, t ...
, after placing fourth in the 2009–10 season's aggregate table, bringing back an international tournament to the Lara state after 44 years when Lara FC did so in 1966 but in the
Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
back then. ACD Lara played their first leg at home on August 17 against Colombia's Santa Fe at the Estadio Metropolitano de Cabudare with a favorable outcome for the local 2–0, and the second leg was held at El Campín in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
on Thursday August 26. There, the club could not maintain their lead and fell by the score of 4–0 leaving the competition with an aggregate score of 4–2 in favor of Santa Fe.


First title

In December 2010 the club hired coach German "Basílico" González, who brought a new coaching staff including Arturo Boyacá and Óscar Gil as technical assistants. After poor results González left the club, and Óscar Gil took the helm. Gil took over the club in Week 14 against
Estudiantes de Mérida Estudiantes (in English: ''students'') is the name of different sports clubs in the Spanish-speaking world: Argentina * Estudiantes de La Plata, sports club based in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province * Estudiantes de Buenos Aires, football club based ...
in which he took the win 1–0 at the Metropolitano de Cabudare stadium, then faced Caroní at Cachamay winning 0–3, then a defeat at home to
Monagas Monagas State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Monagas State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 905,443. Monagas State is surrounded by Sucre State in the north, Anzoátegui State in the ...
1–3 and finishing the tournament with a 0–4 win in a game played in Caracas. Previously, he had served as interim coach in the win against Yaracuyanos by a score of 1–4, which gave him one of the first joys to all Lara fans. But Gil decided not to stay for the upcoming season, although the Red & Black would not be too long without coach, since on June 3, 2011, coach Eduardo Saragó signed for three seasons with the club. That same day a press conference was held to open the club's new headquarters. This began a promising project, as it had taken in consideration the youth teams of the club, and there were transfers of experienced players such as
Miguel Mea Vitali Miguel Ángel Mea Vitali (born February 19, 1981, in Caracas) is a Venezuelan former football midfielder. Club career Mea Vitali started his career with Caracas FC in his home town. He has played professional football in several countries in Eur ...
,
Edgar Pérez Greco Édgar Fernando Pérez Greco (born 16 February 1982) is a Venezuelan Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is the current mana ...
, Rafael Castellín, David McIntosh, Vicente Suanno,
José Manuel Rey José Manuel Rey Cortegoso (born 20 May 1975) is a Venezuelan former footballer who played as a central defender, currently a manager. Known as ''Pokémon'' and ''Tetero'', and a free kick specialist, he represented mainly Caracas in a 20-year ...
, Norman Baquero, Marcelo Maidana, Bladimir Morales, and for a long-term project which made them long contracts. After a dream season, the Red & Black became overall champions of the 2011–12 Venezuelan Primera División after winning the 2011 Apertura unbeaten by beating
Mineros de Guayana Asociación Civil Club Deportivo Mineros de Guayana, known as Mineros de Guayana or simply Mineros, is a professional football club based in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. History The Colegio Loyola Gumilla's field, located in Puerto Ordaz, was us ...
with a 5–1 score, and also winning the 2012 Clausura by defeating Mineros de Guayana again, this time by a 1–0 score. Thus, ACD Lara closed the season as the third team in Venezuelan football history to win both tournaments in a season (after
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
did so in 2003–04 and
Unión Atlético Maracaibo Club Unión Atlético Maracaibo (usually called Maracaibo) was a professional club founded in 2001 and the club had one First Division title in the professional era. The club was based in Maracaibo. Titles Domestic *Primera División Venezolana ...
who did it in 2004–05) and the first team to do so since the expansion of teams in 2007, with an accumulated campaign of 25 wins, 8 draws and just one loss, accumulating 83 points (record of points obtained in a Venezuelan football season), which allowed them to obtain qualification for both the
2012 Copa Sudamericana The 2012 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2012 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by ...
and the
2013 Copa Libertadores The 2013 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2013 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 54th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organize ...
. Due to family issues, Eduardo Saragó decided not to continue in charge of the team, and his assistant Lenín Bastidas was promoted to head coach in the hopes of guaranteeing the long-term success of the process started with Saragó.


First economic crisis and success in short tournaments

After the end of the 2011–12 season, the club started experiencing financial problems due to an investigation opened on Arid García, owner of the club at the moment, which made it accumulate a debt of 30 million bolívars. In spite of the situation, the team's on-field performances were still positive, and the club was eventually taken over by the Lara state government, which stabilized the club's financial situation and later sold it to businessman Énder Luzardo in 2013. Coach Rafael Dudamel was appointed as manager for the 2014 Clausura tournament, and with him at the helm ACD Lara made it to the Serie Sudamericana in 2015 and also advanced to the final of the
2015 Copa Venezuela The 2015 Copa Venezuela was the 46th staging of the Copa Venezuela. The winner qualified for the 2016 Copa Sudamericana. First round *Teams entering this round: 2 teams from Venezuelan Primera División and 12 teams from Venezuelan Segunda Divisi ...
, which they lost against
Deportivo La Guaira Deportivo La Guaira (formerly known as Real Esppor) is a professional football club promoted to the Venezuelan league in 2009, based in La Guaira but playing its home games in Caracas at the Estadio Olímpico de la UCV. History Real Esppor The ...
, whilst in that same year they made it to the knockout stage of the 2015 Adecuación tournament, losing to that same team in the quarter-finals. Dudamel left the team in 2016, after being appointed as
Venezuela national football team The Venezuela national football team (), nicknamed ''La Vinotinto'' ("The Red Wine"), represents Venezuela in men's FIFA, international association football, football and is controlled by the Venezuelan Football Federation, Federación Venezola ...
coach. In that same year, Luzardo transferred his shares in the club to Jorge Giménez and Silvio Ochoa, who brought Leonardo González as new manager. With González at the helm, Deportivo Lara advanced to the final stages of the 2016 Clausura and the
Copa Venezuela The Copa Venezuela () is the national cup football competition of Venezuela. Organized by the Venezuelan Football Federation, it is contested in the second half of the season by the teams in the Primera División and Segunda División, excluding ...
semifinals, and won the 2017 Clausura tournament, defeating
Mineros de Guayana Asociación Civil Club Deportivo Mineros de Guayana, known as Mineros de Guayana or simply Mineros, is a professional football club based in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. History The Colegio Loyola Gumilla's field, located in Puerto Ordaz, was us ...
in the final. The victory in the Clausura qualified ACD Lara for the season's Serie Final, where they faced the Apertura winners
Monagas Monagas State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Monagas State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 905,443. Monagas State is surrounded by Sucre State in the north, Anzoátegui State in the ...
. Despite having won the first leg in Maturín by a 1–0 score, Deportivo Lara were denied their second Primera División title as Monagas won the second leg at the Estadio Metropolitano de Cabudare by a 2–0 score. The runner-up finish in the 2017 season allowed Deportivo Lara to qualify for the group stage of the
2018 Copa Libertadores The 2018 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 59th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. River Plate defeated Boca Juniors in ...
, where they placed last in their group despite getting two wins at home against Independiente and Colombian side
Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club, known simply as Millonarios, is a Colombian professional football club based in Bogotá, that competes in the Categoría Primera A, top flight of football in Colombia. It is one of the most successful and iconic clubs i ...
. In
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
Deportivo Lara once again won the Clausura tournament, beating Deportivo La Guaira in the final, but ended up as season runners-up again after losing the Serie Final to Zamora, and in
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
they defeated
Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
to claim third place in the season.


Second crisis and hiatus

In July 2021 Jorge Giménez was elected as president of the
Venezuelan Football Federation The Venezuelan Football Federation ( or FVF) is the governing body of Association football, football in Venezuela. It was founded in 1925 and affiliated in 1952. It is a member of CONMEBOL as well as FIFA, and is in charge of the Venezuela nat ...
(FVF) and left the club, being replaced by Daniel Villasmil, who in turn passed the baton to Khalil Yusef in March 2022. The club began to fall behind in its payments, while at the same time the situation on the field was not much better as the team drifted through the bottom of the table in the league season. Manager Eduardo Saragó, who returned to the club after being signed in July, resigned just one week after taking over upon noticing the financial situation of the club's players. Saragó was replaced by Jesús Ortiz, with whom Deportivo Lara started a comeback that allowed them to avoid relegation and also qualify for the final stages of the competition, narrowly missing out on a
Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...
berth. By the start of 2023, and with ACD Lara's debts already totaling more than a million
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
and some of the club's players and staff announcing their departure, club president Yusef agreed to hand over the administration of the club to the Lara state government until a new owner could be found. However, that debt played a major factor in leading the FVF to refuse granting ACD Lara the club license required to compete in the 2023 Primera División season. The club did not enter any competition for the 2023 season, due to its administrative issues. ACD Lara remained on hiatus in 2024, but the club's return to professional activity starting from the 2025 season was announced on 11 December 2024 at a press conference held at the Estadio Metropolitano de Cabudare and led by
Jose Antonio Quintero José Antonio Quintero Oliveros (Barquisimeto, Lara; March 17, 1988) is a publicist, former professional soccer referee and sports executive. He is currently vice president of the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol (FVF). Education He has a TS ...
as new club chairman. Quintero announced that the club's administrative and legal issues were being solved and the club's debts were being paid as a mandatory requirement to apply for a license that would allow the club to play at professional level once again.


Recent seasons


Titles

*
Primera División Venezolana Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...
**Professional Era (1):
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...


Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

*
Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
: 3 appearances ::2013: Group Stage ::2018: Group Stage ::2019: Group Stage *
Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...
: 3 appearances ::2010: First Round ::2012: First Round ::2013: First Round


Current squad


Out on loan


Managers

* Jaime de la Pava (July 1, 2007 – Dec 31, 2007) * Germán González (Dec 14, 2010 – May 1, 2012) * Eduardo Saragó (July 1, 2011 – Dec 12, 2012) * Lenín Bastidas (Dec 24, 2012 – Dec 31, 2013) * Rafael Dudamel (Dec 15, 2013–15) * Alí Cañas (Ene 1– 2016 – July 26, 2017 ) * Leo González (July 31, 2017 – Dec 20, 2020) * Martín Brignani (Jan 25, 2021 – )


See also

*
Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; ), or Liga Venezolana (; ) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. Format Starting i ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ACD Lara Association football clubs established in 2009 Football clubs in Venezuela 2009 establishments in Venezuela