Club de Fútbol Motagua (), formerly Club Deportivo Motagua up to 2017, is a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club, located in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa ( )—formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz''—is the capital and largest city of Honduras along with its sister city, Comaya ...

, capital of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. F.C. Motagua was founded as ''Club Deportivo Motagua'' on 29 August 1928. The club competes in the Honduran top division playing its home games at the

Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés The Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés () is a multi-purpose stadium in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It is used mostly for association football matches. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 and is the home of football clubs F.C. Motagua, Motagua and C.D. ...

. The club is one of the most successful and renowned in Honduras.

History

The club was founded on 29 August 1928. Three previous clubs, América, Honduras Atlética and Águila, were in the process of falling apart. Marco Antonio Ponce and Marco Antonio Rosa called a meeting and proposed that the clubs unite to form a new club, Motagua (named for a nearby river). After the success of the meeting, a board of directors was appointed. The first game was played on 25 November 1928, against Tejeros del España at La Isla. Constantine Gálvez "Tatino" was the captain and Daniel Bustillo was the manager. The team fought to a 1–1 draw. The first international game was played on 9 April 1939 against Costa Rican side Orión at the San Felipe field in

; Motagua were managed by Honduran coach Lurio Martínez and won the match 3–0 with three goals from ''"Gorgojo"'' Ramos.

Professional Era

The team debuted professionally in the 1965–66 season. It took them only three years to win their first-ever championship. Under the leadership of manager Rodolfo Godoy, Motagua surged past two-time defending champions Olimpia to win the 1968–69 title, with 39 points to the Olimpia's 36. Godoy's club completed the double that season by winning the first-ever Honduran Cup. This was the beginning of a long run at or near the top of the table for Motagua; they finished second behind Olimpia in 1969–70, then won the 1970–71 crown. That last season ended with Motagua and Olimpia level on points, with Motagua hoisting the crown on goal difference. They would likely have won a third championship in

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

, as they led the table halfway through the season. However, the season was cancelled at its midway point, and the records expunged. The rest of the 1970s remained a good time for Motagua. They won titles in 1973–74 and 1978–79, while finishing second in 1974–75 and 1976–77. The club had become established as one of the nation's strongest, and when the

Honduras national football team The Honduras national football team () represents Honduras in men's international football. The team is governed by the Federación de Fútbol de Honduras (). They are nicknamed ''Los Catrachos'', ''La Bicolor,'' or ''La H''. Honduras has qu ...

qualified to the World Cup Finals, they featured five Motagua players. However, the 1980s were not as strong. Between 1979 and 1992, the club was locked out of the Honduran crown. It wasn't until the end of the 1991–92 season that the drought was over. They claimed that title by beating Real España 1–0 in the championship playoffs. With the drought broken, Motagua began winning titles regularly. They claimed the Honduran Cup in 1993 and 1995, then claimed an unexpected championship in the 1998 Apertura, beating Real España 5–2 on aggregate in the championship final. They repeated as champions that October, beating Olimpia 1–0. They did it again in 1999–2000, beating Olimpia on penalties in both the Apertura and Clausura finals. They added another title in the 2002 Apertura, beating Marathón on penalties in a thrilling 5–3 shootout. After a drought of nearly five years, Motagua returned to the top with a title in the 2006 Apertura (over Olimpia) and 2011 Clausura (again over Olimpia). In 2013, a new golden age began. Diego Vásquez, a veteran Honduran keeper who had played in two stints for Motagua, took over. In just his second full season, Vasquez steered Motagua to the 2014 Apertura crown, beating Real Sociedad 2–1 in the championship final (Rubilio Castillo's header was the winner). Three near misses followed, but in 2016–2017, Vasquez would lead the team to new heights. It started with the 2016 Apertura. After taking 4th in the regular season, Motagua battled their way through the quarterfinals and semi-finals (beating Olimpia). Then they held off Platense 2–1 on aggregate to win the Apertura title. In the Clausura, they finished 2nd in the regular season, then stormed to the title, crushing Honduras Progreso 7–1 on aggregate. Vasquez, who remains Motagua's manager, is the longest tenured manager in the history of Honduras's top-flight; he has managed 200 consecutive matches with Las Aguilas. Overall, between both amateur and professional seasons, Motagua has won 27 titles. They have won 16 professional titles. The club has participated in all Honduran top division seasons since its inception in 1965 and is one of the few unrelegated teams.

The club

Colours and badges

Motagua's traditional colour is dark blue representing the blue waters of the

Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the Western Highlands of Guatemala and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The Motagua River basin covers an area of and is the largest in Guatemala. The Motagua Riv ...

. This is because at the time the club was founded, the Motagua River was in dispute between

and

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. Since 2011, Motagua has worn pink jerseys for all their games during the month of October for

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Breast Cancer Awareness Month (BCAM), also referred to in the United States as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awaren ...

. The Motagua badge has a blue

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

. This is because one of the three clubs that united to become Motagua was named CD Águila, or Eagle in Spanish.

Stadium

Motagua plays their home matches at

. The stadium is named after Honduran football player and manager Chelato Uclés. The stadium is divided into ''Sol Norte, Sol Sur, Sol Centro, Preferencia, Silla'' and ''Palco''. The Motaguan supporters "''La Revo''" are located at ''Sol Norte'' and the "''Macro Azurra''" sits in ''Sol Centro''.

Traditions

There are some traditions within the Motagua institution. Debuting players– When a new player debuts, he must shave his head. This is optional, most of the players that do shave are recently promoted from the reserve team or are young of age.

Supporters

Motagua has many supporters throughout Honduras. Motagua has one

Barra Brava () is the name of organized supporters' groups of association football, football teams in Hispanic America that provides fanatical support to their clubs in stadiums and provoke violence against rival fans as well as against the police. Actio ...

and three other supporters' groups. The barra brava is " Los Revolucionarios del Motagua 1928", who call themselves "La Revo". This fan group has "bandas" or smaller groups inside La Revo such as (from

) "Los Fuser", "Los Dementes", "Escuadron 57", "Comando 21", "Los Poltershe", "Irreverentes", "Capone", "Infernales", "Danger's", "Anarkia", etc. (from

Comayagua Comayagua () is a city, municipality and old capital of Honduras, located northwest of Tegucigalpa on the highway to San Pedro Sula and above sea level. The accelerated growth experienced by the city of Comayagua led the municipal authoriti ...

) "C26", (from

San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 701, ...

) "Los Del Norte", (from

La Ceiba La Ceiba () is a municipality, the capital of the Honduran department of Atlántida (department), Atlántida, and a port city on the northern Caribbean coast in Honduras. It forms part of the southeastern boundary of the Gulf of Honduras. With ...

) "Revo Ceiba", (from Choluteca) "Revo Choluteca", (from

El Progreso El Progreso () is a city, with a population of 120,600 (2023 calculation), and a municipality located in the Honduran Departments of Honduras, department of Yoro (department), Yoro. Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport of San Pedro Su ...

) "Revo Progreso", (from

Siguatepeque Siguatepeque () is a city and municipality in the Departments of Honduras, Honduran department of Comayagua Department, Comayagua. The city has a population of 79,520 (2023 calculation). History Founded by the Spanish in 1689 as a religious ce ...

) "Revo Sigua". All of the "bandas" hang "mantas" or huge pieces of cloth saying their banda's name inside the stadium. They also hang one with the barra's website and many of

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

. Matches from Motagua against Olimpia it's illegal to hang these mantas because some of the members go to steal them and cause great scandal so police prefer banning this. La Revo don't cause many scandals between other barras bravas in Honduras only with Olimpia's Ultra Fiel. Throughout 2006–07 La Revo had problems with Marathon's Furia Verde but they came to peace under the same belief in all of Honduras. "Por Una Honduras Libre De Chucos" which translates to "For a Honduras free of Dirtbags" (Chucos being Olimpia). Marathon, Real España and Motagua's barra bravas all have a manta with this phrase. Another of the biggest fan group is named "Macro Azurra" which is supported by the club. They can be easily be spotted in the stadium because they generally always have blue ballons. This group is bigger in the northern territory and is sponsored by the club and by FedEx There are also two smaller groups one being "Fortaleza Azul" and "JAH" which stands for "Justicia Amor y Humildad" which means "Justice Love and Humbleness". JAH is a religious based fan group which was founded by seven members of the Jehová es Nuestro Pastor church. JAH say that their trips are paid by God.

Sponsorship

Rivalries

Superclásico

''El Clasico Capitalino'' (The Capital's Classic) or ''Superclásico Hondureño'' (Honduran Super Classic) is played between Motagua and

Club Deportivo Olimpia Club Deportivo Olimpia is a professional association football in Honduras, Honduran football club based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán Department, Francisco Morazán. The club is the nation's most successful team both ...

. Their matches are also known as El Clasico Local (The Local Classic) in Tegucigalpa. There is a huge rivalry between the clubs and their fans; (''La Ultra Fiel'' f Olimpiaand ''La Revo'' f Motagua.

Clásico de las M's

''El Clásico de las M's'' (The M's Classic) or ''El Derbi de las M's'' (The M's Derby), is a derby football match played between Motagua from

and C.D. Marathón from

, two of the most successful and popular football teams in

Motagua–Real España

The Motagua–

Real España Real may refer to: Currencies * Argentine real * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Nature and science * Reality, the state of things as they exist, rath ...

derby is not as fierce as the other two already mentioned as these both teams have a good relationship with each other from the players, to the board and the fans; however they had played seven intense league finals, four won by Real España and three by Motagua. It is one of the most even all-time series in the league.

Short Lived

One smaller rivalry, which might be called extinct, was against Universidad (also known as UNAH). The club named Universidad, represented the Honduran National Autonomous University in

, and therefore shared the city with Motagua. This inspired a local derby until UNAH was relocated to Choluteca. UNAH, in various occasions left Motagua out of the play-offs, intensifying the rivalry. This derby can now be called extinct since Universidad were relegated to the

Liga de Ascenso Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Ameri ...

. The club was eventually sold to, and renamed, ''Universidad Pedagogica Nacional-Francisco Morázan'' (also known as UPNFM) (National Pedagogical University- Francisco Morázan).

Honours

Motagua is the second most successful club in

having won 19 domestic leagues since the inauguration of the Honduran Liga Nacional in 1965–66.

Domestic

* Honduran Liga Nacional ** Winners (19): 1968–69, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1991–92, 1997–98 A, 1997–98 C, 1999–2000 A, 1999–2000 C, 2001–02 A, 2006–07 A, 2010–11 C, 2014–15 A, 2016–17 A, 2016–17 C, 2018–19 A, 2018–19 C, 2021–22 C, 2024–25 A ** Runners-up (16): 1969–70, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1982–83, 1990–91, 1993–94, 2002–03 C, 2007–08 A, 2009–10 C, 2014–15 C, 2015–16 A, 2017–18 A, 2017–18 C,

2020–21 C The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2022–23 A The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2023–24 A *

Honduran Cup The Honduran Cup was the top knock-out Association football, football tournament in Honduras. The first tournament was played in 1968 Honduran Cup, 1968, four years later the second tournament took the name ''Copa Presidente'' () in honor of Dr. R ...

** Winners (1):

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

** Runners-up (4):

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Honduran Supercup The Honduran Supercup is a Honduran football competition held yearly as a preseason match between the reigning champions of the Liga Nacional and the Honduran Cup. The competition started unofficially in 1997, but was discontinued after just tw ...

** Winners (2):

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

*Amateur era ** Honduran Amateur League:

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, 1950–51 ** Francisco Morazán Major League: 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1954

International

Continental

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The compet ...

** Runners-up (3):

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Regional

UNCAF Interclub Cup The UNCAF Interclub Cup was an annual international football competition held in the Union Centroamericana de Fútbol, UNCAF region (Central America). The competition was open to the leading domestic club teams in the region. The winners of each n ...

** Winners (1):

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Friendly

* Copa Corona del Rosal (1): 1968 * Copa Burra Rivas (1): 2014 * Copa Amistad Padre Alberto Gauci (1): 2015 * Copa Ciclón (1): 2015

Records

Performance by year

International performance

League records

* ''As of 2021–22'' * ''Click 'show' to expand details''

All time top scorers

* As of 2024–25 Apertura

All-time record vs. opponents

Domestic level

International level

* ''Updated 30 October 2024'' * ''Friendly matches not included.'' * ''Games decided by penalty shootout are counted as ties.''

Current season

Squad

First-team squad

Reserve team

On loan

Retired numbers

16 – Edy Vásquez, retired for 2 years (2007–09) in memorian of Edy Vásquez's death. 20 –

Amado Guevara Amado Guevara (born 2 May 1976) is a Honduran former professional footballer and manager. He was the coach of Puerto Rico from 2018 to 2019. A former midfielder, he is the second all-time cap leader for the Honduras national team seconded by ...

, retired.

Current technical staff

Former presidents

Former managers

* Horacio Brummer (1964) * Ernesto Henríquez (1965) * Rodolfo Godoy (1966–67, 1969) * Juan Colechio (1968) * José Herrera (1969) * Carlos Padilla (1970–74) * Ángel Rodríguez (1976) * Hermes Romero (1977) *

Néstor Matamala Néstor Rodrigo Matamala Molina (13 October 1940 – 6 May 2023) was a Chilean football manager and youth football team owner and teacher/trainer for Academia de Fútbol Nestor R. Matamala and FC Juventud Henerma. Managerial career Néstor Rod ...

(1978) * Rodolfo Godoy (1980) * José Materas (1981) * Carlos Padilla (1982, 1983–90) * Óscar Nolasco (1985) * Rubén Guifarro (1985–87) * Gonzalo Zelaya (1987) * Carlos Jurado (1990) * Ángel Rodríguez (1991–93) * Roberto Abruzzesse (1993) *

Ramón Maradiaga Ramón Enrique Maradiaga Chávez (born 30 October 1954) is a retired Honduran football player and manager. Club career Nicknamed ''Primitivo'' (Primitive), Maradiaga has played as a midfielder amongst others for F.C. Motagua as well as Salv ...

(1993–95) * Carlos Jurado (1995–96) * Ernesto Luzardo (1996) *

(1997–99) * José Treviño (1999–00) * Luis "Chito" Reyes (2000) * Óscar Benítez (2000–01) * Óscar "Cocli" Salgado (2001) * Julio González (2001) *

Gilberto Yearwood Gilberto Jerónimo Yearwood (born 15 March 1956) is a Honduran former football player who currently is an Assistant coach of the El Salvador national football team. He is by many regarded as one of Honduras' best players of all time. Club care ...

(2001–02) * Alejandro Domínguez (2003) * Hernaín Arzú (2003) * Flavio Ortega (2004) * Edwin Pavón (2005) * Javier Padilla (2005) * Germán Cornejo (2005) *

(2006–07) * Jorge Pineda (2008) * Reynaldo Clavasquín (2008) * Jaime de la Pava (2008–09) * Juan Castillo (2009) *

(July 2009 – Sept 11) * Luis "Chito" Reyes (2011) * José Treviño (Sept 2011–12) * Reynaldo Clavasquín (2012–13) * Juan Castillo (2013) *

Risto Vidaković Risto Vidaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Pиcтo Bидaкoвић; born 5 January 1969) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player. He spent his playing career as a centre-back for Yugoslav clubs Sarajevo and Red Star Belgrade before ...

(2013) * Milton Reyes (2013) * Diego Vásquez (2014– February 2022) * César "Nene" Obando (February 2022- March 2022) * Hernán "La Tota" Medina (March 2022- 2023) * Ninrol Medina (2023) * César Vigevani (September 2023 - 'Present')

Notable former players

''See also :F.C. Motagua players''

References

External links

*
LaRevo1928
– official supporters' site (archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Motagua Football clubs in Honduras Football clubs in Tegucigalpa Association football clubs established in 1928 1928 establishments in Honduras Unrelegated association football clubs M