Verdes F.C. (''previously Hankook Verdes'') is a Belizean association football club which competes in the Premier League of Belize. They are currently based in

San Ignacio, Belize San Ignacio and Santa Elena are towns in western Belize. San Ignacio serves as the cultural-economic hub of Cayo District. It got its start from mahogany and chicle production during British colonisation. Over time it attracted people from the su ...

, a town situated in the district of Cayo,

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. The club was established in 1976 as Real Verdes Football Club and changed their name to Hankook Verdes in 2004. They are now known only as Verdes F.C, locally being called only Verdes. The club is one of the oldest active professional football teams in Belize and has been in existence since the inception of the Football Federation of Belize. Their home games are played at Norman Broaster Stadium. The club has established an excellent reputation for the development of many past and current members of the Belize national football team, despite not having won any club championships at the national level until 2008. Verdes F.C. had previously won the amateur Belize National Football Association championship in 1986. In 2004, Hankook Verdes F.C. announced that they would opt out of the Belize Premier Football League due to unprofessional conduct, including late arrivals by officials and the other team, prior to a match against Kulture Yabra. Verdes F.C.'s recent league championships include the opening season of the 2019–20 Premier League of Belize and both seasons of the 2021–22 FFB Top League, where they went undefeated. The club would later win the 2022–23 Closing season. In 1985, Verdes F.C. was the first team to represent

in the

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

. They have appeared in eight editions of the competition and twice in its successor, the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

. Throughout the history of Belizean football, Verdes F.C. has represented its country more than any other club in Belize. The list of

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

opponents includes professional teams such as

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

(

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

); Real España, Platense, Pumas UNAH (

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, ...

); Xelajú,

Municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, is a professional association football, football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala, Liga Nacional, th ...

, (

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 ...

);

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

); and Luis Ángel Firpo (

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

); Arcahaie (

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

). Verdes F.C. has the most UNCAF Club Tournament appearances of any Belize football club. Verdes F.C. appeared in three consecutive editions of the

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 ...

from 2020 to 2022 and were the second Belizean club to participate in the tournament. Their first attempt in 2020 was halted by a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

outbreak among the players and the need to quarantine in Panama rather than being able to transit to the

venue in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. Their preliminary round match was cancelled and their opponents, Haitian side Arcahaie FC, was awarded a 3–0

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

victory. In 2022, they became the first Belizean club to win a competitive series in the competition.

Honours

* Belize Premier Football League/ Premier League of Belize **Champions (8): 2007–08, 2014–15 Closing, 2017–18 Opening, 2019–20 Opening, 2021-22 Opening, 2021–22 Closing, 2022–23 Closing, 2024–25 Closing

Performance in International competitions

CONCACAF Champions' Cup and Champions League

CONCACAF League

* Copa Interclubes UNCAF: 4 appearances *::Best: First Round in 1995, 1999, 2006 *::1993: Preliminary Round *::1994: Preliminary Round *::1995: First Round *::1999: First Round *::2006: First Round

CONCACAF League

International level

* ''As of 21 August 2015'' * ''Friendly matches not included.'' * ''Games decided by penalty shootout are counted as ties.'' As 6 June 2024

Current squad

Notable former players

* Erwin Contreras (Captain, Belize national football team, 1990–93) * Jorge García (Captain, Belize national football team, 1994–97)

Managers

Real Verdes

* Antonio Carlos Vieira

Verdes Hancock

* Nayo Waight (2005) * Ramon Cayoc (2008)

Verdes FC

* Alberto Rafael "Chapay" Contreras (1980s-1990s) * Walter Salazar (2013) * Pablo Cacho (2014–15) * Walter Salazar (2015–2017) * Marvin Ottley (2017–) * Martín Dimas Dall'orso (2019–2021) * David Pérez Asensio (July 2021 – March 2023) * Angel Orellana (April 2023 - July 2023

* José Migallón (July 2023 - - ''Present'')

References

External links

Hankook Verdes
at the official league website {{Premier League of Belize Football clubs in Belize Association football clubs established in 1976 1976 establishments in Belize