# Deportivo Municipal

Club Centro Deportivo Municipal, commonly known as Deportivo Municipal, is a Peruvian football club based in Lima, Peru. They are among Peru's most recognizable clubs and enjoy considerable popularity. The bulk of their success came a few years after the club was founded in 1935. The club was a top-flight contender during this period and won four Primera División titles. The club suffered relegation three times in their history: 1967, 2000, and 2007. They have also been champions of the Segunda División on three occasions: 1968, 2006, and 2014, granting them promotion to the first division. They currently play in the Peruvian Tercera División.
Deportivo Municipal was one of the first Peruvian clubs to participate in a South American international football competition. In 1948, they were invited to the South American Championship of Champions and finished fourth where clubs from seven of the then nine CONMEBOL football associations participated.

## History
### Beginnings

Club Centro Deportivo Municipal was founded upon the initiative of three municipal directors of Lima, who intended to have a football team representing the municipality of the city. Thus Círculo Deportivo Municipal was formed, which in 1934 merged with another team to create Centro Deportivo Municipal, participating in the promotion tournament in 1935.
The club was officially founded on 27 July 1935 in the Municipality of Lima. After finishing second in the promotion tournament, the team won the right to play in the Primera División in 1936, and obtained its first national title in 1938.

### Golden era

Deportivo Municipal's win in 1938 began the clubs golden era. In the 1940 Peruvian Primera División, the title was in contention between Deportivo Municipal, Universitario, Alianza Lima, and Atlético Chalaco. Deportivo Municipal faced Atlético Chalaco in the final match where a victory was needed to secure the title. Municipal gave Atlético Chalaco a full-throttle performance with goals from Magán and Quiñónez, then Cabrejos and 'Tito' Drago, sealed the 4-1 victory, securing them the title for the second time.
After obtaining their second title, Deportivo Municipal gave a masterclass in Peruvian football by achieving two resounding victories against the famous Boca Juniors of Argentina. During this glorious era, the trio that would become history in Peruvian football was born, the "Tres Gatitos" (Three Kittens), who should have actually been four due to the magnificent contribution of 'Titina' Castillo. Municipal won their third national title in 1943 and fourth in 1950. They were runners-up in 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, and 1951.

### Relegation and downfall

Deportivo Municipal was relegated in 1967, and promoted again in 1968, obtaining their first Second Division title. During this time, the historic player Hugo Sotil arrived to the senior team after being in the Deportivo Municpal youth clubs, helping Municipal return to the First Division. Hugo Sotil became one of Deportivo Municipal's most historic players.

### Present

The club stayed in the top category until 2000, when it ended last in the season. The team was relegated to the Segunda División, where it played until 2006, when promotion was achieved by winning the title with 45 points in 22 matches. They were relegated again in 2007 after a troublesome season with failing to pay its players for several months.
In the 2011 Torneo Intermedio, the club was eliminated by José Gálvez in the quarter-finals. It reached the national stage of the 2012 Copa Perú and was invited to play in the Segunda División once again.
On 2014, the club gained promotion to the Primera División Peruana for the first time in 7 years after beating Unión Huaral.

## Kits and crest

* 1935–1936

## Uniform

It consists of a white jersey with a red stripe that goes from left to right, blue shorts and white socks. Its alternative uniform varies, it has 3 options. The first one has a red jersey and keeps the blue shorts and white socks. The second alternative uniform keeps the red stripe on the jersey but instead of being white, it is blue. The shorts and socks are also blue. The third alternative uniform uses black instead of blue (as the 2nd choice) but also keeps the red stripe on the jersey. The home shirt's colors are reminiscent of the Peruvian national team, and it refers to the fact that the day of its foundation in 1935 was the day before Peruvian Independence Day.

### Kit evolution

| 1935–36 Old First kit | 1936–present Home | 1935–present Away | 1998 3° Away | 2007 3° Away |

## Stadium

Deportivo Municipal has employed the use of several stadiums throughout its history. Some of these grounds include the Estadio Nacional, Estadio Municipal de Chorrillos, Estadio Miguel Grau, Estadio Alejandro Villanueva, Estadio Universidad San Marcos and the former Estadio San Martín de Porres. Now, the Estadio Iván Elías Moreno located in the district of Villa El Salvador serves as the home stadium for Deportivo Municipal. The stadium has a capacity of 11,000 and has been regularly used to host finals of the Copa Perú.

## Current squad

    As of 28 November 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | PER | Steven Rivadeneyra |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Fernando Evangelista |
| 3 | DF | PER | Leonardo Rugel |
| 4 | DF | PER | Rotceh Aguilar |
| 5 | MF | ARG | Emiliano Ciucci |
| 6 | MF | PER | Kevin Peña |
| 7 | FW | PER | Fernando Pacheco (on loan from Sporting Cristal) |
| 8 | MF | ARG | Sebastián Jaurena |
| 9 | FW | PER | Luis Ramos |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Matías Pérez García |
| 12 | GK | PER | Aarom Fuentes |
| 14 | MF | PER | Jhosep Núñez |
| 15 | DF | PER | Francesco Cavagna |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | MF | PER | Diego Soto (on loan from Sporting Cristal) |
| 18 | FW | PER | Christian Flores |
| 20 | DF | PER | Anthony Quijano |
| 22 | DF | PER | Jair Céspedes |
| 24 | FW | PER | Christopher Olivares |
| 25 | DF | PER | Williams Guzmán |
| 26 | DF | PER | Jorge Toledo |
| 27 | FW | PER | Fabricio Rojas |
| 28 | MF | PER | Leonel Solís |
| 30 | GK | PER | Farihd Ortega |
| 32 | FW | ARG | Pablo Erustes |
| 33 | GK | PER | Carlos Solís |

## Honours
### Senior titles
#### Keys

* Record
* $^{(s)}$ Shared record
| Type | Competition | Titles | Runner-up | Winning years | Runner-up years |
| National (League) | Primera División | 4 | 8 | 1938, 1940, 1943, 1950 | 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1981 |
| National (League) | Segunda División | 3 | 1 | 1968, 2006, 2014 | 2004 |
| National (League) | Intermedia (1984–1987) | 1 | — | 1984 Intermedia A | — |
| National (League) | Primera División Unificada de Lima y Callao | 1 | — | 1936 | — |
| National (League) | Copa Perú | — | 1 | — | 2004 |
| Half-year / Short Tournament (League) | Torneo Regional | 1 | — | 1981 | — |
| Half-year / Short Tournament (League) | Campeonato de Apertura (ANA) | 3 | 2 | 1946, 1951, 1957 | 1948, 1950 |
| National (Cups) | Torneo Intermedio | 1 | — | 1993 | — |
| Regional (League) | División Intermedia (1926–1940) | — | 1 | — | 1935 |
| Regional (League) | Región IV | — | 1 | — | 2012 |
| Regional (League) | Liga Departamental de Lima | 1 | — | 2012 | — |
| Regional (League) | Liga Provincial de Lima | 1 | — | 2012 | — |
| Regional (League) | Liga Distrital de Breña | 1 | — | 2012 | — |
| Regional (League) | Liga Distrital de Cercado de Lima | 1 | — | 2011 | — |

### Friendlies

| Type | Competition | Titles | Runner-up | Winning years | Runner-up years |
| National (Cup) | Copa Callao | 1 | — | 2007 | — |

### Under-20 team

| Type | Competition | Titles | Runner-up | Winning years | Runner-up years |
| National (League) | Torneo Equipos de Reserva | 1 | — | 1937 | — |

## Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

* Copa Libertadores: 2 appearances
       1982: Group Stage
       2017: First Stage
* Copa Sudamericana: 2 appearances
       2016: First Stage
       2019: First Stage
* Copa de Campeones: 1 appearance
       1948: Fourth Place
* Copa Ganadores de Copa: 1 appearance
       1970: First Stage

## Notable players

* Fernando Martinuzzi (2007)
* Ángel Clemente Rojas (1972–73)
* Masakatsu Sawa (2007), (2014–17)
* Alfredo Carmona (1994–96)
* César Cueto (1974)
* Jefferson Farfán (1993–00)
* Raul Geller (1956–59)
* Eduardo Malásquez (1976–82), (1985)
* Máximo "Vides" Mosquera (1943–48)
* Franco Navarro (1980–82)
* "Tito" Drago (1940-1945, 1947-1951, 1953-1961, 1964-1965)
* Nicola Porcella (2008–09)
* Juan Seminario (1954–59)
* Nolberto Solano (1993)
* Hugo Sotil (1968–73), (1981–82)
* Jorge Soto (1990–92)
* José Soto (1987–92)
* Jerry Tamashiro (1994–96)

## Managers

* Juan Valdivieso (1955-1958)
* Roberto Drago (interim) (1959-1961)
* Juan Valdivieso (1962-1963)
* Emilio Palestini (1963)
* Juan Honores (1964)
* Roberto Drago (1965)
* Donato Hernández (1965)
* Luis Guzmán (1966)
* Roberto Reinoso (1967)
* Juan Mostorino (1967)
* Alejandro Heredia (1968)
* Roberto Drago (1969-1971)
* Alfredo Rojas (1972)
* Zózimo (1976)
* Juan Hohberg (1983)
* Ramón Quiroga (1990-1992)
* Julio César Uribe (1995)
* Agustín Castillo (1997-1999)
* Ramón Quiroga (1998)
* Hugo Sotil (1999)
* Horacio Raúl Baldessari (2000)
* Roberto Mosquera (2007)
* Héctor Chumpitaz (2012)
* Roberto Pompei (2015)
* Francisco Melgar [es] (2015-2016)
* Marcelo Grioni (2016-2017)
* Francisco Pizarro (2017)
* Gerardo Ameli (2017)
* Víctor Rivera (2017-2020)
* Franco Navarro (2020-2021)
* Julio Argote (2021)
* Hernán Lisi (2021-2022)
* Juan Pajuelo (2022)
* Ángel Comizzo (2023-)