# Ayacucho FC

Ayacucho Fútbol Club, more popularly known as Ayacucho, is a Peruvian professional football club located in Ayacucho, Peru. The club won a Second Division title in 2006, and as Inti Gas, the club finished as runner-up in 2008. The club currently participates in the Peruvian Primera División, after being reinstated by winning a judicial battle against the Peruvian Football Federation.
Ayacucho has had many name and location changes. Some of its former names are Aurora Miraflores, Olímpico San Luis, Olímpico Somos Peru, Olímpico Aurora Miraflores, Loreto and Inti Gas. It officially changed its name to Ayacucho FC in 2014. The team also has a women's football club that participates in the Primera División Femenina.

## History
### Beginnings

Ayacucho FC, then known as Olímpico San Luis, was promoted to the Second Division in 2000. The following year they changed the club name to Olímpico Somos Peru. In 2004 they won the Second Division and played in the finals of the Copa Perú to gain promotion, however they lost to Deportivo Municipal in the quarter-finals. Beginning in 2006, they officially changed their name to Olímpico Aurora Miraflores.

### Real Loreto

In 2007, the club moved their home ground to Iquitos in order to increase their fanbase, and was renamed as Real Loreto FC. They failed to gain a large amount of support from Iquitos and for 2008 they returned to Lima.

### Inti Gas

In 2008, the club received sponsorship from the gas provider Inti Gas. They relocated to Huamanga, Ayacucho but they decided to play their home games in Ica because another Second Division team already had their home ground in Ayacucho and security issues that have risen. They were runners-up of the 2008 Second Division and were promoted to the 2009 First Division. Ayacucho has recently sought to permanently keep the club in its city.

### Ayacucho

In 2014, they officially changed their name to Ayacucho FC. 2020 brought the start of Ayacucho's golden age. The club placed 9th in the Torneo Apertura, of the 2020 season, but won the Torneo Clausura for the first time, after beating Sporting Cristal in the Fase 2 final. However, because both teams drawed on points, they entered the semi-finals of play-offs, against Sporting Cristal again. This time, Ayacucho lost 2–6 on aggregate, and placed third in the league. They would qualify for the Copa Libertadores for the first time but were eliminated by Grêmio in the second stage.
In the 2021 season, Ayacuhco barely qualified for the Copa Sudamericana and qualified for the Group Stage, after defeating Sport Boys in the first stage. Ayacucho placed third is its group and was eliminated.
2022 would start the downfall of Ayacucho. In the Torneo Apertura of the 2022 season, Ayacucho placed last. On the aggregate table, they placed 17th, going to the relegation play-off, their only hope in staying in the Liga 1. Ayacucho played with Unión Comercio, and lost 3–0 in the first leg but came back 2–1 in the second but still lost 2–4 on aggregate, getting relegated to the Liga 2, where they currently still stand.

## Stadium

Ayacucho mainly plays their home matches in the Estadio Ciudad de Cumaná located in Ayacucho, Huamanga, Peru. The stadium has a capacity of 12,000. The club's second stadium for home matches is the Estadio Municipal de Huanta located in Huanta, Peru, and has a capacity of 10,000.

## Current squad

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 | Paolo Izaguirre |
| 2 | DF | PAR | Gustavo Navarro |
| 3 | DF | PER | Manuel Ganoza |
| 4 | DF | PER | Alonso Yovera |
| 5 | DF | PER | Alonso Tamariz |
| 6 | MF | PER | Jime Tuesta |
| 7 | FW | PAR | Marcelo Ferreira |
| 8 | MF | PER | Diego Ramírez |
| 9 | FW | PER | Jiries Salem |
| 10 | MF | PER | Marvin Ríos (Captain) |
| 11 | FW | PER | Yamir Ruidíaz |
| 12 | DF | PER | Dylan Caro |
| 14 | FW | PER | Gustavo Loayza |
| 15 | FW | PER | Piero Ratto |
| 16 | MF | PER | Jean Pier Vílchez |
| 17 | FW | PER | Joao Villamarín |
| 18 | MF | PAR | Derlis Orué |
| 19 | MF | PER | Carlos Uribe |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | PER | Carlos Correa |
| 21 | GK | PER | Fabián Palomino |
| 22 | DF | VEN | Jonathan Bilbao |
| 23 | GK | COL | Juan Valencia |
| 24 | FW | URU | Maximiliano Pérez |
| 25 | DF | PER | José Ataupillco |
| 26 | DF | PER | Hans Aquino |
| 27 | FW | PER | Kenyi Barrios |
| 29 | DF | PER | Jean Franco Falconí |
| 31 | DF | PER | Cesar Simon |
| 33 | FW | PER | Royer Salcedo |
| 66 | MF | PER | Adrián de la Cruz |
| 77 | FW | COL | Juan Lucumí |
| 80 | DF | PER | Franco Medina |
| — | GK | PER | Oscar Cabrera |
| — | DF | PER | Sthefano Muñoz |
| — | MF | PER | Adrián Rojas |

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

* Record
* $^{(s)}$ Shared record
| Type | Competition | Titles | Runner-up | Winning years | Runner-up years |
| National (League) | Segunda División | 2 | 1 | 2004, 2005 | 2008 |
| Half-year / Short tournament (League) | Torneo Clausura | 1 | — | 2020 | — |
| Regional (League) | Liga Provincial de Lima | 1 | — | 1999 | — |
| Regional (League) | Liga Distrital de San Luis | 2 | — | 1988, 1999 | — |

### Under-20 team

| Type | Competition | Titles | Runner-up | Winning years | Runner-up years |
| National (League) | Torneo de Promoción y Reserva | — | 1 | — | 2022 |

## Results
### Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

* Copa Sudamericana: 4 appearances
       2012: First Stage
       2013: First Stage
       2014: First Stage
       2022: Group stage
* Copa Libertadores: 1 appearance
       2021: Second Stage

## Managers

* Édgar Ospina 2009
* José Torres 2010
* Édgar Ospina 2010–2012
* César Tabárez 2013
* Rolando Chilavert 2013–2014
* Carlos Leeb 2014–2015
* Freddy García 2015
* Hugo Iervasi 2015
* Nolberto Tullo 2015
* Édgar Ospina 2015–2016
* Carlos Leeb 2016
* Francisco Melgar 2017
* Carlos Leeb 2017–2018
* Duilio Cisneros 2018
* Mario Viera 2018–2019
* Gerardo Ameli 2020
* Walter Fiori 2021
* Alejandro Apud 2022
* Marcelo Vivas 2022
* Édgar Ospina 2022
* Oseias de Souza 2023

## Other sports
### Women's football

| Type | Competition | Titles | Runner-up | Winning years | Runner-up years |
| Regional (League) | Región VI | 1 | — | 2018 | — |