Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian professional sports club, in the capital city of Lima. It is primarily known for its football club, which has competed in Liga 1, the top tier of Peruvian football, since 1928. Popularly known as Universitario, they are one the most successful teams in Peruvian football, with 29 titles, and have never been relegated. The club was founded on 7 August 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of San Marcos, but was forced to rename itself in 1931.
The club won its first Peruvian title in 1929, one year after its debut in the first division. The club won its first double in the 1945 and 1946 seasons and won its first treble after conquering the 2000 season. Since then, Universitario has won twenty-nine first-division titles and was the first Peruvian club, and the Pacific, to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores in 1972. Universitario is one of the two most popular teams in Peru. Universitario's youth team is U América FC which currently participates in the Copa Perú. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, an international organization recognized by FIFA, Universitario was the best Peruvian club of the 20th century and the 28th most successful in South America.
In the year 2000, they opened the 80,093-seat Estadio Monumental, currently the largest stadium in Peru and second-largest in South America, retiring their smaller Estadio Teodoro Lolo Fernández which was converted to a public training ground used by the club and the reserve team.
Universitario and Alianza Lima participate in the Peruvian Clásico, which has its roots in the club's first participation in the Peruvian Primera División in 1928. The rivalry is among the fiercest on the continent and is the oldest and largest rivalry in Peru. It also has rivalries with Sporting Cristal, Deportivo Municipal, and Sport Boys.
Universitario has the most important soccer infrastructure in Peru, with Estadio Monumental, Lolo Fernández and Campo Mar as venues to train and practice not just football but a variety of other sports.
Along with a men's football team, Universitario has a volleyball, futsal (indoor football), and women's football team. It also has a women's and men's football reserves team.
Contents
History
Foundation & early years (1924–1927)
The club was founded on 7 August 1924 as Federación Universitaria also known as "Federación Deportivo Universitaria" or "Federación Universitaria de Fútbol" (actual FEDUP) by students and professors of the National University of San Marcos such as José Rubio, the first president, and Luis Málaga, the creator of the club crest. Others present during the foundation were Plácido Galindo, Eduardo Astengo, Mario de las Casas, Alberto Denegri, Luis de Souza Ferreira and Andrés Rotta. At first, Federacion Universitaria was a small league that held tournaments between the faculty departments of the university.
The National Sports Committee (El Comité Nacional de Deportes)—the highest-ranking sports committee of Peru at the time—recognized Federación Universitaria as an official league; along with other small leagues in Lima and Callao. They all joined the Peruvian Football Federation. Although there was no requirement to play a tournament to be promoted to the Primera División, the club did not play in it between 1924 and 1927. During this period it only played friendly matches with other teams.
The amateur era (1928–1950)
In 1928, the Peruvian Football Federation allowed the club to enter the Peruvian Primera División, the country's premier division. The club surprised opposing and supporting fans that year because they were the runners-up of the season. During that season, on 23 September 1928, Universitario played the first clásico with Alianza Lima, the defending champion of the season, and won 1–0. However, the team lost to Alianza in an end-of-season play-off for the league title after drawing 1–1 in the first leg and losing 2–0 in the second leg. The following year Universitario won its first season title and was crowned Peruvian champion, preventing los Blanquiazules from winning a third consecutive title.
In 1931, the rector of the university, José Antonio Encinas, forbade the club to use the name Federación Universitaria. As a result, the club changed its name to Club Universitario de Deportes retaining the symbolic "U" in their name. In that same year, 18-year-old Teodoro Fernández, historically known as "Lolo" Fernández, debuted as a regular player of the team in an international friendly against the Deportes Magallanes of Chile.
Universitario's second title, in 1934, generated controversy because according to the season regulations, the season champion would be determined by the points earned by the senior teams and a fraction of the respective reserve teams. Under these regulations, Alianza Lima would be league champions; however, both senior teams had individually attained six wins, one draw, and one loss and the determining factor was the points obtained in the reserve league. Universitario's officials asked that a play-off between the first division teams be played to determine the season champion. Alianza Lima agreed to the play-off match which was subsequently won by Universitario with a score of 2–1. But according to other sources, this title Universitario won was not the league title itself, but a secondary title; thus creating controversy. Because of that, Alianza Lima considered itself as the champion of this year. However, the Peruvian Football Federation and the Sports Association of Professional Football, both recognize the title of this year belong to Universitario. Furthermore, in 2012, FIFA published an article in which Universitario appears holding the 1934 championship.
The 1941 season included eight clubs and was played in 2 legs. However, by the twelfth round, the tournament was suspended due to the participation of the national team in the South American Championship. Once the season resumed, Universitario de Deportes reached the title after winning their last two games against Atlético Chalaco and Alianza Lima, 1–0 and 3–1 respectively. Back-to-back titles in 1945 and 1946, led to the club's first bicampeonato thanks to the offensive trio formed by Víctor Espinoza, Teodoro Fernández and his brother Eduardo Fernández; the three players accounted for 41 goals. The following season, in its worst performance in the amateur era, finished in a mediocre eighth place with Sporting Tabaco and only staved off relegation because both teams refused to play a play-off match to determine the relegated team. Hence, the organizing association of the time decided to suspend relegation for the season. In 1949, the club celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary by winning the championship after winning its last match against Atlético Chalaco 4–3.
The professional era (1951–present)
Professional football came to Peru in 1951, when the Peruvian Football Federation adopted the championship according to the global guidelines for a professional league, but only with the participation of clubs located in the city of Lima and the Province of Callao. The club debuted in the professional era with a win over Mariscal Sucre FBC with a score of 4–1. On 20 July 1952, the inauguration of Teodoro Lolo Fernandez stadium took place, with sporting facilities and a spectator stand that previously belonged to the first national stadium of the country. At the opening, Universitario beat Universidad de Chile by 4–2, with three goals scored by Teodoro Fernández himself. In 1954 Plácido Galindo took the club's presidency, in what was the first of his three administrations at the helm of the institution. Throughout this decade, the club conducted irregular campaigns in the newly professional league, which saw titles shared between Alianza Lima, Sport Boys, Mariscal Sucre, Sporting Cristal, and Centro Iqueño. The title drought of the fifties ended in 1959 when they won their eighth crown, after tying 3–3 with Deportivo Municipal in the final match, totaling fifteen wins, three draws and four losses.
In the 1960s, the club's successes were the greatest yet after winning five more championships. The first of them in 1960 after a scoreless draw with Sport Boys, totaling eleven wins, three draws and four defeats in eighteen games; hence achieving its second bicampeonato. As 1960 champion, Universitario was the first Peruvian club to qualify for the first Copa de Campeones de América, the first edition of the Copa Libertadores. On 19 April 1961, the club debuted in South America's premier competition in Montevideo, Uruguay against Peñarol, which ended in a loss of 5–0. After finishing third place in two consecutive seasons, Universitario rose again with the title in 1964, nine points ahead of second place. At the end of 1965, the Peruvian Football Federation expanded the professional league to the entire country by creating the first national tournament as the Torneo Descentralizado, or Decentralized Tournament. In 1966, the first Descentralizado was played. Under the leadership of manager Marcos Calderón, became the first national champion after nineteen wins, three draws and four defeats. In 1967, Universitario successfully defended its crown, winning its third bicampeonato. On 27 February 1968 in the Copa Libertadores, Universitario achieved its biggest win in Copa Libertadores against Always Ready of Bolivia by 6–0. The club finished the decade with a third national title after drawing 1–1 with Atlético Grau in the league final.
In 1971, Universitario won its fourteenth First División title and qualified for the 1972 edition of the Copa Libertadores under the Uruguayan head coach Roberto Scarone along with Alianza Lima who placed second that season. They were grouped with the Chilean teams Unión San Felipe and Universidad de Chile in Group 4. Universitario's first game was the Peruvian Superclásico which it won 2–1. The following game was held in Santiago de Chile against Universidad de Chile where it lost 1–0. Universitario later tied with the other Chilean team in Santiago. Universitario returned to Lima to face Alianza Lima again where they tied 2–2. At that point, Universitario and Universidad de Chile had accumulated 4 points while Alianza Lima and Unión San Felipe had 3. Universitario won the remaining games against the Chilean teams in Lima, obtaining 8 points and qualifying for the next round.
Colors and badge
Universitario's colors are cream (crema in Spanish), burgundy (granate in Spanish), and black. When playing a home game they use the cream-colored kit with black socks and when playing away they use the burgundy-colored kit with black socks.
The club's colors at first were not cream. They started with a white kit that had the badge on the chest. During one of their early seasons, Universitario could not participate in an upcoming match because their uniforms had been sent to the laundry to be washed. The managers pleaded that they hurry with the laundry and they quickly washed them. However, when the club received the jerseys, they found that they were no longer white, but yellow. The laundry workers had forgotten to remove the badges from the jerseys and consequently the red color from the badges mixed with the white jerseys giving it a yellow tint. The club had no choice but to use the jersey to play. They managed to win that game and a few others as well and thus the club kept the new-colored kit as a good-luck charm.
The badge is a red U inside a deep-red circle drawn by Luis Malaga, one of the founders of the club.
Stadium
Universitario's first stadium was Estadio Lolo Fernandez. It had a capacity of 15,000. Its capacity was reduced to 4,000 and now serves as a football academy for its club members and hosts football games for the Segunda División reserve team América Cochahuayco and youth teams in the youth divisions. It was built in honor of Teodoro "Lolo" Fernandez, Universitario's most revered player.
Estadio Monumental is a stadium that was built by the Peruvian construction company Gremco throughout the 1990s and opened in 2000, replacing Estadio Lolo Fernandez and the Nacional. The inauguration game was between Universitario and Sporting Cristal; Universitario won 2–0. It was given to Universitario the same year it was opened and they now own the largest stadium in Peru with a seating capacity of 80,093. This stadium is the second largest in South America. Its eastern and western stands are all-seaters and its northern and southern stands have standing terraces. Exactly 1,250 luxury boxes, known as palcos, are above the stands.
The stadium was deemed not fit to host the classic derby between Universitario and Alianza Lima between 2002 and 2007 by the Peruvian Police. The first time this stadium hosted the derby was on 26 June 2002—the first leg of the Apertura play-off—where Universitario won 1–0. Alianza's fans, in the southern stand, reacted violently to the loss by vandalizing the premises and causing two reported stabbings. Consequently, La U was forced to play all future derbies at Estadio Nacional where the Instituto Peruano del Deporte installed artificial turf which is constantly criticized by the First Division players. For the next five years, this derby was not played at this stadium. On 14 September 2008, the derby returned to the Estadio Monumental with a loss for Universitario.
This stadium was rejected as a venue for the Copa América 2004 because of problems with Alfredo Gonzalez, President of Universitario de Deportes, and the stadium's owners. Many saw this as a typical bullying behavior on the part of the president since this stadium would have been the perfect venue to host the 2004 Copa América intro as well as final games.
Supporters
Universitario's supporters are one of the largest in Peru, only rivaled by Alianza Lima's supporters. Universitario's ultra groups are known as Barra Oriente and Trinchera Norte. Asociación Barra Dale U, the official name of the Barra Oriente, started in 1968 that notably grown over the years. Trinchera Norte is a barra brava that was formed in 1988; in contrast to Alianza Lima's supporters, named "Comando Svr", "Sicarios", and others.
The two most popular teams in Peru are Universitario and Alianza Lima. They are at the top of the polls conducted by many different groups. The group Apoyo, Opinion y Mercado in 2006 revealed that Alianza Lima was popular amongst 35%, followed by Universitario, with 32%. In 2005, a study by Grupo de Opinión Pública de la Universidad de Lima showed that Universitario was the most popular team in Lima and Callao with 31.7% followed by Alianza Lima with 29.3%. However, in 2006 and 2007 Alianza Lima appeared first in their polls. There was a narrow margin in 2007 as Alianza Lima reached 29.6% and Universitario followed with 29.5% under a margin of error of ±4.16% In 2009, the university's results varied because Alianza reached first with 40% and Universitario second with 35.5% under a margin of error of ±4.47%. Another group known as CPI, revealed in May 2008 that Universitario was favored by 32% whilst Alianza Lima was favored by 33.5% under a margin of error of 2.7% at the national level. This report was divided into two parts. In the metropolitan capital, Universitario led with 42.8% and Alianza tailed behind with 39.9%. In the rest of the country, Universitario had a larger lead with 31.5% opposed to Alianza's 24.1%. In 2009, CPI released another poll indicating the Universitario was still the most popular team in Peru with 38.6% while Alianza reached 33.1%. A survey conducted by Grupo de Opinión Pública de la Universidad de Lima in February 2009, said that Alianza Lima ranked first in popularity with 27.2%; Universitario second with 26.6%. However, a second poll released by the same university group in September of the same year ranked Universitario first with 37.9% and Alianza second with 36.6%. The most recent report from the group indicates that Universitario has more sympathizers than Alianza with 40.6% over 36.% in the Province of Lima and Callao. In 2010, the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) stated that Alianza Lima is the most popular team in Perú.
Players
Current squad
As of 10 August 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Retired numbers
9 – Teodoro "Lolo" Fernández, forward (1930–53) – Number retired since the 2013 season.
22 – José Luis Carranza, midfielder (1986–04)
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Technical staff
Noted managers
Seventeen managers won at least one major trophy with the club but only fourteen won the Primera División. Arturo Fernández and Marcos Calderon won a record four major titles with the club. Roberto Scarone won 3 first division titles and also led the club to its first Copa Libertadores final in 1972. Universitario's first manager, Mario de las Casas, led the club to its first championship as a player-manager. Jack Greenwell, the club's only English manager in its history, won the club's second first division title and went on to succeed with the Peru national football team.
Three managers—Miguel Company, Ángel Cappa, and Ricardo Gareca—won a Torneo Apertura trophy but did not win the national championship. Company left the team shortly after winning the 1999 Torneo Apertura whilst Cappa resigned from his position after winning the 2002 Torneo Apertura due to financial difficulties in the club. Gareca was unable to reach the final championship match because of a string of poor results in the 2008 Torneo Clausura.
Other managers
Ramón Quiroga (1993)
Freddy Ternero (1993)
Manuel Keosseián (1994)
Eduardo Luján Manera (1996)
Javier Chirinos (interim) (2001)
Osvaldo Piazza (2002)
Javier Chirinos (interim) (2002)
Ricardo "Tato" Ortiz (2003)
Javier Chirinos (interim) (2003)
Ramón Quiroga (2003)
Oscar Malbernat (2004)
Marcelo Trobbiani (2004)
José Basualdo (2005)
Jorge Amado Nunes (2007)
Ricardo Gareca (2008)
Juan Reynoso Guzmán (2009–10)
Salvador Capitano (2010)
Javier Chirinos (interim) (2010)
José del Solar (2010–11)
Nolberto Solano (2012)
Ángel Comizzo (2013–14)
José del Solar (2014)
Óscar Ibáñez (2014–15)
Luis Fernando Suárez (2015)
Roberto Chale (2015–17)
Honours
Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
Copa Libertadores: 36 appearances
1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026
Runner-up (1): 1972
Copa Sudamericana: 8 appearances
2002: First Stage
2005: First Stage
2007: First Stage
2008: First Stage
2011: Quarterfinals
2015: Second Stage
2016: First Stage
2023: Knockout round play-offs
Copa CONMEBOL: 2 appearances
1992: First round
1997: Semifinals
Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances
1998: Group Stage
1999: Group Stage
2000: Group Stage
2001: Group Stage
U-20 Copa Libertadores: 3 appearances
2011: Champion
2012: Quarter-finals
Other sports
Futsal
Copa Libertadores de Futsal: 2 appearances
2006: Quarterfinals
2021: 5th Place
Ranking
IFFHS MEN'S CLUB WORLD RANKING 2023 at MAY 31 (Previous year rank in italics, IFFHS Club Coefficients in parentheses)
198 (216) Galatasaray S.K. (84)
199 (208) Brentford F.C. (84)
201 (237) Universitario de Deportes (83)
202 (207) Philadelphia Union (82,5)
203 (249) América de Cali (82,5)
Records
Seasons in Primera División: 94 (1928–2022) (Peruvian football's longest consecutive spell in Primera División)
Record Primera División victory: 9–0 v. Atlético Torino (19 September 1970)
Record Copa Libertadores victory: 6–0 v. Always Ready (27 Feb 1968)
Record Primera División defeat:
0–6 v. Sport Boys (1994)
0–6 v. Deportivo Municipal (1937)
Record Copa Libertadores defeat: 0–6 v. Rosario Central (21 Feb 2001)
Longest unbeaten run: 36, 27 May 1974 to 27 February 1975 (Peruvian football's longest unbeaten run)
Most appearances overall: 524, José Luis Carranza 1986–04
Most goals scored in a season: 37, Eduardo Esidio 1998–00
Most goals scored overall: 156, Teodoro "Lolo" Fernández 1930–53
Most Primera División titles as player: 7, Ángel Uribe, Luis Cruzado, José Luis Carranza
Most Primera División titles as manager: 4, Arturo Fernández, Marcos Calderón
Year-by-year
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Universitario. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Universitario de Deportes seasons.