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Colón de Santa Fe
Full name	Club Atlético Colón
Nickname(s)	Los Sabaleros
Founded	May 5, 1905
Ground	Estadio B.G. Estanislao López,; Cementerio de los Elefantes; ("Elephant Graveyard"), Santa Fe; (Capacity: 32.500)
Chairman	Germán Lerche
Manager	Antonio Mohamed
League	Argentine Primera División
Clausura 2009	4th
	Current season

Club Atlético Colón is a football team from Santa Fe, Argentina. As of 2008-09 they play in the highest division of Argentine football, and have done so continuously since 1995-96. The club has finished in the top three of the Primera División Argentina on two occasions; achieving second place in Clausura 1997 and third place in Clausura 2000.

[edit] Foundation

The club was founded in 1905, apparently by a group of students, one of which was studying the conquest of America, hence the name chosen (Columbus in Spanish is Colon). However there are no firm records of the club's existence until 1920.

[edit] Playing History

They started by playing in the local league of Santa Fe, winning it on 14 occasions. The club gained its affiliation with the Argentine Football Association in 1947. The team played several seasons in the lower divisions until they won the Primera B Nacional (2nd level) in 1965, thus leading to their promotion to the Primera División Argentina for the 1966 season.

In their first season in the top level they finished 15th, but the following year the structure of Argentine football was changed so as there were two championships each season, the Metropolitano and the Nacional, with entrance to the latter originally only available to the higher placed Metropolitano teams. Colon did not qualify for the Nacional until 1968, although they did then manage a 6th place finish.

After a few seasons of struggle they finished 2nd in their group in the 1972 Nacional, although not close enough to the group winner to qualify for the knockout stages. In 1975 they enjoyed a good Metro league campaign, and ultimately finished 6th in this competition. This was bettered in 1977 when they finished 5th in the Metro, although they then struggled in the Nacional. In 1978 they reached the knockout stages of the Nacional but were beaten in the Quarter Finals by Independiente.

Colon were relegated from the Metropolitana in 1981 having won only 6 games that season, although prior to this year they had generally been in at least a mid table position. It was to take 14 years for them to return to the top division (for the 1995-96 season). During the intervening period they came close to promotion on a number of occasions, and they lost Promotion Playoff games in 1988-89 to arch-rivals Union 3-0 on aggregate, and in 1992-93 they lost the championship playoff to Banfield and then failed to qualify via the secondary playoffs.

After a few mid-table finishes Colon were placed 2nd in the 1997 Clausura tournament, which is their highest placed finish to date. As River Plate won both titles that season, a playoff was required between the two runners-up. In December 1997 Colon defeated Independiente 1-0 to qualify for the Copa Libertadores 1998.

Following this excellent season, 1997-98 was a disappointment but it was followed by a 5th place finish in the 1998-99 Apertura and 3rd place in the 1999-2000 Clausura. Over the next few seasons further high placings meant that at the end of season 2001-02 they were ranked 6th highest overall in the 3-year average tables. They maintained this position at the end of the following season, and indeed also therefore qualified for the Copa Sudamericana for the first time. Over the next few seasons their finishing position was often mid-table at best, and their position in the relegation averages fell such that by the end of the 2007-08 season they were placed 16th in the averages, just one position away from having to play in the relegation playoff.

[edit] South American Tournament Qualification

Colon made their South American debut in the Copa CONMEBOL 1997 against Universidad de Chile. They susbsequently reached the semi finals where they lost to fellow Argentine side Lanus.

They made their debut in South America's most prestigious club tournament (Copa Libertadores) the following season. Their first game in the group stage was a 1-2 home defeat to River Plate, although they were still to qualify for the knockout stages. After beating Olimpia on penalties they were again drawn to play River Plate, but were defeated 5-2 on aggregate in the quarter final.

In 2003 they qualified for their 3rd different continental competition (Copa Sudamericana), and they defeated Velez Sarsfield before losing to Boca Juniors.

[edit] Stadiums

View of the Brigadier General Estanislao López stadium

The club's current stadium is the Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López which holds 32,500 spectators. The ground was inaugurated in 1948, and received a refurbishment in 2001. It is their 3rd ground, the team having originally played near the town's port, and due to the port's expansion they had to leave this site in 1925. Their 2nd ground was located near Arcos de Sur a Norte, although they had to leave this ground in 1938.

[edit] Local rivalry

The club plays the Santa Fe local derby against Unión de Santa Fe, but the fixture has not occurred for many years due to the fact that the teams are currently in different divisions.

[edit] Miscellaneous

In 2005 Club Atlético Colón celebrated their centenary by instituting the Copa Santa Fe, an annual mid season summer tournament.

[edit] Achievements

[edit] Local tournaments

Liga Santafesina de fútbol (4): 1913, 1914, 1916, 1918^[1]
Federacion Santafesina (4): 1922, 1923, 1925, 1929^[1]
Liga Santafesina de Fútbol (16): 1937, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1958, 1968, 1969, 1995, Apertura 2000, Apertura 2002, Apertura 2004.^[1]

[edit] National tournaments

Segunda División Argentina: 1965
Runner-up Primera División Argentina: Clausura 1997

[edit] Friendly tournaments

Copa de Honor Juan Domingo Perón: 1950^[2]
Copa Santa Fe: 2006

[edit] Current squad

Current squad for Colón de Santa Fe as of 10 October 2009 (edit)

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Diego Pozo
2	DF	Omar Merlo
3	DF	Salustiano Candia
4	MF	Ismael Quílez
5	DF	Ariel Garcé
6	DF	Pablo De Miranda
7	MF	Cristian Pellerano
8	DF	Maximiliano Caire
9	FW	Federico Nieto
10	MF	Lucas Acosta
11	MF	Ricardo Gómez
12	GK	Andrés Bailo
13	DF	Germán Rivarola
14	FW	Juan Manuel Lucero
15	MF	Cristian Barinaga

No.	Position	Player
18	MF	Facundo Bertoglio
19	MF	Nicolás Torres
20	FW	Esteban Fuertes
21	GK	Marcos Díaz
22	MF	Alejandro Capurro
23	MF	Mauro Bellone
24	MF	Facundo Sánchez
26	FW	Rodrigo Canario
27	DF	Alexis Ferrero
29	MF	Alfredo Ramírez
30	FW	Fabián Castillo
32	FW	Jonatan Bauman
33	DF	Marcelo Goux
34	DF	Mauricio Mansilla