C.D. Universidad Católica del Ecuador

For the Chilean football club, see Club Deportivo Universidad Católica.

Universidad Católica

Full name	Club Deportivo de la Universidad Católica del Ecuador
Nickname(s)	Los Camaratas El Trencito Azul (The Blue train) Chatolei Los Santos (The Saints)
Founded	15 May 1963 (1963-05-15)
Ground	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa
Capacity	35,742
President	Santiago Cattani
Manager	Jorge Célico
League	Ecuadorian Serie A
2023	Serie A, 7th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Universidad Católica del Ecuador is a football club based in Quito, Ecuador. They play in the top tier of Ecuadorian football and have spent the majority of their history in the top-flight Serie A.

Universidad Católica was officially founded on 15 May 1963. Historic rivals include LDU Quito, Aucas, El Nacional and Deportivo Quito.

History

Universidad Católica was founded as a university football team for Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, a Catholic university in Quito. In 1962, they won the inter-university championship. Soon after, they became a football club on 15 May 1963 under Liga Deportiva de la Universidad Católica.

On 15 January 1965, they beat Club Gladiador for the right to compete professionally. They then won their first professional title at the 12th Interandean Professional Championship that same year.

In 1973 and 1979, Universidad Católica finished second in the national championship. As a result, they were allowed to participate in the Copa Libertadores the following years (1974 and 1980). They spent most of their history in the First Category (Primera A & Primera B). They descended to the Second Category in 1993. They returned to Primera B in 1998, and ascended briefly to Primera A for 2008.

Honors

Regional

• Campeonato Professional Interandino (1): 1965

National

• Serie A
  • Runner-up (2): 1973, 1979
• Serie B
  • Winner (3): 1990 E1, 2007, 2012
  • Runner-up (6): 1972 E2, 1989 E1, 2005 C, 2006 E1, 2006 E2, 2009

Current squad

As of 22 November, 2023. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ECU	Elias Valencia
3	DF	ECU	Joshué Quiñónez (on loan from Barcelona SC)
4	DF	ECU	Kevin Minda
7	MF	ECU	Aaron Rodriguez
8	MF	ECU	Emiliano Clavijo
9	FW	PAN	José Fajardo (on loan from C.A. Independiente)
10	MF	ARG	Facundo Martínez
11	MF	ECU	Janus Vivar
12	GK	ECU	Johan Lara
15	DF	ECU	Gustavo Vallecilla
16	FW	ECU	Jhon Cifuente
18	DF	ECU	Layan Loor

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	DF	ECU	Luis Castillo
21	MF	ARG	Luciano Nieto
22	GK	VEN	Rafael Romo
24	DF	ECU	Rockson Renteria
25	FW	ECU	Jordan Yépez
26	MF	ECU	Santiago Zamora
27	MF	PER	Kevin Quevedo
28	MF	ARG	Mauro Díaz
29	DF	ECU	Gregori Anangonó
30	FW	PAN	Ismael Díaz
37	DF	ARG	Fausto Grillo
55	MF	ECU	Rooney Troya

Managers

• Jorge Célico (September 21, 2010 – August 5, 2014)
• Luis Soler (August 5, 2014 – October 5, 2014)
• Jorge Célico (5 October 2014 – July 17, 2017)
• Patricio Lara (July 17, 2017 – July 24, 2017)
• Gustavo Díaz (July 25, 2017 – August 26, 2017)
• Marcelo Romano (August 27, 2017 – November 4, 2017)
• Santiago Escobar (November 4, 2017 – October 25, 2021)
• Miguel Rondelli (October 26, 2021 – December 31, 2023)

Kit and colours

They wear sky blue on their home kit and white on their away kit. Their kit is supplied by Umbro.

External links

Media related to Club Deportivo de la Universidad Católica (Ecuador) at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website (in Spanish)