Real Estelí FC
| File:Real Esteli 2.png | |||
| Full name | Real Esteli Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | El Tren del Norte (The Train of the North) | ||
| Founded | 1961 (as Estelí FC) | ||
| Ground | Estadio Independencia | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Chairman | Helmuth Hurtado | ||
| Manager | Holver Flores | ||
| League | Primera División | ||
| 2019-20 | Champion | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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Real Esteli Fútbol Club is a Nicaraguan football club playing in the top flight of Nicaragua's league system, the Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Primera División. The club play out of their home stadium, Estadio Independencia, based in the northern city of Estelí.
Real Estelí has 18 national championships, more than any other team in Nicaragua except Diriangén. They also won a CONCACAF record eight consecutive championships from 2006 to 2014.
History
The club was founded in 1960 as Estelí FC, adding Real to its name in 1961. Estelí FC plays at the Estadio Independencia, one of the biggest stadiums in Nicaragua, with a capacity of 4,800. The club is known by the nickname, El Tren del Norte (Train of the North), coming as it does, from the northern region of Las Segovias.
Real Estelí has finished in the top five of Nicaragua's top flight every year since 1986. In that time, they have also achieved traditionally high attendance numbers. However, it took time for the club's burgeoning popularity to translate into championships. They won their first title in 1991, then added another in 1999. Nonetheless, their fierce rivals Diriangén FC remained the dominant power in Nicaraguan football.
This began to change in 2002–2003. The two clubs met for a two-legged tie to determine the year's champion. Diriangén won the first leg 1–0, but Real Estelí answered by winning the return match 3–0, claiming the title 3–1 on aggregate. That was the last year Nicaragua determined their championship with a "long season"; for 2003–2004, the league adopted an Apertura/Clausura format. Real Estelí won both tournaments, and each time they defeated Diriangén in the finals.
The following September, Real Estelí made history in Nicaraguan football by eliminating favorites Real España in the First Round of the Copa Interclubes UNCAF. They thus became the first Nicaraguan football team in history to advance to the second round of the tournament.
Back home, Diriangén won the next two championships, but quickly gave way to Real Estelí, who embarked on their dominant run of eight championships in a row from 2006 to 2014. Then, after a brief interruption by Walter Ferretti, Estelí won two more.
Real Estelí FC has finished in the top five of Nicaragua's top division every year since 1986 and has achieved some of the highest attendances in the league during this period.
Crest
The club crest consists of a crown, representing 'Real' (meaning 'Royal'). Similar crowns can be seen on the crests of many other clubs with the prefix 'Real', such as Spanish clubs Real Betis, Real Zaragoza and Real Madrid[1]
The two gold stars of the crest mark the first two national championships won by the club (in 1991 and 1999), while the red and white striped shield represents the club colours as used on team shirts. The logo was redesigned and digitalised in 2000 by Nakor'd J. García and Michael D. Raney (current President/CEO of the World Football Organization), based on the original design by Arnulfo Rivera Zeledón and Johnny Herrera Vallejos.
'El Clásico' rivalry
There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in the national league, where the game between Real Estelí and Diriangén has become known as El Clásico (The Classic).
Current squad
As of 25 August 2018[2]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Personnel
Management
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Ramón Otoniel Olivas
|
| Assistant Manager and Goalkeeping Coach | Sergio Ivan Rodríguez
|
| Fitness Coach |  Marcos Gomez
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| Fitness coach | Carlos Rivera
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List of Coaches
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Jersey sponsors
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt partner |
|---|---|---|
| 1998–01 | Galaxia | |
| 2000–08 | Enitel | |
| 2008–2011 | Movistar La Curaçao | |
| 2011–2017 | Movistar La Curaçao Yahoo! | |
| 2017–Present | Kappa |
Performance in CONCACAF competitions
- CONCACAF Champions League: 6 appearances
- Copa Interclubes UNCAF: 5 appearances
- Best: Quarter-finals in 2004
- 2000 : First Round
- 2003 : First Round
- 2004 : Quarter-finals
- 2006 : First Round
- 2007 : First Round
Record versus other nations
- As of 2016-09-13
The Concacaf opponents below = Official tournament results: (Plus a sampling of other results)
| Opponent | Last Meeting | G | W | D | L | F | A | PTS | +/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alajuelense
|
26 – Sept – 2012 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 21 | 0 | -19 | ||
 Árabe Unido
|
1996 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -1 | ||
 Atlético Marte
|
15 – Dec – 1991 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -3 | ||
 Comunicaciones
|
6 – Dec – 1991 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | -15 | ||
 Dallas
|
24 – Aug – 2016 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | -1 | ||
| Diriangén
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2003 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| FAS
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2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1 | ||
 Montreal Impact
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2 – Oct – 2008 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | ||
 Motagua
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16 – Aug – 2007 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | -4 | ||
| Olimpia
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24 – Sept – 2013 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -2 | ||
| Real España
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29 – Sept – 2004 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 2 | -9 | ||
| Saprissa
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26 – Aug – 2014 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 2 | -10 | ||
| Sporting Kansas City
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23 – Sept – 2014 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | -5 | ||
| Suchitepéquez
|
13 – Sept – 2016 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -1 | ||
| Tauro
|
1992 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | -6 | ||
| Toronto
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2 – Aug – 2011 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | -2 | ||
 UANL
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18 – Sept – 2012 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | -4 | ||
| Totals | 0 | ||||||||||
Honours
- Campeonato Nacional/Primera División de Nicaragua: 1991, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019 Clausura, 2019 Apertura, 2020 Clausura
Copa de Nicaragua: 1991
References
- ^ "Team Profile: Real Esteli". CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
- ^ "Real Estelí FC - Soccer - Team Profile - Results, fixtures, squad, statistics - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.