History
The team was created in 1919 when a group of friends that used to play in a team called the "Electra" at first and then "Once de Abril" (April the 11th) met at "Salon París". They wanted to give the city a team that could represent them at a national level. They played their first official game on August 2 of that same year against CS Cartaginés getting their first victory, 3 – 1.
Alajuelense was part of the 7 teams that built and formed the National League in Costa Rica, back in 1921, along with La Libertad, Sociedad Gimnástica Española, CS Herediano, CS Cartaginés, CS La Unión de Tres Ríos, and Sociedad Gimnástica Limonense. They won their first championship in 1928. They are the only team to win the championship with a perfect record; in 1941 they won all 6 games. In 1960, the team made a tour around the world, leaving Costa Rica on September 17. In 78 days the team played 24 games, winning 12, losing 7 and the other 5 ended up tied. They scored 71 goals and received 47, with a remarkable performance from Juan Ulloa Ramírez, being the best player and top scorer of this tour.
Throughout their history, Liga Deportiva Alajuelense has generated a lot of great players and stunning performances. They are known as one of the best teams in the Central America area. Their best decade was the 1990s, during which they won 4 Championships and 4 sub-championships (runner up) as well. In addition to that, by the end of the 90's and the middle of the 2000s, they won a total of 5 local championships (4 of them in a row), 2 Copa Interclubes UNCAF Throphies and a CONCACAF Club Champions, being the base for the Costa Rican football team in the Korea and Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup, with 9 players.
By November 11, 2000 and after participating in the Copa Merconorte, Alajuelense was ranked in the 27th spot, based on IFFHS's Club World Ranking. It has been the best rank by the team and the best any other Central American club have reached.
The club struggled with some financial and administrative problems in the second part on the 2000s decade, so they decided to end contract with a lot of their regular and known players and started to build a team based on their younger divisions and make some structural changes. Nowadays the club is free of debts and with a team averaging 25 year-old players is still one of the best teams in the area and one of the teams with most fans in Costa Rica. They have won the last 3 championships in its country and participated in the last CONCACAF Champions League being eliminated in the group stage for just one away goal.
Read more about this topic: L.D. Alajuelense
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