Alianza Valledupar F.C.
Alianza Fútbol Club is a Colombian professional football team based in Valledupar, Cesar Department, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded on 16 January 2024 and plays its home games at the Armando Maestre Pavajeau stadium.
History
Alianza F.C. was founded by the owner and chairman of Alianza Petrolera, Carlos Orlando Ferreira, who relocated the club from Barrancabermeja, Santander Department after being offered financial support by the newly elected authorities and private enterprises from Valledupar and the Cesar Department.Whilst Alianza Petrolera came from an eighth-place finish in the aggregate table of the 2023 Categoría Primera A season that qualified them for their first international competition, the 2024 Copa Sudamericana, by early January 2024 issues regarding financial support as well as the fact that Estadio Daniel Villa Zapata in Barrancabermeja was not suitable to host international games came up, along with an interest from Valledupar for the club to play their home matches there. On 16 January 2024 Alianza Petrolera officially confirmed their departure from Barrancabermeja due to the lack of financial support from local authorities while also dropping the word Petrolera from their name and the yellow and black colors that identified them. That same day, Alianza Fútbol Club was presented at a press conference held in Valledupar, where it was confirmed that the club would play under a new crest and would adopt as new colors those representative of the city.
The club played its first match on 21 January 2024, losing 3–1 to Atlético Nacional for the first round of the 2024 Apertura tournament. On 6 March Alianza played their first international match, defeating América de Cali 2–1 in the first stage of the Copa Sudamericana to advance to the group stage of the competition. Despite staging an upset against Cruzeiro with a 3–3 draw at Mineirão in their second group stage match, Alianza failed to make any further progress in the competition.