Club Necaxa
Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V., simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club based in Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football, and plays its home matches at the Estadio Victoria. Founded in 1923 in Mexico City by the Scottish engineer William H. Fraser. In 2003, the club was moved to Aguascalientes. Necaxa was one of ten founding members in 1943 of the first professional and national league in Mexico, named Liga Mayor.
Domestically, Club Necaxa has won 3 Liga MX titles, 4 Copa MX titles, two Campeón de Campeones and one Supercopa MX. Internationally, it has won one CONCACAF Champions Cup and one CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup. The club finished in third place in the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship.
It occupies 7th place in the list of the International Federation of Football History and Statistics of the Club of the Century of North and Central America, being the best-placed Mexican club.
History
Foundation (Light and Power Company, ''Luz y Fuerza'') (1899–1920)
Necaxa was founded on August 21, 1923 by Scotsman William H. Fraser, an engineer and owner of the Light and Power Company in the state of Puebla. As a student in Scotland Fraser played football and was a strong advocate for the sport. Fraser consolidated the teams of the Light and Power Company and the Street Car operators Compañia de Luz y Fuerza and Tranvías into one.Fraser supported the newly merged team with company revenue and funds. In addition, the Light and Power Company offered steady employment to players in an era where half of the players were playing at an amateur level. However, the Mexican football federation did not allow teams to be named after private companies, so the team changed its name to Necaxa, after the Necaxa River that was close to the electrical plant.
Historians assert that the colors and Necaxa's crest came from following the arrival of the Cornish community in Mexico, the Cornish community flourished and stayed in Central Mexico until the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Although the Cornish community in Mexico broadly returned to Cornwall, they left a cultural legacy; Cornish pasties, Cornish mining museums, a Cornish Mexican Cultural Society and football, are part of the local heritage and tradition in and around Mineral del Monte.
In 1923, it was decided Necaxa team would field players regardless of race and nationality.
In that era, the team was called "Los Electricistas". The team adopted the colors red and white as their team colors, earning them the nickname "Los roji-blancos". During this period, the oldest rivalry in Mexican football began to form, between Necaxa and Atlante F.C.
On September 14, 1930, having already been a two-time champion of the amateur Copa Eliminatoria, Necaxa inaugurated its stadium Parque Necaxa, located on the banks of La Piedad River on land donated by the Fraser Family. The stadium had a maximum capacity for 15,000 fans, and was known for its clock tower displaying the team's emblem.
Necaxa, in the early days of Mexican Football were members of the Mexican Amateur Association Football League Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Amateur Association, composed of Atlante, Club España, Germania FV, and seasoned and disciplined team Asturias. Necaxa won championships during the 1932–33, 1934–35, 1936–37, and 1937–38 seasons.
The following season after the stadium's opening, players such as Hilario López and Luis Pérez contributed to the team's success, leading Necaxa to the League final against Atlante, losing 3–2.
But Necaxa would rebound the next season, smashing Atlante by a 9–0 score. The lineup Necaxa used on that day was:
During this decade, Necaxa became one of the most popular teams in Mexico. Under the direction of the Ernst Pauler, Necaxa, in one season of play, the team dominated and won titles ranging from Champion of Champions, Champion of the Liga Mayor De La Ciudad, National Champion of League, National Champion and Central American Champions. Their last title was the Central American Championship in El Salvador.
1935 Caribbean games lineup
Mexico
"Paco" Martinez de la Vega, an aficionado, would coin the surname for the first time "Campeonismo" or "Championshipism", which Necaxa would later use to justify their achievements and titles.
Late 1930s: Once Hermanos
Following the Mexican Revolution, the late 1930s represented Necaxa's most successful all-Mexican team. The Once Hermanos or "Eleven Brothers" period was coined in that era due to that team's ability to work as a team. The Necaxa team, in 1936, won the Copa México.In that same year, a talented striker gained popularity within Necaxa's benches. Even though he was not one of the original "once hermano" or "eleventh brother" Horacio Casarìn, was a great player in the Mexican league national ranks. His success took him to the big screen in Mexican Cinema.
'''Necaxa's "Once Hermanos" lineup'''
1940s brief hiatus
Necaxa disappears from competitive play within the Mexican League in 1943 altogether due to the professionalization of Mexican Football. It would be half a decade before the Necaxa emblem and uniform would be represented on the field again.1950-60s resurgence
Seven years later, Club Necaxa returned to play under the conditions of the commercialization of the Mexican league. Under the new ownership of the Union of Electricians and Juan Jose Rivas Rojas, Club Necaxa played their first game on 25 September 1950 in the old district of Oblatos, in a stadium called Parque Oblatos or "Oblatos Stadium" otherwise called the Municipal Stadium of Felipe Martinez Sandoval in Guadalajara, Jalisco. This park inaugurated Necaxa's comeback to football. In the fifties, Necaxa were tenants and played in the Federal District of Mexico City in present-day Estadio Azul.In the late sixties, Necaxa played football in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. A modern lighting system in Estadio Azteca was inaugurated on 5 June 1966 with the first night game between Valencia CF and Necaxa. The first goal of the game was scored by Honduran José Cardona. In this game Roberto Martínez o Caña Brava scored the first goal made by a Mexican. Estadio Azteca was the largest stadium in Latin America, and the fifth largest stadium in the world. It is known throughout North America and South America as the home stadium for the Mexico national football team.
Throughout the 1950s Necaxa struggled financially to keep afloat. In 1955, large debts obliged Necaxa to sell the majority of its star players. Miguel Ramierz Vazquez a new owner, contracted the services of the Uruguayan coach Donald Ross, who eventually took Guadalajara to a championship 1957, beginning a road to stability, yet not winning championships.
The electricians won the Title cup in 1960 and the following year, in the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Olympic stadium, "the electricians" defeated Rey Pele and the club and team of the Santos of Brazil 4–3 in an official match of that year's "Exagonal" tournament. "Morocho" Dante Juarez assisted in two victorious goals in Necaxa's win over the Santos de Brazil.
Through the early 1960s, Necaxa struggled financially until it was sold. New owners, Julio Orvañanos, brought a championship in 1965–66.
Mexico 68 and Carlos Albert vs. Necaxa
In this decade, the organization was in financial trouble. The team had poor attendance in Mexico City due to the population unrest.The case of Carlos Albert begins with a small group of veteran footballers in the spring of 1969. Club Necaxa Veteran players petitioned the organization for better wages and argued that as a team and group, they have always responded to the team's performance. Carlos Albert was the face of the disagreement between the players and management.
Albert was listed by Necaxa Management as transferable and was retained on half his salary. He asked management to void his contract in order, to avoid loss of income and to be able to continue playing in the League with another team. Necaxa Management did not accept his request.
The courts ruled in favor of Albert on Thursday 8 October 1971, and Necaxa was forced to pay MX$77,000 to Carlos Albert. Due to the will of managements unfair psychological abuse and labour malpractice, This case forced a cause to action from several players to request better treatment and more rights for Necaxa football players.
Atlético Español (1971–1982)
On September 19, 1971, Club Necaxa experienced financial trouble and became in debt with players and management. The owners sold the club to a group of businessmen from Spain. The ownership handled the player contracts, disputes and the franchises debt. The new Spanish ownership restructured contracts and made Club Necaxa solvent. The club played under the name of the Spanish Athletic Bulls or "Toros del Atlético Español".In 1975, the organization won their only international title in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, playing the final against Transvaal of Suriname and defeating them 5–1 on aggregate. In 1973–74, they reached the final against Cruz Azul. They played a two-legged tie in which the Atlético Español won the first leg 2–1 but lost the second 3–0, becoming sub champion of the league.
Players who distinguished themselves in Atlético Español were the Brazilian striker Carlos Eloir Perucci, Ricardo Brandón, Salvador Plascencia,'Sabanita' Rivera, Juan Santillán, and Tomás Boy, under the direction of Miguel Marín, 'the Witch' Gutiérrez,
Enrique Díaz and 'Chucho' Prado and the Chiliean Prieto.
In 1982, the Spanish ownership within the Federal District of Mexico City sold the franchise. A new group of Mexican businessmen purchased Necaxa in 1982, then telecommunications Giant Grupo Televisa returned the organization's original name from 1971 and opened its training facilities in Cuautitlán Izcalli in the state of Mexico. The ownership renamed the franchise Necaxa by 1982 after the cultural and historical importance of the franchise in Mexican football. While Mexico experienced a crisis called "the Lost Decade" or "La Decada Perdida" in the 1980s and early 1970s, Necaxa in the 1980s struggled against two relegation matches. One at the end of the 1982–83 season against Zacatepec and another by the end of the 1984–85 season against Leones Universidad de Guadalajara.
Atlético Español footballers:
Goalkeepers: Julito Aguilar, Jan Gomola, Goyo Cortez, Enrique Vazquez del Mercado, Defense: El Pimienta Rico, Juan Manuel Alvarez, Mario Trejo, Midfielder: Juan Carlos Rodriguez Vega, Manuel Manzo, Benito Buen Hombre Pardo, Tomas Boy. Forwards: Juan Manuel Borbolla, J.J. Muñante, Romano, Carlos Eloir Perucci, El Cachito Ramirez, Ricardo Brandon, Pio Tabaré Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Rossete. Raúl 'El Cora Isiordia", y Alejandro Romanh.