Millonarios

In 1937, a group of students from the private Catholic school Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé, located in Bolivar Square, the historic center of Bogotá, decided to form a football team with the goal of playing against teams from other parts of the city. The team's first matches were played on the grounds of the "La Merced" estate owned by the college at the time, where the current Colegio San Bartolomé la Merced and La Merced neighborhood now stand. Some of the young players wanted to name the team "Unión Juventud" (Youth Union), while others preferred "Unión Bogotana" (Bogotan Union). As the team began to gain popular support despite having no official backing, they alternated between the two names for each match. Eventually, they settled on the name "Juventud Bogotana," which combined both names.

Within a year, the team had won the hearts of many fans due to their impressive victories. In a surprising turn of events, all of the players, led by their spokesperson Ignacio "Nacho" Izquierdo (the first important figure in the team's history), were called up to form Colombia's first-ever national team. The team made their debut in February of that year at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama City, where they won the bronze medal in a stellar performance. Upon returning from Panama and with the team on the brink of disbandment, Izquierdo saw an opportunity in the upcoming first edition of the Bolivarian Games to be held in Bogotá. He rallied the initial group of players and formed a more structured team, which once again represented the Colombian national team. The Colombian government had hired the team's coach Fernando Paternoster, a former player for the Argentine national team and runner-up in the 1930 FIFA World Cup, to coach Colombia. The team also received support from the city and was acquired by the Municipal Government and Council of Bogotá, receiving economic aid. They were then called Club Municipal de Deportes, becoming the official team of Bogotá and adopting the official colors (at that time, black and white) and crest (the current one) of the city.

Despite their sporting successes, the Municipality suspended their aid due to problems between the founders of Juventud Bogotana and Álvaro Rozo, the President of Club Municipal. The team was then taken over by the managers Manuel Briceño Pardo, Antonio José Vargas, and Santander businessman Alberto Lega (who contributed $50,000 to hire five Argentine players), who restored the team's stability. Without official economic support and without colors in their uniforms, the managers changed the team's name several times: Municipal La Salle (when it was under the control of the students of the La Salle Institute), Municipal Deportivo (when it was under the control of Briceño Pardo, Vargas, and Lega), and later Municipal Deportivo Independiente (this last name was to clarify their disengagement from the Municipality). However, the press simply referred to them as the Bogotá team or selection.

On 28 January 1939 (now with the addition of "Independiente" to their name to clarify their disengagement from the Municipality), the team made their debut with the three Argentine players against the Antioquia team, winning 5–4 with goals from Lucífero (who scored three times), Carvajal, and "Nacho" Izquierdo. This was a significant moment for football in the city, as it marked the first time that a team from Bogotá (and from the country) had played with foreign players. This was also the last year the team played under the name "Deportivo Independiente." Despite facing financial difficulties and internal conflicts among the team's founders and supporters, the Municipal Deportivo Independiente continued to compete in various tournaments, representing Bogotá and garnering significant public support. In 1946, the team merged with Club Deportivo Municipal and changed their name to Club Deportivo Los Millonarios.

In 1939, the nickname "Los Millonarios" (The Millionaires) was born when Vicente Lucífero met with the team's board of directors every Thursday to negotiate payments. At that time, the Argentine players did not have annual contracts. However, Lucífero demanded high compensation not only for the Argentinians but for the entire team. He wanted to ensure that the Colombian players' salaries matched those of the foreigners, which caused Luis Camacho Montoya, the sports editor of newspaper, to strongly criticize the team for its disassociation from the municipality. Montoya gave the team's leaders the label of "new rich," "Los Millonarios," because they intended to maintain the entire team with all its foreign players, requiring a lot of money.

Montoya stated, "The Argentines are very demanding; they will charge this and that amount. This is a club of millionaires; the Municipalists are now millionaires." Thus, the nickname was born, which would become its definitive name since people started to know and call the team more by the nickname "Los Millonarios" than by its actual name. In 1932, seven years prior, the Argentine club River Plate had already adopted the same nickname for making big signings at that time.

On 13 August 1939, in a meeting at the "El Gato Negro" café (16th Street with Eighth Avenue), the team officially adopted the name "Los Millonarios" as part of a relaunch and re-founding of the club, which took place on that date when they defeated Deportivo Barranquilla 6–0 with goals from Luis Timón (1–0 and 5–0), Martínez, Ruiz Díaz, Zapata, and an own goal by López. During this game, they debuted their current blue uniform with grey socks, copied from the Argentine team Tigre, which had recently graced the cover of magazine and was the team Fernando Paternoster supported. This uniform remained the same, with the only change suggested by the leader Manuel Briceño Pardo for the next game. It consisted of changing the shorts to white and the socks to blue (due to its association with the Colombian Conservative Party) and establishing it definitively as the team's official uniform, which was further consolidated years later with the colors used by Independiente Santa Fe (referencing the Colombian Liberal Party).

The first team to be called Millonarios consisted of: Carlos Álvarez, Antenor Rodríguez (captain), Ignacio "Nacho" Izquierdo, Alfredo Cuezzo, Alfonso "Che" Piedrahíta, Óscar Sabransky, Vicente Lucífero, Antonio Ruiz Díaz, Luis Timón, José Antonio "Mico" Zapata, and Antonio Martínez.

Since its creation, Millonarios has become one of Colombia's most important teams by winning titles in amateur league tournaments, international matches, and various tours throughout the country, achieving significant triumphs. The team became the great favorite for the title from the moment the first Colombian Professional Football Championship began in 1948.

After being structured and leaving behind its past as a city select team, Millonarios entered the A.D.B. (Bogotá Sports Association) championship in 1940, which was the second-tier tournament in the Cundinamarca football league. In the same year, they won the title and ascended to the first category, in which they participated from 1941 to 1945, winning four titles (1941, 1943, 1944, 1945).

Millonarios greatly benefited from a major players' strike in the Argentinian league in 1948, which caused a great diaspora of players towards Colombia. The following year, Millonarios won its first league title.

The most successful period for the club was during the early 1950s due to the notable Argentinean presence. During this period the squad was known as The Blue Ballet, which featured great players such as Di Stefano, Adolfo Pedernera, Néstor Rossi, Julio Cozzi, Antonio "Maestrico" Báez, Hugo Reyes, Reinaldo Mourin and other figures in Argentina, mainly from River Plate. Thanks to the great football these players showed on the field, Millonarios was named by several media outlets in South America and Europe, as the best team in the world in the early 1950s. In March 1952, Millonarios traveled to Spain and beat Real Madrid 4–2 at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. They won three straight titles from 1951 to 1953, called a "tricampeonato", and won the Copa Colombia in 1952.

In 1951, Colombia was suspended by FIFA due to the recruitment of international players without a pass; the teams were forced to return all expatriate players that had participated in the tournament through irregular means. This edict marked the departure of di Stefano in February 1953, receiving bids from Barcelona and Real Madrid, who came to win the bid for the player. The Colombia national team was also banned from the 1954 FIFA World Cup for the same reason.

In 1952, a group of Venezuelan sports entrepreneurs created the Small Club World Cup, a friendly competition that brought together leading European and South American teams. Millonarios was invited to participate in the 1952 and 1953 editions. In its first appearance, the team finished with seven points, behind Real Madrid (double tie 1–1) and Brazilian Botafogo (4–4 tie and defeat 0–2); the tournament was played in a two-round scheme, and involved host La Salle of Venezuela (double win 4–1 and 5–1).

In its participation in 1953, the team was crowned undefeated champion with 11 points, above River Plate of Argentina (5–1 win and 1–1 tie), Rapid Wien of Austria (double win 2–1 and 4–0) and Spanish Espanyol of Barcelona (double win 6–0 and 4–0). This friendly tournament is considered by some to be a predecessor of the Intercontinental Cup, now known as FIFA Club World Cup, though not its equivalent.

Following their 1953 title, the team's performance in the local championship declined as they were forced to sell their foreign players and use mostly youth players. This culminated in a last place finish in the 1957 season, although in the following season Millonarios finished second behind rivals Santa Fe by just one point.

Millonarios won their fifth league title in 1959, paving the way for a second golden era in the 1960s, where they won four titles in a row from 1961 to 1964. In the 1970s, the team won the title in 1972 and 1978, and came very close to winning it multiple times, finishing runner-up in 1973 and 1975, and third in 1974, 1976 and 1977.

Millonarios won two more titles during this decade: the 1987 and 1988 league titles, with star players such as Arnoldo Iguarán, Mario Vanemerak, and Carlos Estrada. The 1988 title was the last title the club won before their 23-year title drought.

This was the only decade in which Millonarios did not win any domestic or international title, but achieved two runner-up finishes in the league. They came very close to winning the league title in 1994, but Atlético Nacional snatched it from them on bonus points as both teams won their matches on the final day. In the 1995–96 season, Millonarios were also beaten to the title on bonus points, this time by Deportivo Cali. The team also had a good 1999 season. Although they finished outside the top ten in the Apertura, in the Finalización, they collected 42 points and were undefeated during the regular season, while also setting a 29-match undefeated record, but fell in the playoffs and failed to reach qualification for the final, which was later won by Atlético Nacional.

In 2001, Millonarios won the Copa Merconorte, beating Mexican club Necaxa in the semi-finals on their way to the finals, where they beat Ecuadorian team Emelec on penalty kicks, after both legs had ended in draws.

Millonarios had further improvement when former Manchester City assistant manager Juan Carlos Osorio was appointed as the new manager in July 2006, replacing Miguel Prince, who had led the club to a sixth-placed finish in the Apertura. Osorio led the club into the playoffs for the Finalizacion, and was one point away from making the finals in the playoffs. The club finished fifth in the aggregate table for the year, taking the club once again into the Copa Sudamericana, while the team's financial situation also had a notable recovery.

In July 2007, Osorio left Millonarios to manage Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire, and he was replaced with Martín Lasarte; after a brief, but very unsuccessful period with Lasarte, Millonarios then hired Argentinian Mario Vanemerak as their new manager. Under Vanemerak, Millonarios began to shine again, most notably in the 2007 Copa Sudamericana. Although they had a scare in the first stage, where they just barely edged Peruvian club Coronel Bolognesi on penalties, they went on to eliminate several powerful teams, including beating rivals Nacional 3–2 and then shutting out Brazilian champions São Paulo 3–0 in the quarter-finals. Millonarios was eventually eliminated by Mexican side Club América 5–2 on aggregate to put their run to an end, but the club had a less impressive performance in the 2007 Finalizacion, finishing eleventh in the table and missing out on the playoffs.

After Millonarios failed to qualify for the playoffs in the 2008 Apertura, Vanemerak was dismissed. He was replaced by Óscar Quintabani, who had won back to back championships with Nacional. In his first season, the 2008 Finalizacion, the club barely missed out on a playoff spot by goal difference. However, in the 2009 Apertura the club finished 15th after a very poor campaign, and Quintabani left the club shortly after. Results did not significantly improve, and the club missed out on the playoffs in the 2009 Finalizacion and both tournaments of 2010.

Plagued by financial problems, and with no major titles in the last decade, as well as having failed to qualify for the playoffs in the last seven seasons, the club finally initiated a bankruptcy process that led to it being bought by a society composed of about 4,000 fans, Azul & Blanco S.A. This movement also meant a change in playing style which started with the hiring of Venezuelan coach Richard Páez.

Paez led the club to a sixth-placed finish in the 2011 Apertura and playoff semi-finals. The 2011 Finalización was even better, with the club finishing fourth in the league, and they were set to qualify for the finals after a 3–0 win against Junior in the semi-finals first leg, but Junior made a comeback in Barranquilla and tied the series, then shortly after won on penalties to eliminate Millonarios.

However, the Millonarios fans were not left without anything to celebrate, as the club won the 2011 Copa Colombia with a great run that included a first-place finish in their group, a comeback win against Deportes Tolima in the quarter finals, and then a 4–1 away win against Junior in the semi-finals, before topping it off by winning both games against Boyacá Chicó in the finals, clinching a spot in the 2012 Copa Sudamericana while also ending a 23-year title drought.

In June 2012, it was confirmed that Hernán Torres would be the new coach after a poor Apertura campaign where the club missed out on the playoffs. In Copa Sudamericana, the team was highly successful, reaching the semi-finals after eliminating Brazilian powerhouses Palmeiras and Grêmio, with Millonarios having lost the first legs both times but made comebacks, and they were eventually eliminated on away goals by the runner-up, Argentine club Tigre. This came as a relief after an embarrassing 8–0 defeat to Real Madrid in a friendly match in September to honor Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Despite the Copa Sudamericana elimination and the heavy defeat to Real Madrid, the team had a great performance in the 2012 Finalización, qualifying to the play-offs as the best team of the campaign. After a very difficult series of matches, the team finished the playoffs with ten points, equal with Deportivo Pasto, but reached the finals on better goal difference, which were to be played against Independiente Medellín. The first leg was played at Estadio Atanasio Girardot in Medellín, and ended in a 0–0 tie. The second leg was played on 16 December 2012 in Bogotá, and ended in a 1–1 draw, sending the match to a penalty shootout, where goalkeeper Luis Delgado managed to save a penalty and help his team win the shootout 5–4, as well as helping Millonarios win its fourteenth championship, their first league title in about 24 years.

As the 2012 Finalización champion, Millonarios qualified to the 2013 Copa Libertadores group stage, where it had a poor performance. They finished last in their group, with only one win and five losses.

In the 2017 Finalización, Millonarios achieved their fifteenth league title after defeating Santa Fe in a final that saw two goals at the end of the second half. Said final ended with a tie, that concluded an aggregate 3–2 win over their crosstown rivals. That league championship was immediately followed with their first Superliga Colombiana title, defeating Atlético Nacional over two legs to win the 2018 edition of the competition. The manager in both titles was Argentine Miguel Ángel Russo.

After a 2019 league campaign that saw Millonarios top the first stage of the Apertura tournament but ultimately miss out on the final series and later fail to qualify for the Finalización semi-finals, manager Jorge Luis Pinto resigned and was replaced by former player Alberto Gamero for the 2020 season. Millonarios's first season under Gamero did not bring the expected results, as the team failed to advance to the knockout stage of the league and had to win a tournament involving the eliminated sides in order to get a chance to qualify for the 2021 Copa Sudamericana. Although they managed to win the consolation tournament, they missed out on Copa Sudamericana qualification after losing the playoff to Deportivo Cali.

In 2021, things for Gamero and Millonarios significantly improved despite not being able to win the title. In the 2021 Apertura, Millonarios defeated América de Cali and Junior on their way to the finals, where they were beaten by Deportes Tolima, and in the Finalización tournament they placed second in their semi-final group, once again behind Deportes Tolima. Although in the 2022 season Millonarios failed to make it to the finals of both tournaments of the season despite being heavy favourites, in that year they won their first title with Gamero as manager, defeating Junior in the Copa Colombia finals.

Millonarios's sixteenth league title came in the 2023 Apertura tournament, placing second in the first stage with 38 points in 20 matches and winning their semi-final group where they played América de Cali, Boyacá Chicó, and Independiente Medellín. With Atlético Nacional as their rival for the finals, and after draws in both legs of the series (0–0 in Medellín and 1–1 in Bogotá), Millonarios won the ensuing penalty shootout by a 3–2 score to claim the league championship.