Club Bolívar

Until well into the eighties of the last century there was controversy regarding the date of creation of the institution. The year 1927 was considered good until it became clear that it had been founded in 1925, the year of the country's centenary.

The club was born on April 12, 1925 to the warmth of a friendship and the enthusiasm of a group of friends who, with the idea of forming a social club whose objective was to practice sport, especially soccer, met in a modest house colonial center of La Paz, specifically on Junín street, between Catacora and Sucre streets, less than two blocks from Plaza Murillo, where it was decided to create this with an unusual name, Bolívar, contrary to the usual names of Bolivian teams since then, most of them baptized with names in English. Names such as Franz Tamayo or Antonio José de Sucre were thought of. But in homage to the Liberator Simón Bolívar, he decided for Bolívar.

Despite the fact that the founders had as a dominant passion the practice of soccer, as was the style at the time, they added the cultural ingredient with the additional denominative of "musical literary club", that is, the club was originally founded with the name of "Club Atlético Literario Musical Bolívar" which was soon diluted by the strength of the soccer team and its distinctive achievements, being reduced only to Club Bolívar.

Don Humberto Bonifacio was in charge of the club's management on a provisional basis, until the first president was elected by a democratic election Carlos Terán, who was accompanied by Ernesto Sainz, Héctor Salcedo, Rafael Navarro, and Felipe Gutiérrez. All of them met on weekends in the north of La Paz to play soccer.

In 1927, two years after its founding, the Club Bolívar officially enrolled in La Paz Fútbol Asociation, Bolívar for the first time participated in an official championship, which was played on the Miraflores court where he was runner-up.

The first team that disputed the 1927 championship in which, as a debutant, they achieved the runner-up behind Nimbles Sport was made up of a stable team that was made up of Walter Miranda, Enrique Tellería, Felipe Gutiérrez Nieto, Víctor Leclere, Carlos Terán, Germán Garnica , Roberto Segaline, Miguel Carreón, Luis Ernesto Sanz, being his captain Humberto Barreda. Alfredo Molina, Roberto Gómez and Carlos Álvarez were incorporated a year later.

His first international friendly match was played on June 3, 1927 when he faced Coquimbo Unido of Chile in La Paz, he was defeated by 2 to 1.

In 1928 the celestial team occupies fifth place in the table of placements.

In the official tournament in 1929, the Bolívar club achieved third place.

On May 11, 1930, the official championship begins and ends on July 30 at the main stadium Estadio Hernando Siles, obtaining the runner-up for the Bolívar club with seven units.

In 1931 the tournament was fulfilled with poor performances by the teams that did not have good lower divisions, limiting the championship to only four teams. That same year, on July 8, Club Bolívar obtained its first international victory against Gimnasia y Tiro de Salta, which it defeated 2 to 1 in La Paz.

A fundamental event in this first part of the club's history occurred in 1932 when Bolívar achieved the first championship in its history played in two series. The soccer leader of that Bolívar was one of the great players in history, Mario Alborta, center forward, and captain of the sky and of the Bolivian team. The contest began on May 26, having to be suspended due to the events of the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay on September 25. "La Paz Fútbol Asociation", established that the location and score of the moment were recognized in the final table. For this reason, Club Bolívar was declared champion of that year. The runner-up was The Strongest, who from that year on would be the most important rival of the Bolivaristas.

In the following two years, 1933 and 1934, the tournaments were suspended until the end of the war event facing the country.

After the war, the championship was restarted a year later, in 1935.

The team was champion for the second time in 1937.

Bolívar was runner-up in 1938, a champion for four consecutive years between 1939 and 1942, achieving the four-time championship. That team was led by players Walter Saavedra, Rojas, Romero, Plaza, Gutiérrez, and Garzón. It was also runner-up in 1943 and 1945.

1947 is an important year for Bolívar and for Bolivian football, since the debut with the blue jersey of Víctor Agustín Ugarte, the Tupiceño who came to La Paz to test himself and from the first day, showed his quality. Bolívar made his debut against Ferroviario and that same year he debuted his talent in the Bolivian national team. Ugarte is for those who saw him play, the undisputed best Bolivian player in history. Between right-wing in the old 2-3-5 scheme, he was progressively lagging behind to manage the team.

Bolivar's traditional home colors are light blue, traditional away colors are dark blue or white.

• First Division – LPFB/División Profesional Era: 23

1978, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004-A, 2005-AD, 2006-C, 2009-A, 2011-AD, 2013-C, 2014-A, 2015-C, 2017-A, 2017-C, 2019-A

• First Division – AFLP Era: 6

1950, 1953, 1956, 1966, 1968, 1976

• Liga de Fútbol Amateur Boliviano: 6

1932, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942

• Copa Aerosur: 2

2009, 2010

• Copa Bolivia: 4

1979, 1989, 1990, 2001

Runner-up (3): 1980, 1992, 1999

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 MF  ARG Juan Cataldi (on loan from Gimnasia y Esgrima (LP)) 18 FW  ESP Álvaro Rey

No. Pos. Nation Player 33 FW  ANG Anderson Emanuel

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  BOL Saidt Mustafá (to Club Guraira) — DF  PAR Teodoro Paredes (loan return to Newell's Old Boys)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ARG Emiliano Vecchio (to Rosario Central) — FW  ARG Jorge Pereyra Díaz (to Free Agent)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ARG Matías Dituro (at Universidad Católica) — DF  BOL Juan Carlos Zampiery (at Sport Boys)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  BOL Luis Alí (to Free Agent) — FW  ESP Iker Hernández (at Club San José)