Independiente Santa Fe

History

Independiente Santa Fe was officially founded on February 28, 1941, as an amateur football team. The club's founders were mainly graduates from the Gimnasio Moderno and of a high social class. Santa Fe was at first going to be a team based on ex-students of Gimnasio Moderno, but later incorporated players from other schools. The primary objective of the club was to participate in a local tournament hosted by the Sports Association of Bogotá. Their first recorded game was against Universal, a match that ended in a goalless draw. The team ended the tournament as runner-up with 20 points, being beaten by Legión Militar Deportiva de los Taxis Rojos, a representative of a transportation company.

In 1942, Santa Fe was coached by Jack Greenwell, former Barcelona player and coach, notable for having won three times the Copa del Rey and the 1939 South American Championship with Peru. That year Santa Fe played in the first division of the A.D.B., which was canceled in the middle of that year. That same year also reached the final of the Torneo de Cundinamarca, which lost against América de Cali. Jack Greenwell died on November 20 of that year.

On 21 May 1948 the DIMAYOR was established in Colombia, which would serve to manage Colombian professional football. They agreed to hold the first professional championship for the second half of the year. On August 15, Santa Fe played its first game in the professional championship against Deportes Caldas, a match that ended 3–3. Santa Fe finished the league as the first champion of the Colombian first division, winning 12 of 18 games, drew 3 and also lost 3. The team was able to score 57 goals for and received 29 goals. The goalscorer of the team was the Spanish Argentine Jesús María Lires with 20 goals, second goalscorer of the tournament.

Next year Santa Fe was third, five points behind the champion, local rivals Millonarios. Seeking for a new title, Santa Fe took advantage of the events of El Dorado signing Argentines Héctor Rial and René Pontoni (the former became a star of Real Madrid years later), as well the Englishmen Neil Franklin and George Mountford from Stoke City, and Charlie Mitten from Manchester United. However, the signings did little, as Santa Fe was not into the top three for about ten years, being their worst the 1954 campaign where they finished last with just five points.

In 1958, Santa Fe got its second title after finishing first with 48 points. They got its third title just two after years with 61 points. Getting this title, Santa Fe became the second Colombian club appearing at the Copa Libertadores. In that tournament, Santa Fe was placed in the preliminary round with Ecuadorian club Barcelona. The first match was a 3–0 victory for Santa Fe and the second game was a 2–2 draw. In the next round, Santa Fe eliminated Bolivian club Jorge Wilstermann. Santa Fe drew 2–2 with Jorge Wilstermann on point aggregate and 3–3 on aggregate score, so the winner was decided by a draw of lots. In the semifinals, Santa Fe faced Brazilian club Palmeiras. The home leg was a 2–2 draw, but Santa Fe lost 4–1 in the away leg.

Colours and badge

The first badge of Santa Fe was designed by Ernesto Gamboa and Gonzalo Rueda with a clear British influence. Highlighting the Bogotá flag colors, red and yellow, combined to form the Holy Cross, a symbol of faith and respect, referring to the name of the club.

There are many versions about the origin of the colors of the uniform. The most commonly accepted version is that Luis Robledo, one of the founders of the Independiente Santa Fe who was educated in England, was a fan of Arsenal, thus gives the team the red and white, which from 1941 became the symbol of the club.

Although historically the uniform of Santa Fe has been red and white, the club has used other colors in its uniform.

Stadium

The stadium Nemesio Camacho, also known as El Campín, located in Bogotá, is the venue where Independiente Santa Fe plays their home games. Its capacity is 36,343. Santa Fe's supporters traditionally tend to sit in the southernmost half of the stadium.

El Campín was inaugurated on August 10, 1938, at 57th Street with 30, having started its construction in 1935 on the initiative of the mayor of Bogotá, Jorge Eliecer Gaitán. The structure was handled by the German engineer Frederick Leder Müller. The stadium was designed to hold 10,000 spectators. The opening match was held in the 1938 Bolivarian Games, facing the Colombia national football team and the Ecuador national football team, with a 2–1 defeat for the local team.

In 1951, the year that Santa Fe begins to use it to its home games, the stadium expanded its capacity to 39,000 spectators. The second extension of El Campín occurred in 1952 with a dramatic transformation. The total capacity changed to 62,500 spectators, but was limited to 48,000 for security. The last major modification was made for the qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Other grounds that have been used by Independiente Santa Fe for their home games have been: the Estadio Alfonso López Pumarejo, its first ground, the Estadio Municipal Los Zipas and the Estadio Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento.

Supporters and rivalries

In the late 1990s, the most notorious Barra brava of Santa Fe, La Guardia Albi-Roja Sur (White-Red South Guard) was created. It was one of the first fan-led organizations in Colombia that was fully formalized. In 2005, La Guardia Albirroja Sur made one of the largest soccer team's flag in the world. The flag, named the Lienzo de Fe was 350 meters long and 38 meters high, covering the southern end of the Estadio El Campín, the half of the stadium, where the team's fans locate in home games.

Clásico Capitalino

Santa Fe has a fierce rivalry with intercity team Millonarios, who also play in the same stadium as them. During this match Millonarios fans locate themselves in the northern part of the stadium much like Santa Fe's in the south.

Honours

s shared record

Runner-up finishes

Categoría Primera A

Runners-up (7): 1963, 1979, 2005–I, 2013–I, 2017–II, 2020, 2024–I

Copa Colombia

Runners-up (3): 1950–51, 2014, 2015

Copa Libertadores

Semifinals (2): 1961, 2013

Copa CONMEBOL

Runners-up (1): 1996

Copa Merconorte

Runners-up (1): 1999

Recopa Sudamericana

Runners-up (1): 2016

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

Copa Libertadores: 14 appearances

Copa Sudamericana: 7 appearances

Recopa Sudamericana: 1 appearance

2016: Runners-up

Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearance

1996: Runners-up

Players

As of 17 August 2026

First-team squad

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

Out on loan

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

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Independiente Santa Fe.

Carlos Aponte (1962)

Héctor González Garzón (1962)

Jaime Silva (1962)

Hernando Tovar (1962)

Francisco Zuluaga (1962)

Eduardo Niño (1990)

Juan Manuel Peña (1994)

Léider Preciado (1998)

Édison Méndez (2014)

Carlos Valdés (2014)

Camilo Vargas (2014)

Records

Source: BDFA

Last updated on: 21 January 2018

Last updated on: 21 January 2018

Women

Independiente Santa Fe Femenino is the women's football section of Independiente Santa Fe and they currently play in the Colombian Women's Football League, the top level women's football league in Colombia. The club is the most successful team in the Colombian women's football league with three titles, won in 2017, 2019, 2023

Like the institution's male counterpart, who were the first Colombian professional football champions in 1948, the women's team obtained the honor of being the first club to win the Colombian Women's Football League with their title in 2017.

Affiliated clubs

Patriotas