Foot Ball Club Melgar, known simply as FBC Melgar or Melgar, is a Peru professional football club based in Arequipa. It is one of Peru's oldest football teams, founded in 1915 under the name Juventud Melgar by a group of football enthusiasts from Arequipa. The club currently competes in the Peruvian Primera División, the top tier of Peruvian football.
The team first participated in the Peruvian football league in 1919 and later was invited to the first true National football league, the Torneo Descentralizado, in 1966, when four teams from the Provinces were invited to join the league. Previously, only teams from Lima and Callao had been allowed to compete for the championship. Due to a low finish the first year, Melgar was dropped from the league after the first year. After winning the Copa Perú they returned to the Primera División where they have remained to this day. Melgar won the Primera División for the first time in 1981 and 2015.
FBC Melgar has had a huge long-standing rivalry with Cienciano of Cusco, known as the Clásico del Sur. The rivalry is one of the fiercest and oldest in Peru. Melgar also has rivalries with FBC Aurora, Sportivo Huracán and FBC Piérola.
The club began playing its home games at the Estadio Melgar, but moved to the Estadio Monumental Virgen de Chapi when it was built in 1990, with a capacity of 40,370. In recent years, Melgar have been considered the fourth best team in Peru, after the big three, Universitario, Alianza Lima and Sporting Cristal. Along with a men's team, Melgar also has a women's football team that participates in the Liga Femenina.
In 1930, Melgar would begin a tour across Chile, being their first international appearance. Their debut would be against Valparaíso which resulted in a draw. They would later meet again which resulted in a 5–0 loss. Melgar would later play against clubs such as Colo-Colo, Audax Italiano, Coquimbo Unido, and Antofagasta. A year later, the Bolivian club Club Bolívar would visit Arequipa to play matches with the local clubs and clubs of nearby Mollendo. Melgar faced Bolivar and won for the first time against a foreign club. The win resulted in a rivalry between the two clubs. In the same decade, changes were made on the football of Arequipa, some of which reduced the amount of teams participated in the Primera Division and relegations. Melgar suffered from these reforms, not winning any titles and were relegated to the Segunda Division of Arequipa. They missed promotion in 1933 to Deportivo Ciclón. In the same years, Melgar sparked a rivalry with another club in Arequipa known as FBC Aurora. In 1939, Melgar got promoted back to the first division but did not win any titles.
In 1945, the red-and-black team would win the Second Division championship comfortably, accessing the First Division directly. In 1946 and 1947, already in the First Division of the Provincial League of Arequipa, the red-and-black club had outstanding performances reaching fourth place in the table in both seasons, in addition the club was again able to play matches against capital teams such as Sport Boys and Ciclista Association, and international ones such as the one that beat the Litoral de Bolivia by the score of 4 to 2.
Melgar would go on to win the Liga Distrital de Arequipa in 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970. They were also champions of the Liga Departamental de Arequipa for 3 consecutive years since 1967 and won the Copa Perú in 1971. This championship allowed them to return to the First Division Campeonato Descentralizado where they currently remain.
Melgar won the National Championship in 1981 for the first time, and Melgar was the runner-up of the national championship in 1983. They would beat giants such as Alianza Lima, Universitario and Sporting Cristal in the final. It was the first southern team of Peru to win the national championship. In both these years this qualified them to play in the Copa Libertadores of 1982 and 1984, where they got eliminated in the Group stage in both editions.
In 2015, the year of Melgar's centenary, and still with Reynoso as the manager, the team signed important players like Raúl Ruidíaz, Carlos Ascues, Johnnier Montaño, Rainer Torres and Daniel Ferreyra to make an impressive team and fight for the title. Then, Melgar won the national championship, besting Sporting Cristal with a score in the final minute by Bernardo Cuesta. As a result, they classified for the 2016 Copa Libertadores, and again in 2017, 2018, and 2019. In ally editions, they were eliminated in the second stage. Melgar classified for the 2022 Copa Sudamericana, which would be their best performance in an international competition. They were able to qualify for the Group stage after defeating rivals Cienciano in the qualifying round. They topped their group and went on to the Round of 16 and Quarter-finals, defeating large South american clubs such as Deportivo Cali of Colombia and SC Internacional of Brazil. They were then eliminated in the Semi-finals by Independiente del Valle of Ecuador.
In the 2022 season, Melgar won the Torneo Apertura, classifying for the semi-finals, defeating Sporting Cristal and advancing to the final. They would meet Alianza Lima in the final, winning 1–0 at home but lost 2–0 away and lost the final. They would classify for the 2023 Copa Libertadores as a result and got eliminated in the Group stage. Melgar would again classify for the 2024 Copa Libertadores but were eliminated by debuting club Club Aurora from Bolivia, (not to be confused with Melgar rivals FBC Aurora) losing 2–1 on aggregate.
Estadio Mariano Melgar, also known as Estadio de Cuarto Centenario, was Melgars first stadium and was built in 1954. The stadium is named after Mariano Melgar, a Peruvian poet and patriot. It has a capacity of 15,000 and is home to various clubs in Arequipa along with Melgar. It hosted the 2001 South American U-17 Championship where it was held in Arequipa. The stadium, along with Estadio Virgen de Chapi also has a running track for track and field events.
In 2024, Melgar inaugurated its own training ground, call the Centro de Alto Rendimiento – Melgar.
The team is nicknamed El Dominó, ''The Domino'', which came from the teams iconic red and black shirts. Occidente Domino is the largest fan group of Melgar and is located on the Occidente stand of the stadium.
Melgar also has had a long-standing rivalry with FBC Aurora, Sportivo Huracán, and FBC Piérola, called the Superc lásico Arequipeño. The rivalries are with the other clubs in Arequipa, and date back to the early 1900s when the clubs were playing in the Liga Departamental de Arequipa and Primera Division. FBC Melgar currently does not play with these clubs as they are in separate leagues.
National (League) ! scope=col | Primera División | 2 | 3 | 1981, 2015 | 1983, 2016, 2022 |
Half-year / Short tournament (League) ! scope=col | Torneo Apertura | 1 | 2 | 2014, 2015 | |
National (Cups) ! scope=col | Copa Presidente de la República | — | 1 | — | |
Regional (League) ! scope=col | Región Sur | 5 | — | 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971 | — |
International (Cup) ! scope=col | Copa El Gráfico-Perú | 1 | — | 2001–III | — |
National (League) ! scope=col | Torneo de Promoción y Reserva | 2 | 1 | 2014, 2015 | 2024 |
Half-year / Short tournament (League) ! scope=col | Torneo Apertura | 1 | — | 2015 | — |
National (League) ! scope=col | Copa Perú Femenina | 1 | — | 2022 | — |
Regional (League) ! scope=col | Región VII | 1 | — | 2022 | — |
National (League) ! scope=col | CONMEBOL Torneo Nacional Juvenil Femenino Sub-14 | — | 1 | — | 2024 |
44 |
58 |
0 |
A = appearances, P = matches played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals against, DG = difference goals, Pts = points.
1982 | Copa Libertadores | Group stage | Deportivo Municipal | 2–1 | 2–0 | Second place | |
Club Olimpia | 0–3 | 0–4 | |||||
Sol de América | 3–2 | 2–0 | |||||
1984 | Copa Libertadores | Group stage | Sporting Cristal | 2–0 | 2–3 | Fourth place | |
Universidad de Los Andes | 0–1 | 0–1 | |||||
Portuguesa FC | 1–2 | 0–4 | |||||
1998 | Copa CONMEBOL | R1 | LDU Quito | 1–3 | 1–3 | 2–6 | |
2013 | Copa Sudamericana | Q1 | Deportivo Pasto | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | |
2015 | Copa Sudamericana | Q1 | Junior | 4–0 | 0–5 | 4–5 | |
2016 | Copa Libertadores | Group stage | Atlético Mineiro | 1–2 | 0–4 | Fourth place | |
Independiente del Valle | 0–1 | 0–2 | |||||
Colo-Colo | 1–2 | 0–1 | |||||
2017 | Copa Libertadores | Group stage | Emelec | 1–0 | 0–3 | Fourth place | |
Independiente Medellín | 1–2 | 0–2 | |||||
River Plate | 2–3 | 2–4 | |||||
2018 | Copa Libertadores | Second Stage | Santiago Wanderers | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | |
2019 | Copa Libertadores | Second Stage | Universidad de Chile | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
Third Stage | Caracas | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | |||
Group stage | San Lorenzo | 0–0 | 0–2 | Third place | |||
Junior | 1–0 | 1–0 | |||||
Palmeiras | 0–4 | 0–3 | |||||
Copa Sudamericana | Q2 | Universidad Católica | 0–0 | 0–6 | 0–6 | ||
2020 | Copa Sudamericana | Q1 | Nacional Potosí | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 (4–3 p) | |
Q2 | Bahia | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–4 | |||
2021 | Copa Sudamericana | Q1 | Carlos A. Mannucci | 3–2 | 2–1 | 5–3 | |
Group stage | Metropolitanos | 0–0 | 3–2 | Second place | |||
Aucas | 2–0 | 1–2 | |||||
Athletico Paranaense | 1–0 | 0–1 | |||||
2022 | Copa Sudamericana | Q1 | Cienciano | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |
Group stage | Cuiabá | 3–1 | 0–2 | First place | |||
River Plate UY | 2–0 | 2–1 | |||||
Racing Club | 3–1 | 0–1 | |||||
Round 16 | Deportivo Cali | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | |||
Quarter-finals | Internacional | 0–0 | 0–0 (3–1 p) | 0–0( 3–1 p) | |||
Semi-finals | Independiente del Valle | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–6 | |||
2023 | Copa Libertadores | Group stage | Club Olimpia | 1–1 | 1–4 | Fourth place | |
Atlético Nacional | 0–1 | 1–3 | |||||
Patronato | 5–0 | 1–4 | |||||
2024 | Copa Libertadores | First Stage | Club Aurora | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |
2025 | Copa Libertadores | Second Stage | Deportes Tolima | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
Third Stage | Cerro Porteño | 0–1 | 2–4 | 2–5 | |||
Copa Sudamericana | Group Stage | Vasco da Gama | 3–3 | 0–3 | Third place | ||
Lanús | 0–1 | 0–3 | |||||
Puerto Cabello | 1–0 | 1–0 |
|
|