Peru Liga 1 03/14 02:00 8 [2] Sporting Cristal v FBC Melgar [8] W 1-2
Peru Liga 1 03/09 20:30 7 [11] FBC Melgar v AD Tarma [9] W 3-1
Peru Liga 1 03/02 20:45 6 [8] Comerciantes Unidos v FBC Melgar [14] D 0-0
Peru Liga 1 02/24 22:30 5 [15] FBC Melgar v Union Comercio [16] W 2-1
Peru Liga 1 02/18 01:00 4 [2] Universitario de Deportes v FBC Melgar [13] L 2-0
Copa Libertadores Qualification 02/15 00:30 14 FBC Melgar v Club Aurora D 1-1
Peru Liga 1 02/10 20:00 3 [16] FBC Melgar v Alianza Atletico [13] W 1-0
Copa Libertadores Qualification 02/08 00:30 14 Club Aurora v FBC Melgar L 1-0
Peru Liga 1 02/03 01:00 2 [12] Cesar Vallejo v FBC Melgar [11] L 3-2
Peru Liga 1 01/27 00:00 1 [12] FBC Melgar v Cusco FC [9] L 2-3
Club Friendly List 01/20 20:00 - FBC Melgar v Bolivar D 1-1
Peru Liga 1 10/29 20:00 19 [15] Deportivo Binacional v FBC Melgar [2] W 1-2
Peru Liga 1 10/03 23:00 17 [2] FBC Melgar v Carlos Mannucci [14] W 2-1
Peru Liga 1 09/29 01:30 16 [4] Alianza Lima v FBC Melgar [1] D 0-0
Peru Liga 1 09/24 20:15 15 [3] FBC Melgar v Union Comercio [15] W 3-1
Peru Liga 1 09/19 20:20 14 [15] Academia Deportiva Cantolao v FBC Melgar [4] W 0-1
Peru Liga 1 09/15 20:20 13 [4] FBC Melgar v Alianza Atletico [17] W 4-0
Peru Liga 1 09/10 00:00 12 [11] Cienciano v FBC Melgar [6] W 0-1
Peru Liga 1 08/27 20:30 11 [4] FBC Melgar v Sport Huancayo [7] L 1-3
Peru Liga 1 08/19 20:30 10 [13] Cusco FC v FBC Melgar [3] D 1-1
Peru Liga 1 08/15 23:00 9 [3] FBC Melgar v UTC Cajamarca [14] D 1-1
Peru Liga 1 08/12 01:00 8 [8] Cesar Vallejo v FBC Melgar [3] W 1-2
Peru Liga 1 08/06 23:00 7 [2] FBC Melgar v Universitario de Deportes [3] L 0-1
Peru Liga 1 07/31 18:00 6 [4] Sport Boys v FBC Melgar [2] W 0-2
Peru Liga 1 07/23 20:30 5 [2] FBC Melgar v Sporting Cristal [3] D 1-1
Peru Liga 1 07/17 20:00 4 [12] Deportivo Municipal v FBC Melgar [4] W 0-1
Peru Liga 1 07/07 20:00 3 [3] FBC Melgar v Atletico Grau [17] W 3-0
Peru Liga 1 07/01 23:00 2 [8] Deportivo Garcilaso v FBC Melgar [2] D 2-2
Copa Libertadores 06/28 00:00 6 [1] Olimpia Asuncion v FBC Melgar [3] L 4-1
Peru Liga 1 06/22 23:00 1 [13] FBC Melgar v AD Tarma [1] W 4-0

Wikipedia - FBC Melgar

Foot Ball Club Melgar, known simply as FBC Melgar or Melgar, is a Peruvian football club based in Arequipa, Peru. It is one of Peru's oldest football teams, founded in 1915 by a group of football enthusiasts from Arequipa. The club currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División.

The team first participated in the Peruvian football league in 1919 in Lima 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. Joining them were Atlético Grau from Piura, Club Octavio Espinoza from Ica and Alfonso Ugarte from Trujillo. Previously, only teams from Lima and Callao had been allowed to compete for the national 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 First Division where they have remained to this day. Melgar won the Torneo Descentralizado for the first time in 1981. In the 1983 season the club finished first in the First Stage and at the end the top six teams played a play-off tournament to determine the year's champion, which Melgar finished in second.

FBC Melgar plays its home games at the Estadio Mariano Melgar, but since the Estadio de la UNSA was built in 1990 with a capacity of 60,370, it has used both.

History

Squad of then Juventud Melgar in 1915

FBC Melgar was founded on 25 March 1915 as Juventud Melgar by a group of young football fans in Arequipa. The name was chosen in honor of the poet Mariano Melgar. The club would take part in their first championship in 1918, the Liga Provincial de Arequipa. In 1919, the club travled to Lima to participate in friendlies where their performance was widespread across the city. Melgar won their first title in the 1921 Liga Distrital de Arequipa, defeating Independencia. They would win the championship again in 1923, 1925 and 1926. They later would be champions of Arequipa in 1928.

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, 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.

Melgar against rivals Aurora

The club was relegated to the Arequipa second division again in 1957, where it stayed for four years until it defeated Independiente de Miraflores where it got promoted back to the first division. They 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.

Melgars winning 2015 squad

In 2014, Juan Reynoso, who came from México, was appointed as the new manager. He signed players like Piero Alva, Nelinho Quina, Minzum Quina, Luis Hernández, Alejandro Hohberg, Lampros Kontogiannis and Edgar Villamarín to make an impressive campaign where Melgar was the best team during the whole season finishing 1st in the accumulated table, but due to some bad results in the final matches and the poor organization of the tournament they weren't able to dispute the Play-off for the championship and only qualified for the Copa Sudamericana, where there was an intense match with Deportivo Pasto, winning by four goals in the first game, but lost by five in the second, being eliminated in the qualifying round.

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 Aperture, 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 Aurora from Bolivia, (not to be confused with Melgar rivals FBC Aurora) losing 2–1 on aggregate.

FBC Melgar is a professional soccer team based in Arequipa, Peru. The team was founded in 1915 and has a rich history in Peruvian soccer. FBC Melgar has won several domestic titles, including the Peruvian Primera División in 1981 and 2015. The team plays their home matches at Estadio Monumental de la UNSA, which has a capacity of 60,000 spectators. FBC Melgar is known for their attacking style of play and their passionate fan base. The team's colors are red and black, and their mascot is a jaguar. FBC Melgar has a strong youth academy and has produced several talented players who have gone on to play for the Peruvian national team. The team is currently managed by Néstor Lorenzo and has a talented squad of players, including Joel Sánchez, Bernardo Cuesta, and Carlos Neyra.