Fortaleza C.E.I.F. should not be confused with Fortaleza Esporte Clube.
| Clubname: | Fortaleza CEIF |
| Fullname: | Fortaleza C.E.I.F. Fútbol Club |
| Nickname: | Forta Rey del Twitter (King of Twitter) Los Amix[1] (The Friends) |
| Ground: | Estadio Metropolitano de Techo |
| Capacity: | 10,000 |
| Chairman: | Carlos Barato |
| Manager: | Sebastián Oliveros |
| League: | Categoría Primera A |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Position: | Primera B, 1st of 16 (promoted) |
| Website: | https://www.fortalezaceif.co/ |
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Fortaleza C.E.I.F. is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, currently playing in the Categoría Primera A, the top tier of Colombian football. The team has been promoted to the Categoría Primera A thrice, in 2013, 2015 and 2023. From 2018 to 2020, they played their home games at the Estadio Municipal de Cota,[2] moving afterwards to the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo in Bogotá.
The club was founded on 15 November 2010[3] as Fortaleza F.C., based in the municipality of Soacha. The club joined the Categoría Primera B after buying the licence of the recently dissolved club Atlético Juventud.[4]
In the 2013 Primera B season, the team was champion of the Finalización tournament, allowing them play the finals against Uniautónoma. The team lost the title, losing the home match with a 0–2 score, and drawing 1–1 in the away match. However, the team was promoted to the Primera A after winning against Cúcuta Deportivo in the Promotion/relegation playoff with a 2–1 global score.
Fortaleza was relegated after its first year in the Primera A. The club ranked 16th in the Apertura tournament and 13th in the Finalización tournament, being the worst team in the Relegation table.
In 2015, the club was renamed Fortaleza C.E.I.F. after merging with the amateur football club C.E.I.F. (Centro de Entrenamiento Integrado para el Fútbol), founded in 2008.[5] That season, the club was promoted after reaching the finals, however they lost the title against Atlético Bucaramanga with a 0–2 aggregate score. Fortaleza's second spell in the top flight also lasted one season, sealing their relegation back to Primera B with three matches to go after losing to Patriotas on 22 October 2016.[6]
After two seasons of mid-table performances, Fortaleza found themselves contending for promotion in the 2019 Primera B season, in which they made it to the Torneo II semi-finals but were knocked out at that stage by the eventual runners-up Boyacá Chicó,[7] and were a serious contender in the final tournament of the 2021 season. They advanced to the semi-finals after placing fourth in the first stage, and were leading their group with 10 points prior to the final matchday. Fortaleza needed to hold on to the top spot in order to achieve promotion, which they would manage by avoiding defeat against Bogotá, while at the same time Llaneros and Unión Magdalena were playing their match in Villavicencio, with the latter side having a chance at promotion if they won and Fortaleza lost their match. Despite losing their match to Bogotá, Fortaleza were promoting to Primera A since Llaneros were winning their game, however, two goals scored by Unión Magdalena in stoppage time ended Fortaleza's promotion chances and triggered a match-fixing inquiry.[8] [9] Although Fortaleza officially requested to get the match played in Villavicencio annulled and Unión Magdalena's promotion reversed,[10] the inquiry failed to find any irregularity.
Fortaleza returned to Primera A at the end of the 2023 Primera B season, sealing promotion after defeating Cúcuta Deportivo in the Torneo II finals and securing the top spot in the season's aggregate table.[11] They eventually ended as season runners-up after losing the grand final to Patriotas.[12]
Jaime Manjarrés (2011–12)[13] Roberto Vidales (2012–13)[14] Hernán Pacheco (2013–14) Alexis García (2014) Nilton Bernal (2015–16) Freddy Amazo (2016) Carlos Barato (2016–17) Carlos Mora (2017) David Barato (2018–19)
Pablo Garabello (2020) Nelson Flórez (2021–23) Sebastián Oliveros (2023–)Source: Worldfootball.net