The iconic Club Borussia Loja was founded in 1968, motivated by a group of family members and football fans such as Pepe Moreira, Vinicio Moreira, Viche Moreira, Jorge Navas, as well as the Zabaleta and Galindo families, among others.
Mauricio Navas Moreira, president of the Club, remembers that the name was given because in those years Borussia Dortmund from Germany came to Ecuador to compete and with the novelty of the arrival of a big team from Europe, added to the formation in which the youngsters were, they decided to call it that. The team is also known as the “Red Devils”.
“From the beginning, the team had that color: red heart, as Dr. Máximo Álvarez, a great leader of the club, used to say at the time; from there came the whole structure, of an amateur club, which developed in football, on dirt fields,” he said.
Borussia, during its career, has reached one of the highest places that amateur football has ever achieved in Loja, for example, it was five-time champion of this category, national vice-champion and, later, national champion. “After having achieved all these achievements, they took the step to form professional football in Loja and participated in championships for many years,” he said.
Descent and ascent
The president said that, for economic reasons, the club stopped participating for nearly 20 years and two years ago it was reborn, again, with the support of the players who were national champions in their time and the love of the fans, who want Borussia to participate again, and so after a long process they managed to legally establish themselves as a professional club to participate, in this case, in Second Division football.
“The Club is a sports project focused on youth, but due to the demands of the Ecuadorian Football Federation, we had to participate. We put out a call for young Loja footballers, and we had more than 100 talented athletes,” he said.
The team contains 50% of players under 18 years old. Currently the club has around 26 players, including two foreigners: a Colombian and a Brazilian.
As it is a lightning championship, they have had little time to prepare; despite having a good and experienced team, they hope that they will not be affected by their physical condition, especially.
Aim
The club leaders have many goals ahead of them, one of these is to reach international championships, as well as to build a sports complex in Loja, so that the children and youth of Loja can fulfill their dream and desire to play soccer. “We have the project, whose investment is USD 250 thousand, which includes a field with official dimensions and another for youth training, a medical center, locker rooms and a place for foreign players to spend the night,” he said.
Anecdote
The Club has been in existence for 56 years and, according to the president, has left them with countless anecdotes. For example, when they won the national championship, people came out to welcome them outside the bus terminal; similarly, Patricio Sotomayor scored an Olympic goal, the first of the national championship. (I)