Deportivo Cali

Amateur era

Cali Football Club was formed in 1908 by students under the leadership of Nazario Lalinde, Juan Pablo Lalinde and Fidel Lalinde, who came back from Europe bringing football to the city of Cali, but in 1912 the students under the leadership of the three Lalinde brothers organized the team and renamed it as Deportivo Cali beginning practice under their first coach, Catalan born Francisco Villa Bisa.

Their first match was between CFC "A" and CFC "B" in the Versailles pitch, with 300 spectators in attendance. By 1928 the name was changed to "Deportivo Cali A" and the club represented the Valle del Cauca Department in the National Games, earning the titles between 1928 and 1930.

In 1945 several clubs decided to become part of the club adding new sports to the institution such as athletics, basketball, and swimming. During the next several years the club played against teams from the country and by 1948 the team was ready to play its first professional season in the newly created national league.

Early professional era

Deportivo Cali's first game in the Colombian professional league was a defeat against Junior in Barranquilla by a 2–0 score, and their first match at home was a 2–2 draw against Deportes Caldas. After losing 3–2 against Millonarios in Bogotá, their first victory came in the fourth match against Atlético Nacional (then Atlético Municipal) by a 4–1 score. They would end the season in eighth place with a record of 6 victories, 4 draws and 8 defeats. In 1949 the businessman and sugar tycoon of the Valle del Cauca region Carlos Sarmiento Lora became club chairman, and driven by his personal affinity with Peruvian football he recruited several footballers from that country such as Máximo "Vides" Mosquera, Guillermo Barbadillo, Valeriano López, Víctor Pasalaqua, Eliseo Morales, Luis "Tigrillo" Salazar, Manuel Drago and Manuel García, who were complemented by the Argentines Luis Ferreyra, Manuel Giúdice, and Ricardo "Tanque" Ruiz (who was with the team since the previous year), along with Peruvian coach Adelfo Magallanes. Forwards Mosquera, Barbadillo and López went on to form and lead what became known as the Rodillo Negro (Black Roller). With them, Deportivo Cali went on to establish a 18-match unbeaten streak in the 1949 league championship which allowed them to end up tied in points with Millonarios, forcing a tiebreaker final series to decide the champion. Deportivo Cali ended as league runners-up for the first time after losing both matches of the series (3–2 in Bogotá and 1–0 in Cali). For the following season, manager Magallanes left for crosstown rivals América and was replaced by Carlos Peucelle. Deportivo Cali finished third in the league that year and repeated that placement in the following season. In the remaining years of the El Dorado period the club began a decline, placing fourth in 1952, sixth in 1953, and ninth in 1954.

1955–1959: Withdrawal and hiatus

Deportivo Cali ended the 1955 championship in last place and with huge debts which convinced its board of directors that continue playing in the league was not feasible, which led to the club's withdrawal from the league in 1956. Since this withdrawal was made without prior notice to Dimayor and with the club still owing money to the governing body, Deportivo Cali's affiliation (ficha) was revoked and its players were released.

By that time Colombian football had entered a period of crisis, and other clubs were also feeling the aftermath of the end of the El Dorado era. One of those was Boca Juniors de Cali, who had requested permission from Dimayor to sit out of the 1958 league championship but had paid its debts, which enabled it to keep their affiliation rights for the duration of its hiatus, leaving América as the sole Cali representative in the competition, but as they also announced their intention not to participate in the 1959 championship, a move was started to revive Deportivo Cali, which was led by Alex Gorayeb. Gorayeb, who was financially backed by the Colombian Lebanese colony, convinced several football executives of the time to participate, and requested permission from Deportivo Cali's last board of directors to represent them at Dimayor in order to claim back the club's revoked affiliation rights. Although they granted Gorayeb permission to meet with Dimayor as their representative, they did not wish to involve themselves with the club again.