U. de Deportes

The «U» is regarded as one of the big three of Peruvian football. It plays its home matches at the Estadio Monumental, which has a capacity of 80,093 spectators, making it the second-largest football stadium in South America and one of the largest in the world. To date it is the team that has won the most national championships in Peru, with a total of twenty-nine titles (seven in the amateur era and twenty-two in the professional era). In 1972 it was runner-up in the Copa Libertadores, the best performance of the first team in an international tournament. It also holds a U-20 Copa Libertadores won in 2011.

One of the main characteristics of Universitario de Deportes is its multi-sport nature. In addition to its main section, football, the club has teams in other sports disciplines such as basketball, volleyball, futsal and women's football, among others. It also has a farm club of the first football team, called Club Deportivo U América, which competes in the Copa Perú.

With 49 international appearances in official tournaments organized by CONMEBOL, it is, along with Sporting Cristal, the Peruvian club that has played the most continental cups, It is the second-best Peruvian team in the all-time table of the Copa Libertadores, and is considered by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics to be the best Peruvian team of the 20th century. In addition, a large number of the club's footballers have been selected to represent Peru in various international events, particularly in its greatest achievements, the Copa América editions of 1939 and 1975.

Foundation & early years (1924–1927)

José Rubio Galindo, a student in the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, and Luis Málaga Arenas, a student in the Faculty of Medicine, dedicated their free hours to exchanging ideas with the aim of realizing a shared desire: «to form a great institution». Later they would be joined by Plácido Galindo, Eduardo Astengo, Rafael Quirós, Mario de las Casas, Alberto Denegri, Luis de Souza Ferreira (who scored the first Peruvian goal at a FIFA World Cup), Andrés Rotta, Carlos Galindo, Francisco Sabroso, Jorge Góngora, Pablo Pacheco and Carlos Cillóniz, among others.

The club was founded on 7 August 1924 as Federación Universitaria also known as "Federación Deportivo Universitaria" or "Federación Universitaria de Fútbol" (actual FEDUP) by students and professors of the National University of San Marcos such as José Rubio, the first president, and Luis Málaga, the creator of the club crest. Others present during the foundation were Plácido Galindo, Eduardo Astengo, Mario de las Casas, Alberto Denegri, Luis de Souza Ferreira and Andrés Rotta. At first, Federacion Universitaria was a small league that held tournaments between the faculty departments of the university.

The National Sports Committee, predecessor of the Instituto Peruano del Deporte and the highest sports body in Peru at that time, recognized the University Federation as if it were a League. Thus, together with the Peruvian Football League, the Amateur Association, the Liga Chalaca, Circolo Sportivo Italiano and Lima Cricket and Football Club, they formed the Football Federation. After participating in various inter-university tournaments and friendly matches between 1924 and 1927, the Peruvian Football Federation invited the University Federation to take part in the 1928 Selection and Competition Championship (Primera División Tournament).

It officially debuted on May 27 against Club José Olaya of Chorrillos, which it defeated 7–1. At the end of the championship, the University Federation finished second behind Alianza Lima, against whom it disputed the title in three matches (1–0 win, 1–1 draw and 2–0 loss). In 1929, the championship featured only twelve teams due to the suspension of Alianza Lima for refusing to release its players to the national team. In this tournament, Universitario won its first national title, finishing the championship with seven wins, three draws and one loss, for a total of seventeen points, one more than Circolo Sportivo Italiano, which it had defeated 7–0. Carlos Cillóniz, a Universitario footballer, scored eight goals, becoming the tournament's top scorer.