Atlético Marte

Foundation and early history

The history of Atletico Marte started at the end of the 1940s, when the San Salvadoran team España FC was dissolved.

Emilio Guardado and Carlos Carranza, leaders of the recent dissolved España FC, called a meeting with the players that remained of this team and others in the capital city of San Salvador to give life to another club called Alacranes F.C.

After a year playing under the name of Alacranes F.C., club president Colonel José Castro Melendez called a meeting at the old national gymnasium, and at the initiative of the player Conrado Miranda, it was decided to change the club name to Atletico Marte.

The club was officially born on the 2 June 1950 by the combination of military-related members such as José Castro Melendez, Fidel Quintanilla and Jesús Rodríguez and the general public such as Emilio Guardado, José Santiago Avelar and Armando Carranza.

The original uniform colors were ochre and beige, however with the passage of time the colors were changed to the current blue and white.

One of the most significant events of Atetico Marte was a 2–0 triumph on the home turf of Deportivo Saprissa, the first time a Salvadoran club had defeated a Costa Rican side on the opponent's home turf. The goals were scored by Gustavo "el Bordador" Lucha y Raúl Peña.

Premierships success

The club had played in the Primera División for five years, however it wasn't until the 1955 season under the players-coaches of Conrado Miranda and Isaiah Choto they won their first title. This was done thanks to 1–0 victory over Leones de Sonsonate with the lone goal coming from Fernando "El Gato" Barrios.

The players included Manuel "Tamalón" Garay, Antonio Montes, Armando Larín, Rutilio Rivera, Luis Antonio Regalado "Loco", Conrado Miranda, Gerónimo Pericullo (Argentina), Juan Bautista Pérez (Argentina), Raúl "Pibe" Vásquez (Argentina), Gustavo "el Bordador" Lucha, Fernando "el Gato" Barrios and René Pimentel.

Atletico Marte with the same core group of players from the previous campaign and the inclusion of Guatemalan Gabriel Urriolawere able to capture their second title consecutively, always under the command of Conrado Miranda and Isaiah Choto.

In 1956–57 campaign, the club was rejuvenated with players such as goalkeeper Francisco "Paco" Francés, Argentinian Rodolfo Baello, Guillermo "Loro" Castro, Julio César "Muñeca" Mejía, Mauricio "Pachín" González and many others. The club was able to win their 3rd title.

A winning title would escape the club for more than a decade until 1969 when they won their fourth title thanks to future world cup coach Chilean Hernán Carrasco Vivanco and star players Raúl "Araña" Magaña, Guillermo Castro, Argentinian Rodolfo Baello, José Antonio "Ruso" Quintanilla, Chilean Ricardo Sepúlveda and Sergio Méndez.

This was followed up with their fifth title in 1970 making the second time the club had won back to back title, this time they were reinforced with players such as Francisco Roque, Ernesto Aparicio, Manuel Cañadas, Adonay Castillo, Fernando Villalta, Roberto Morales, Elenilson Franco and Brazilian Odir Jacques.

Atletico Marte once again went a decade without a title, until 1980, when under the technical direction of Armando Contreras Palma and a squad predominately made up of Salvadoran players such as Carlos Felipe Cañadas, Milton Campos, Alfredo Rivera, José Castillo, Jorge Peña, Manuel Ramos, Danilo Blanco, Ramón Fagoaga, Norberto Huezo, Jorge Salomón Campos and Miguel González were able to win their sixth title.

Atletico Marte under the technical direction of Armando Contreras Palma and assistant coach former world cup player Juan Ramón "Mon" Martinez the club was able to win their seventh title i 1982. The tournament was called President Alvaro Alfredo Magaña Cup, in honor of the current president of the republic El Salvador.

This was thanks to a two-game series win over Independiente of San Vicente, the first game was 1–0 victory with a lone goal José Antonio "Tolín" Infantozzi and this was followed with a 2–0 victory with goals by José Antonio "Tolín" Infantozzi and Wilfredo "El Doctorcito" Huezo.

On 25 December 1985, Atlético Marte won their eighth and final Primera División title. This was thanks to a 5–2 victory over Alianza with the goals of Atletico Marte coming from Salomón Campos Mezquita, Norberto Huezo, Mario Figueroa (2) and Wilfredo Huezo.

The list of players that helped them win the title included José Luis Rugamas, Alfredo Fagoaga, Marcial Turcios, Santana Cartagena, Danilo Blanco, Guillermo Ragazzone, Nelson Escobar, Norberto Huezo, Salomón Campos, Mauricio Perla, Carlos Meléndez, William "el Pony" Rosales, Uruguayan Raúl Esnal and Mario Figueroa.

Champions of CONCACAF 1992

On the international stage Atlético Marte had reached the final of the 1981 CONCACAF Champions Cup, however they lost the series to the SV Transvaal from Suriname.

However, in 1991, the club was finally recognized internationally thanks to being crowned the champions of the CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup, a competition which was held in Guatemala and had strong clubs such as Universidad de Guadalajara from Mexico, Comunicaciones from Guatemala, Deportivo Saprissa from Costa Rica and Real Estelí from Nicaragua. Atletico Marte finished first in the group with a record of 2 wins and 1 loss.

Relegation to Segundo División

After several attempts to win another domestic title, by assembling top quality national and foreign players, Atletico Marte suffered a massive decline due to administrative mismanagement and eventually entered into economic crisis which led to poor results eventually getting the club relegated at the end of the 2002 season.