Santos Laguna W

Formation and early years

Santos Laguna was founded in 1983 by the IMSS of the state of Durango. Since the late 1970s, the IMSS had sponsored a national football tournament with teams from across the country. José Díaz Couder, IMSS head of social services in Gómez Palacio, was invited to participate in the tournaments despite the fact that he did not have a team. He appealed to the players he knew to form a team, based on Asturias F.C.

In 1987, Tuberos de Veracruz, part of the Segunda División de México, was purchased by IMSS and moved to Santa Cruz, Tlaxcala. The first Santos Laguna team spent less than a year in Tlaxcala before moving to Gómez Palacio. A lack of facilities spurred efforts to obtain Moctezuma Stadium (Estadio Corona) in Torreón, owned by John Abusaid, and the Saints made their first home in the former Estadio Corona. On September 4, 1988, the Warriors played their first game as Santos Laguna, winning 2–0.

Segunda Division A

When the IMSS sold its professional sports clubs, Salvador Necochea Sagi bought Santos Laguna. In their first year in the Segunda División 'A' de México, the Warriors avoided relegation with three wins, two draws and one loss. William (the Clash) Galindo, Carlos González, Julio César Armendáriz, Tomás Moreno and Fernando de la Rosa were notable players.

In 1989, the Warriors earned their nickname when, after a poor start, they finished 10th. Their fan base grew, and the club's owners bought the first Estadio Corona. The club underwent changes the following year, replacing its logo with the current one and playing in green and white stripes. Of the 18 founding members of the Segunda División 'B' de México, two won promotion to the Primera División de México: the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas and Santos Laguna.

Promotion to Primera Division

In 1988, Santos Laguna purchased the Ángeles de Puebla franchise and relocated it to Torreón, Coahuila, giving them Christian Saavedra, Wilson Graniolatti, Martín Zúñiga and Miguel Herrera and a record of three wins, four draws and one loss. Lucas Ochoa scored the club's first Primera División goal and the Warriors, led by Carlos Ortiz, avoided relegation with Herrera's two goals paving the way for a 3–1 defeat of Atlético Potosino.

In 1991, Grupo Modelo became majority owner of the club and Ramon Ramirez made his Primera División debut with a goal against Club Deportivo Guadalajara. Later, the following year, club president Armando Navarro Gascón and his wife died in a car accident.

President Alberto Cañedo and Chilean coach Pedro García arrived in 1993. Grupo Modelo made a strong investment in reinforcements, Antonio "El Turco" Apud, Daniel Guzmán, Olaf Heredia, Diego Silva, Héctor Adomaitis and Richard Zambrano who joined players coming from the Segunda División such as José Guadalupe Rubio and Pedro Muñoz. The 1993–94 season saw the team for the first time qualify for the playoffs in the Primera División and managed to reach the final coinciding with their tenth anniversary of founding, though lost in overtime in the second leg of the final against Club Deportivo Estudiantes Tecos who were coached by Victor Manuel Vucetich.

In 1994, key player Ramón Ramírez left for Guadalajara, but Santos qualified for the playoffs a second time. The Warriors participated in the 1995 CONCACAF Champions Cup, and were eliminated in the first round by Deportivo FAS of El Salvador. Argentine Mauro Camoranesi played 13 games with Santos, scoring one goal before returning to Uruguay. Other notable players that season and the following one were Gabriel Caballero, Francisco Gabriel de Anda and Miguel España.

Chilean Cristian Montecinos reached the third league during the 1996 regular season, and Santos Laguna won their first Primera División title with new player Jared Borghetti. In the Verano 1997 tournament, Santos Laguna was eliminated by Guadalajara 5–0 in the Estadio Jalisco. Santos Laguna played poorly in the Invierno 1997 tournament, winning three games out of 17 and tied for last in the standings with Pumas UNAM and Tecos de la U.A.G. In 1998 the club reached one of the two qualifying finals for the Copa Libertadores, which was played on September 9 in Los Angeles.

2000s

In the summer 2000 season, Santos Laguna was strengthened by the arrivals of Rodrigo Ruiz and Luis Romero. During the regular season, the Warriors lost only two games and finished second in the overall standings behind Toluca.

In the 2001 summer season, the club won their second league championship. During the winter 2001 season Santos Laguna, with eight losses, failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished eighth overall. In summer 2002, the Warriors were fourth in the overall standings but were eliminated 1–0 in the semi-finals by Necaxa at the Estadio Corona. Santos Laguna qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup that year for the second time. The Warriors defeated Tauro FC of Panama by aggregate score of 5–3; in the next round, at home, Santos Laguna lost 3–2 overall to the U.S. champion Kansas City Wizards. At the end of the summer tournament, Fernando Quirarte and his coaching staff stepped down; Quirarte was replaced by Sergio Bueno, who was soon sacked in favor of Luis Fernando Tena. Finishing eighth overall, Santos Laguna defeated defending champion and leader América 5–4 at the Estadio Azteca. The Warriors qualified for the group stage of the Merconorte Cup, defeating the Kansas City Wizards and Barcelona of Guayaquil twice each and Sporting Cristal once; their only loss was to Sporting Cristal, 2–1.

For the 2003 Apertura tournament (the club's 20th anniversary) reinforcements arrived in the form of Vicente Matías Vuoso and Sixto Peralta, Argentines who had played for Manchester City and Inter Milan. In the match at Estadio Corona against Monterrey, 10 goals were scored. The Warriors qualified for the playoffs, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals, Luis Fernando Tena's contract was not renewed, and he was replaced by Eduardo De la Torre.