Deportivo Saprissa

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Deportivo Saprissa" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Saprissa

Full name	Deportivo Saprissa, SAD
Nickname(s)	Los Morados (The Purple Ones) El Monstruo (The Monster) La S (The S) El Glorioso (The Glorious) El Sapri (The Sapri) Rey de Copas (King of Cups)
Founded	16 July 1935; 88 years
Ground	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá
Capacity	23,112
Owner	Horizonte Morado
Chairman	Juan Carlos Rojas Callán
Manager	Ángel Luis Catalina
Coach	José Giacone
League	Liga Promerica
Apertura 2023	1st (champions)
Website	http://www.deportivosaprissa.com/
Home colours Away colours

Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It is the main team representing the capital, but with the distinction of being massively followed throughout the whole country and overseas. The club was founded in 1935 and has competed in the Costa Rican first division since 1949. The name of the team comes from one of the club's main founders, Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. One of the most popular nicknames for the team El Monstruo Morado (The Purple Monster) can be traced back to 1987, when the Costa Rican newspaper Diario Extra gave the team the nickname during a derby, because of the club's enormous following. A reporter commented that the sea of fans in the stands at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá in Tibás wearing purple, and the tremendous noise they were generating, made him feel like he was "in the presence of a thousand headed monster". Saprissa immediately adopted the nickname El Monstruo Morado. It remains the most lauded football team in the whole region.

Saprissa has won 40 Primera División de Costa Rica championships, including six consecutive national titles in the 70s. It stands as one of the more successful teams in the CONCACAF region as well, having won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup three times – in 1993, 1995, and 2005. Saprissa has also won five Central American crowns in 1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, and 2003.

For the period 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008 the club was ranked the 106th best team in the world by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, an organization recognized by FIFA.^[1]

Saprissa has regularly appeared in the CONCACAF Champions Cup finals in recent decades, with three first-place finishes and four runners-up finishes. One of the club's most notable moments came in 2005 when Saprissa became the second club in CONCACAF to finish third in the FIFA Club World Cup together with the Mexican club Necaxa who accomplished it in 2000 and were joined by two more Mexican clubs, in 2012 by C.F. Monterrey and in 2017 by C.F Pachuca.

The club was chosen by the IFFHS as the CONCACAF team of the 20th Century.^[2] This event gave Saprissa worldwide recognition. Their main partner is a Costa Rican Investment Consortium named Horizonte Morado (Purple Horizon), composed mainly of Juan Carlos Rojas Callán, Edgar Zurcher, and Televisora de Costa Rica.

Deportivo Saprissa was founded on 16 July 1935, by Roberto Fernández who named his team after the man who sponsored their uniform, Don Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The club entered the Costa Rican Third Division as Saprissa F.C. They were promoted to the Primera División de Costa Rica, making their debut in the top flight on 21 August 1949. That year Saprissa actually won the first final match against Gimnástica Española with 0–3 score, then lost the away game by 6–2 to be defeated again 2–1 in a third game. They were accepted in 1st category as a favor granted by the administrative entity of that time. One of the most notable achievement of their early years, was to win the third and second division titles undefeated. The club has remained in the Costa Rican top flight ever since.

In 2003, the majority of the club's stock was bought by Mexican entrepreneur Jorge Vergara, the owner of Mexican football club Club Deportivo Guadalajara^[3] and soon after the operator of Major League Soccer club Club Deportivo Chivas USA in the United States.

Saprissa won the 2005 CONCACAF Champions Cup, beating Mexican club UNAM in the final over two legs, in May 2005. As CONCACAF club champions they qualified for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, held in Japan in December 2005. They beat Australian club Sydney FC in the quarter-finals thanks to a goal by Christian Bolaños. In the semi-finals they were beaten 3–0 by English club Liverpool, who were the Champions League holders that year, making it the strongest team in Europe. In the third place match they beat Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia 3–2. Álvaro Saborío scored two goals, and Rónald Gómez scored an astonishing free-kick final goal in the 89th minute to seal the win. After this "late goal" Costa Rican people start calling the late-game goal "La Saprihora" (The Sapritime) in honor to this late goal even though this event happened in 2005 people still using this name for most of the Saprissa goals scored after the minute 85. They finished the competition in third place behind São Paulo of Brazil and Liverpool. Saborío was joint top scorer, and Bolaños was awarded the Bronze Ball by FIFA as third best player of the championship out of 5 teams.

Even though the original colours were red and white, the team is known by their purple-burgundy colour. Red and white were utilised very briefly, and Ricardo Saprissa's influence from the Polo Club of Barcelona had the team try red and blue instead, even though this is the origin of the colour used throughout all of its history. When the new kit for 1937 (red and blue) was being manufactured, some of the threads got mixed evenly along the sides of the jerseys, producing a type of purple, resembling a burgundy/maroon colour. This new colour went down well with everyone involved, it reflected class and originality, and it was selected as the team's official colour. It was decided that the team's shield would appear on the chest of the uniform, with a notable bold white letter "S".

Saprissa utilizes a purple/burgundy jersey with white and grey details, and white shorts with burgundy and grey details for home games. For away games, a white jersey with burgundy and grey details is used, and white shorts with burgundy and grey details.

Manufacturer	Period	Sponsor	Notes
	1935–1977
	1978–1979	Olympo
	1980–1981	National
Desport	1982–1985	Bayer
	1986–1990	Coca-Cola
Reebok	1990–1991
Garcis	1992–1993
Trooper	1993–1994
Lanzera	1994
Umbro	1995
Medfsport	1995
	1996	Colgate
Reebok	1996–1997
	1997–1998	LG
Tropper	1998
Adidas	1998–1999
Atletica	2000–2003
	2003–2004
Reebok	2004–2006
	2006–2011	Bimbo
Joma	2012–2013	Bimbo Papa John's
	2014	Bimbo Ibérico
Kappa	2015–2016
	2017–2018	Bimbo Huawei
	2018–2019	Kölbi Huawei
	2019	Kölbi Tío Pelón
	2020–2021	Kölbi BAC Credomatic
	2021–2022	BAC Credomatic Tropical
	2022–2023	BAC Credomatic LIBERTY
	2024	BAC Credomatic Johnny Rockets

Saprissa plays home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá named after Ricardo Saprissa. They originally played at the Costa Rica National Stadium, which they rented and shared.

A new site for a stadium was bought in 1965 and on 27 August 1972 after six years of construction and upgrades, Estadio Ricardo Saprissa was officially opened. The first match was between Deportivo Saprissa and Comunicaciones of Guatemala. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Peter Sandoval of Comunicaciones scoring the first goal at the new stadium.

The stadium is called Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, named after the founder of the club. There is a bust of Don Ricardo in one of the corners of the stadium. The stadium is also nicknamed La Cueva del Monstruo (The Monster's Cave/Lair) or La Cueva (The Lair), after the nickname of the club, El Monstruo Morado ("The Purple Monster"). It has a seating capacity of 24,000 and is overlooked by local mountains and downtown San Jose.

The stadium has great fame internationally, especially with all the national teams that play against Costa Rica.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Deportivo Saprissa" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

La Ultra Morada (The Purple Ultra) is the club's most radical supporters group, even though it is not recognized as an official or formal part of the club. This group is always set on the south side of the stadium. La Ultra Morada is categorized as an "ultras group" or "ultras movement", being similar to what is more commonly known to outsiders as "hooligans"; even though members of La Ultra Morada, or simply La Ultra, emphasize their support for the club by creating a passionate atmosphere during matches. The group was the first Ultras group in Costa Rica, formed in 1995 when then-Saprissa president Enrique Artiñano brought fans from the Chilean football club Universidad Católica to help build a similar ultras group to their Los Cruzados for Saprissa. In the mid-to-late 1990s the Ultras began to develop the image of being football hooligans when violence began to break out with opposition fans during games. Due to the negative atmosphere and press coverage, Saprissa officials stepped in to restore order to a group that they had help create. The group is sub-divided in smaller groups called peñas. They maintain the style of a classic Ultras group, with chants, choreos^{[clarification needed]}, pyro shows (flares and gunpowder), abundant flags, giant banners, and the constant beat of an oversized bass drum.

There are, however, several different other supporter group that are legally recognized by the club. These groups occupy different zones in the stadium, and they are mainly groups that get organized with transportation, original merchandise, and massive displays for the team during a game (confetti, balloons, banners, flares, etc.)

The official mascot of the team is a cartoonish purple dragon, which was based on the Dragon Elliot from Pete's Dragon,^[4] and similar to one from Dragon Tales^{[clarification needed]} and many other dragons from children's shows. Because of this, many of the fans call the mascot Un monstruo amigable which means "a friendly monster". The mascot was meant to appeal to children in general, but it ended up being loved by the entirety of the fans. This caused it to be present in all kinds of paraphernalia and merchandise. It is the most recognizable and appreciated mascot in all the region. However, in early 2010, a new mascot was introduced. The mascot was designed in Mexico and many club supporters felt that it was a campy, superhero-like purple monster. As a result, the new mascot was highly rejected by the fans, claiming that "No queremos un dinosaurio super héroe, queremos al espíritu del equipo" (We don't want a super hero dinosaur, we want the original spirit of the team). The new mascot was replaced immediately after the strong rejection, and the team now has a new mascot that resembles the original. The new costume was manufactured by Fernando Thiel, a widely recognized Argentina-born puppeteer who lives in Costa Rica.

When Deportivo Saprissa faces Alajuelense, it is known as El Clásico. Saprissa is the team from Tibás, in San José, while Alajuelense is from Alajuela. The first duel between these teams was on October 12, 1949, in a match where Alajuelense won by 6–5. The current score of victories is 139 for Saprissa, 107 for Alajuelense and 109 draws.

• Primera División de Costa Rica
  • Winners (40): 1952, 1953, 1957, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, Invierno 2007, Verano 2008, Invierno 2008, 2010 Verano, 2014 Verano, 2014 Invierno, 2015 Invierno, 2016 Invierno, Clausura 2018, Clausura 2020, Clausura 2021, Apertura 2022, Clausura 2023, Apertura 2023, Clausura 2024
  • Runners-up (18): 1950, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1996-97, Verano 2017, Apertura 2018, Apertura 2019, Apertura 2021

• Costa Rican Short Championships
  • Winners (8): 1997–98 Clausura, 1998–99 Apertura, 1998–99 Clausura, 2003–04 Apertura, 2005–06 Apertura, 2005–06 Clausura, 2006–07 Apertura, 2006–07 Clausura
  • Runners-up (2): 1999-00, 2002-03

• Costa Rican Cup
  • Winners (7): 1950, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1970, 1972, 2013
  • Runners-up (7): 1953, 1954, 1961, 1963, 1967, 2014, 2023

• Costa Rican Super Cup
  • Winners (4): 1963, 1976, 2021, 2023
  • Runners-up (1): 2020

• Segunda División de Costa Rica
  • Winners (1): 1948

• Tercera División de Costa Rica
  • Winners (1):1947

• CONCACAF Champions Cup
  • Winners (3): 1993, 1995, 2005
  • Runners-up (3): 1973, 2004, 2008

• CONCACAF League
  • Winners (1): 2019
  • Runners-up (1): 2020

• UNCAF Interclub Cup
  • Winners (5): 1972, 1973, 1978, 1998, 2003
  • Runners-up (7): 1971, 1974, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007

• Copa Interamericana
  • Runners-up (2): 1993, 1995

• FIFA Club World Championship
  • Third place (1): 2005

• CONCACAF Central American Champion
  • Winners (1): 1970

• US Camel Cup
  • Winners (1): 1985

• CONCACAF League Fair Play
  • Winners (1): 2019

• CONCACAF Champions Cup: 37 appearances

• CONCACAF Central American Cup: 1 appearance

2023 – Quarter-finals

• CONCACAF League: 3 appearances

2019 – Champion

2020 – Runners-up

2021 – Quarter-finals

As of August 31, 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  CRC Pablo Arboine 4 DF  CRC Kendall Waston 5 MF  CRC Joseph Mora 6 MF  CRC Jefferson Brenes 7 MF  CRC Jefry Valverde 8 MF  CRC David Guzmán 9 FW  JAM Javon East 11 FW  CRC Luis Díaz 12 DF  CRC Ricardo Blanco 14 FW  CRC Ariel Rodríguez 16 DF  PAN Eduardo Anderson (on loan from Alianza Panama) 17 MF  CRC Yoserth Hernández 18 GK  CRC Esteban Alvarado 19 DF  CRC Ryan Bolaños

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  ARG Mariano Torres (captain) 21 DF  PAN Fidel Escobar 22 MF  CRC Youstin Salas 23 DF  CRC Óscar Duarte 24 FW  CRC Orlando Sinclair 25 DF  CRC Jorkaeff Azofeifa 27 FW  CRC Rachid Chirino 28 FW  CRC Deyver Vega 29 MF  CRC Emmanuel Carvajal 30 MF  CRC Ulises Segura 31 FW  CRC Fabricio Alemán 32 DF  CRC Kliver Gómez 37 FW  CRC Gino Vivi (on loan from LA Galaxy) 40 GK  CRC Abraham Madriz

Name	Role
Vladimir Quesada	Head coach
	Assistant coach
	Head Athletic Trainer
Róger Mora	Goalkeeping coach
Esteban Campos	Team Doctor
José Francisco Porras
Juan Gabriel Rodríguez

• CONCACAF Champions' Cup and Champions League records and statistics
• List of Deportivo Saprissa players

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deportivo Saprissa.

• Official website