C.D.S. Vida

Club Deportivo y Social Vida, or simply Vida, is an Honduran football club based in La Ceiba, Atlántida. The club has been champion twice and runner up 3 times.

History

Vida was founded on 14 October 1940 with the name of Salvavida by Gregorio Ramos, José Lamelas and Valentín Vásquez.^[1] The name Salva Vida was initially put by Salvador Vacaro and Vicente D' antoni, founders of the brewery Cervecería Hondureña, S.A. The initial colors of the team were Red, White and Blue, but in recent times only red and white are used. The Club Salva Vida started when Gregorio Ramos decided to separate from the board of directors of Club Deportivo Atlántida and to form his own team. At that time the team Salva Vida was part of the League Dionisio de Herrera.

Later the soccer club was just called Vida in honor of Mrs. Vida Code de Castañeda. The story tells that during a walk that the executives and players were carrying out, Mrs. Vida, who did not know how to swim, fell into the water. Then Mr. Gregorio Ramos ask for aid with the phrase “un salvavida para Vida” (a lifesaver for Mrs. Vida) and from that afternoon and on the club has been referred to as Vida, since Cervezería Hondureña did not permit that they continued to use the name of their product.

1940s

During the decade of the 1940s the players in the team were in their majority employees of Gregorio Ramos, who was owner of Lavanderia Ramos. He also was the president of the team and contributed economically and handled the team affairs. The training was carried out in a small field located that was property of the Standard Fruit Company (DOLE).

1950s

At the beginning of the 1950s the team was made up with students from the local public schoolInstituto Manuel Bonilla and those from the amateur soccer club Deportes Diablos Negros. The most notable stars were the famous Talon Arzú, Alberto "Campion" Amaya, Héctor "Jet" Castillo McKenzie, Quiro Brooks, Cristóbal Craka Brooks, and the Spaniard Rafael "el Fafa" from Navarre.

Vida's Rise to Prominence

Then in the 1960s rising stars like Salvador Hernández, Nilmo Edwards, and the brothers Morris and Junia Garden became key First Team players for the team. Vida became Runners-Up of the Liga Amateur de Honduras in 1961 (losing to Olimpia), and National Champions in 1964—beating out the soccer club Salamar of San Lorenzo in Tegucigalpa.

In 1961 they played two matches against Sacachispas of Guatemala in the Championship of Central America and the Caribbean, winning both encounters with a scoreboard of 2-0. Also in that year they played a friendly vs Mexican Champions C.D. Oro and drew.

In 1962, the Club Deportivo Vida legally changed its name to Club Social y Deportivo Vida, since one of its objectives was self projection within the La Ceiba community. Its first president was Flor de María Coello, who was also its Queen.

In 1964, the Liga Amateur was ready to turn professional; berths were created, and there was one given to La Ceiba. Vida participated in a three team playoff against two teams from the Liga Dionisio de Herrera, Victoria and Atlantida, to determine which team would represent La Ceiba in the first Honduran Major League Soccer. Vida won the playoff round and earned it's berth in the new professional Major League Soccer, becoming one of the Founders of the Major League Soccer in Honduras; it's first President in 1965 was Vida's reigning president Javier Henríquez.

Now that the team became professional, salaries of the players were calculated based on the percentages of the ticket window sales. As part of becoming professional, the soccer field where Vida played and trained as amateurs (called Campo Aguila) now became a soccer stadium—the Estadio Ceibeño. With the stadium built, Vida moved to Campo Vida located in the neighborhood La Isla as their training ground (which is still preserved to this date, and used for youth league teams in La Ceiba).

CDS Vida: The Glory Years (1965–1985)

From 1965 to 1975, Vida was usually among the Top 4 of the Honduran Major League Soccer. There were exceptions which were 8th place finishes in 1967, 1974; 7th place finish in 1975; and had play-off runs in 1970 and 1973, but finished 5th instead.

During that decade, Vida had trophy successes, becoming Runner-Up in 1971.

From 1975 - 1985, Vida became more successful and were consistently in the Top 4 of the Honduran Major League Soccer—the only two exceptions were an 8th place finish in 1978, and a 9th place finish in 1979. That in itself was an impressive feat.

Trophy success included National Champions in 1981, 1983, and runner-up in 1984, 1985.

At the international level, Vida participated in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup in 1972 and 1973, but were eliminated in the First Round (in 1972 by Toluca – 1:4 aggregate; 1973 by Saprissa – 0:3 Aggregate)

In the 1980s Vida participated in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup in 1982, 1984, and Vida was eliminated in the Third Round by New York Pancyprian Freedoms—2:3 aggregate. In 1985, they beat CD FAS in the First Round—3:2 aggregate but were eliminated by Mexican powerhouse America—1:3 aggregate.

During the 1970s, the team's notable players were Adolfo "Gorcha" Collins and Carlos Alvarado (two time Leading Goal Scorer in the Honduran Major League Soccer in 1970 and 1971).

During the 1980s, the team's notable players were Enrique "Palanca" Mendoza, Matilde Lakayo, Dennis "La Bomba" Hines, Cipriano Dueños (National High-scoring Champion in 1986)and Roberto “Macho” Figueroa (a key player in the Honduran National team that earned the berth to the World Cup Spain 1982,and sold to CD Murcia after the tournament).

Decline and Descent into Obscurity

From 1986 - 1996 Vida entered a decline. It was not the dominant team it was from 1975 - 1985. In 1986, Vida was rocked by a match fixing scandal after the playoffs (finishing 3rd Place overall after having finished spectacularly in 1st place during the regular season). It never recovered and was the beginning of the end for Vida – the decline. As the 1980s came to a close, it finished 8th in 1987, 4th place in 1988, and sunk to 9th in 1989 (after a three-team relegation playoff). The 1990s only brought one joy – a 3rd Place finish in 1993. Beyond that it was disappointing. It finished 7th in 1990, 1991, and 1994; and 8th in 1992, 1995, 1996.

In 1997, the Torneo Cortos as it existed in Mexico with an Apertura and a Clausura was adopted. Vida was mostly disappointing. It finished 8th (Ap & Cl 1997); 9th (1998, Cl 2000, Cl 2001); 10th (Cl 1999); and a mediocre 6th place play-off qualification (Ap 1999 vs Motagua, Ap 2000 vs. Olimpia, finishing 6th place overall each time)

In Ap 2001, play-off format changed to 4 teams. Vida had close playoff-runs in Cl 2002, Ap 2004, Cl 2005 (finishing 5th). They made the playoffs in Ap 2003 vs Real España (finishing 3rd Place); and Cl 2008, Cl 2009 vs Olimpia(finishing 4th place)

Despite these playoff-exceptions, Vida disappointed. It finished 10th three times (Ap 2006, Cl 2007, Ap 2008); 9th (Ap 2003, Ap 2005); 8th (Ap 2007); 7th (Ap 2009). It finished a mediocre 6th place twice (Cl 2006, Ap 2010).

Vida has still yet to recapture the magic and dominance it once held from 1975 - 1986.

Club honours

National Level

• Liga Amateur de Honduras: 1

1961-62

• Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Honduras: 2

1981-82, 1983-84

Runner-up (3): 1971-72, 1984-85, 1985-86

League and Playoff Performance (1994-Present)

All-time table

(From 1965-66 to 2007-08)

Performance (1997–98 – present)