Club Atlético Torque
| Full name | Club Atlético Torque | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 December 26 | ||
| Ground | Estadio Juan Antonio Lavalleja | ||
| Capacity | 8,200 | ||
| Owner | City Football Group | ||
| Chairman | Luis Bruno | ||
| Manager | Saúl Rivero | ||
| League | Segunda División | ||
| 2016 | 6th | ||
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Club Atlético Torque are a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda División.
History
Club Atlético Torque were founded on 26 December 2007 by Cancún-based Uruguayan businessman Raúl Aquino Reynoso, building on a vision of achieving glory from scratch.[1] To help him build his dream, Aquino contacted Marcelo Yaurreche, an electromechanic by trade, who had blogged on the concept of sporting ventures. Yaurreche's line of work ultimately went on to inspire the name of the team through the mechanical principle of torque as an indication of strength. The nascent club's first season of competition was played in the local Liga de Punta Carretas.[1]
Segunda División Amateur
Starting from the 2008–09, Torque entered the Uruguayan football league system in the third (and lowest) tier, the Segunda División Amateur. Their first season was very positive, going unbeaten for the 11 games of the Clausura tournament before losing the play-off for the overall league title against Oriental.[2] Oriental opted to turn down their promotion to the Segunda División, prompting Torque to submit an application to take it up in their place, but their application was rejected.
In the following seasons the club continued to place highly, never finishing lower than fifth in either the Apertura or Clausura tournaments. In May 2011 Torque merged with Huracán of the Segunda División to form a new club called Huracán Torque, but by August of the same year the merger was dissolved with the new side having played no games. Torque resumed its place in the Segunda División Amateur and at the fourth time of asking finally finished top of the overall table, winning promotion to the Segunda División for the 2012–13 season.[3]
Segunda División Profesional
Torque's first season in professional football again finished positively with a fifth-place finish, including denying high-flyers Tacuarembó automatic promotion to the Uruguayan top tier and potentially even the league title itself with a 4–0 victory in the final game of the season. Torque themselves qualified for the promotion play-offs, where they again defeated Tacuarembó, but they ultimately lost the play-off final on penalties.[4]
The following season was the club's first season of underachievement with Torque finishing in last place and eight points adrift of their nearest competitor.[5] They were, however, spared the ignominy of relegation as the division expanded to 15 clubs, causing the league's organisers to opt against relegating any clubs. The following seasons offered little improvement, with the club finishing some distance from the promotion places each time.
Takeover by City Football Group
On 20 March 2017, Uruguayan online sports news site Ovacion reported that the City Football Group, owners of Premier League side Manchester City and MLS team New York City FC amongst others, were close to completing negotiations for the purchase of Torque with the aim of using the club to assist in the signing of South American players.[6] Also reported was that CFG had been working with the club for some time in anticipation of the purchase to build it a new sports complex as well as to refurbish the Estadio Juan Antonio Lavalleja in Minas with a view to relocating the side to the city in order to help establish an identity for the club as well as to give it a larger potential fanbase.[6]
Following a series of further rumours of the imminence of the deal, it was publicly announced on 5 April 2017 that the takeover had been completed and ratified by the Uruguayan Football Association.[7]
Players
First team squad
- As of 11 August 2017
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Honours
- Segunda División Amateur
- Winners (1): 2011–12
References
- 1 2 "¡Ándale: en México nació la idea de crear a Torque" [Go! The idea of creating Torque was born in Mexico]. www.ovaciondigital.com.uy (in Spanish). 19 July 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ↑ "Clausura: ¡Torque campeón!" [Clausura: Torque are champions!]. www.futbol.com.uy (in Spanish). 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ↑ "Uruguay 2011/12". rsssf.com. 21 Nov 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ↑ "Uruguay 2012/13". rsssf.com. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ↑ "Uruguay 2013/14". rsssf.com. 26 Feb 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- 1 2 "El City pone un pie en Uruguay" [City sets foot in Uruguay] (in Spanish). 20 March 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ↑ "CFG Extends South American Footprint". Manchester City Official Website. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2017.