Ayacucho FC

Ayacucho
Full name	Ayacucho Fútbol Club
Nickname(s)	Los Ñes; Los Zorros; Los Guerreros Wari; Los Gasíferos; La Fuerza de los Andes; Los Libertadores
Founded	August 9, 2008; 16 years ago
Ground	Estadio Ciudad de Cumaná
Capacity	12,000
President	Rolando Bellido
Manager	Jose Collatti
League	Liga 2
2023	Liga 2, 11th of 14
Website	https://www.facebook.com/ayacufc/
Home colours	Away colours

Ayacucho Fútbol Club, more popularly known as Ayacucho, is a Peruvian professional football club located in Ayacucho, Peru. The club won a Second Division title in 2006, and as Inti Gas, the club finished as runner-up in 2008. The club currently participates in the Peruvian Primera División, after being reinstated by winning a judicial battle against the Peruvian Football Federation.

Ayacucho has had many name and location changes. Some of its former names are Aurora Miraflores, Olímpico San Luis, Olímpico Somos Peru, Olímpico Aurora Miraflores, Loreto and Inti Gas. It officially changed its name to Ayacucho FC in 2014. The team also has a women's football club that participates in the Primera División Femenina.

History

Beginnings

Ayacucho FC, then known as Olímpico San Luis, was promoted to the Second Division in 2000. The following year they changed the club name to Olímpico Somos Peru. In 2004 they won the Second Division and played in the finals of the Copa Perú to gain promotion, however they lost to Deportivo Municipal in the quarter-finals. Beginning in 2006, they officially changed their name to Olímpico Aurora Miraflores.^[1]

Inti Gas Deportes, 2009 main team at San Martín de Porres Stadium, before playing against Sporting Cristal.

Real Loreto

In 2007, the club moved their home ground to Iquitos in order to increase their fanbase, and was renamed as Real Loreto FC. They failed to gain a large amount of support from Iquitos and for 2008 they returned to Lima.^[1]

Inti Gas

In 2008, the club received sponsorship from the gas provider Inti Gas. They relocated to Huamanga, Ayacucho but they decided to play their home games in Ica because another Second Division team already had their home ground in Ayacucho and security issues that have risen. They were runners-up of the 2008 Second Division and were promoted to the 2009 First Division. Ayacucho has recently sought to permanently keep the club in its city.^[1]

Ayacucho

In 2014, they officially changed their name to Ayacucho FC. 2020 brought the start of Ayacucho's golden age. The club placed 9th in the Torneo Apertura, of the 2020 season, but won the Torneo Clausura for the first time, after beating Sporting Cristal in the Fase 2 final. However, because both teams drawed on points, they entered the semi-finals of play-offs, against Sporting Cristal again. This time, Ayacucho lost 2–6 on aggregate, and placed third in the league. They would qualify for the Copa Libertadores for the first time but were eliminated by Grêmio in the second stage.

In the 2021 season, Ayacuhco barely qualified for the Copa Sudamericana and qualified for the Group Stage, after defeating Sport Boys in the first stage. Ayacucho placed third is its group and was eliminated.

2022 would start the downfall of Ayacucho. In the Torneo Apertura of the 2022 season, Ayacucho placed last. On the aggregate table, they placed 17th, going to the relegation play-off, their only hope in staying in the Liga 1. Ayacucho played with Unión Comercio, and lost 3–0 in the first leg but came back 2–1 in the second but still lost 2–4 on aggregate, getting relegated to the Liga 2, where they currently still stand.

Stadium

Ayacucho mainly plays their home matches in the Estadio Ciudad de Cumaná located in Ayacucho, Huamanga, Peru. The stadium has a capacity of 12,000. The club's second stadium for home matches is the Estadio Municipal de Huanta located in Huanta, Peru, and has a capacity of 10,000.

Honours

Senior titles

Keys

Record
^(s) Shared record

Type	Competition	Titles	Runner-up	Winning years	Runner-up years
National (League)	Segunda División	2	1	2004, 2005^[2]	2008
Half-year / Short tournament (League)	Torneo Clausura	1	—	2020	—
Regional (League)	Liga Provincial de Lima	1	—	1999 ^[2]	—
Regional (League)	Liga Distrital de San Luis	2	—	1988, 1999 ^[3]	—