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image by Ivan Sache, 9 February 2008
image by Ivan Sache, 9 February 2008
Deportivo Saprissa is one of the most famous football clubs in
Costa Rica. Quoting the club's
official website: "It was founded on July 16th, 1935 as
Saprissa F.C., and joined the First Division on August 21st,
1949.
The Club was born in a humble shoe store that belonged to Fausto
Leiva, where Roberto “Beto” Fernandez worked. He
founded the team in a neighborhood called "La
Concretera" in Barrio Los Angeles in San Jose. The members
of this team held a meeting to decide the battle name for it.
Several proposals were analyzed until Saprissa F.C. came up. It
was accepted when “Beto” explained that Ricardo
Saprissa, the beneficent guide of the Club, could get the
uniforms. With Mr. Ricardo's approval, the team appeared on the
firmament of the national football on July 16th, 1935."
Ricardo Saprissa (1901-1990) was a brilliant sportsman. Born in
El Salvador as the son of Catalan immigrants, Saprissa
graduated as a topograph engineer and
movedback to Barcelona with his mother. Champion of
Spain in field hockey in 1928, he was officially recieved by King
Alfonso XIII in his palace. Also a good tennis player, Saprissa
played tennis under the Spanish flag in the Paris
Olympic Games (1924) and in the Davis Cup in 1930. However, his
main achievements were obtained in football, as the winner of the
national championship with Español Barcelona in 1929.
On 19 February 1932, Saprissa came back to Costa Rica to manage
the family cloth factory. In 1935, he was appointed the first
national coach of the Costa Rica team, winning the silver medal
in the IIIrd Central American and Caribbean Games. He was again
appointed national coach in 1938 and 1951. Saprissa presided
Orión from 1938 to 1951, winning the national title in 1938, and
Saprissa from 1948 to 1931.
Deportivo Saprissa won 26 national titles, including six
successive titles from 1972 to 1977. CONCACA champions
in 2005, Deportivo Saprissia played in December 2005 the FIFA
Club World Championship, finishing in third place.
The flag of Saprissa is purple ("morado") with the
club's emblem in the middle, as shown on the "Symbols"
page of the club's website. The club's emblem is a white
shield outlined in black with a football ball and a purple,
S-shaped dragon belching out an orange flame. The ball and the
dragon are outlined in light purple. The name of the club is
written in white capital letters in the white chief of the
shield. The local legend says that the "morado" colour,
adopted in 1937, was the result of the infortunate washing
together of the former club's uniform parts, red shirts and blue
shorts.
The "Welcome"
page of the English section of the club's website shows a
photography of the team posing in front of a white flag with the
club emblem's in the middle.
Ivan Sache, 9 February 2008