1953 Campeonato Profesional

The 1953 Campeonato Profesional was the sixth season of Colombia's top-flight football league. Twelve teams compete against one another and played each weekend. The tournament was notable for being the fifth and last year of El Dorado. Millonarios won the league for the fourth time in its history and for the third time in a row after getting 35 points.

Campeonato Profesional

Season	1953
Champions	Millonarios (4th title)
Matches	132
Goals	535 (4.05 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mario Garelli (20)
Biggest home win	Santa Fe 7–0 Unión Magdalena
Biggest away win	Junior 0–4 Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional 1–5 Deportivo Cali Deportivo Pereira 1–5 Boca Juniors Sporting 0–4 Santa Fe
Highest scoring	Deportivo Pereira 4–7 Atlético Nacional Atlético Quindío 8–3 Sporting
← 1952 1954 →

Background

The tournament was the fifth year of El Dorado, after the DIMAYOR agreed the Pacto de Lima^[1] with the FIFA, with the requirement that the foreign players would return to their countries the next year.

Twelve teams competed in the tournament, three fewer than the previous year: Deportivo Manizales and Universidad were dissolved, while América de Cali and Independiente Medellín were bankrupt and did not join.^[2] Deportivo Samarios was refounded as Unión Magdalena.^[3] Millonarios won the championship for the third consecutive time, getting their fourth league title.

League system

Every team played two games against each other team, one at home and one away. Teams received two points for a win and one point for a draw. If two or more teams were tied on points, places were determined by goal difference. The team with the most points is the champion of the league.

Teams

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Locations of the 1953 Campeonato Profesional teams:

• 1. Armenia
• 2. Barranquilla
• 3. Bogotá
• 4. Bucaramanga
• 5. Cali
• 6. Cúcuta
• 7. Medellín
• 8. Pereira
• 9. Santa Marta

Team	City	Stadium
Atlético Bucaramanga	Bucaramanga	Estadio Alfonso López
Atlético Nacional	Medellín	Estadio Atanasio Girardot
Atlético Quindío	Armenia	Estadio San José de Armenia
Boca Juniors	Cali	Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero
Cúcuta Deportivo	Cúcuta	Estadio General Santander
Deportivo Cali	Cali	Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero
Deportivo Pereira	Pereira	Estadio Alberto Mora Mora
Junior	Barranquilla	Estadio Romelio Martínez
Millonarios	Bogotá	Estadio El Campín
Santa Fe	Bogotá	Estadio El Campín
Sporting de Barranquilla	Barranquilla	Estadio Romelio Martínez
Unión Magdalena	Santa Marta	Estadio Eduardo Santos

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Millonarios (C)	22	14	7	1	51	22	+29	35
2	Quindío	22	14	5	3	66	40	+26	33
3	Boca Juniors	22	13	5	4	44	30	+14	31
4	Santa Fe	22	12	5	5	57	30	+27	29
5	Cúcuta Deportivo	22	11	4	7	58	42	+16	26
6	Deportivo Cali	22	9	8	5	38	30	+8	26
7	Atlético Nacional	22	10	5	7	57	45	+12	25
8	Unión Magdalena	22	6	3	13	35	58	−23	15
9	Sporting	22	6	3	13	38	68	−30	15
10	Junior	22	4	7	11	38	53	−15	15
11	Deportivo Pereira	22	6	2	14	42	72	−30	14
12	Atlético Bucaramanga	22	0	0	22	11	45	−34	0

Source: RSSSF
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	BJ	BUC	CAL	CUC	JUN	MAG	MIL	NAC	PER	QUI	SFE	SPB
Boca Juniors		4–1	2–0	3–2	3–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–1
Atlético Bucaramanga	0–1[a]		0–1	0–1[a]	2–5	0–1	0–1[a]	0–1	0–1[a]	0–1[a]	1–2	0–1
Deportivo Cali	2–2	1–0[a]		3–3	2–2	1–1	2–4	0–1	2–2	1–2	1–0	5–2
Cúcuta Deportivo	2–2	5–3	0–1		3–1	4–0	0–0	2–2	3–0	1–3	5–0	6–0
Junior	1–3	1–0[a]	1–1	2–2		2–0	2–2	0–4	5–0	3–3	1–2	0–3
Unión Magdalena	1–2[b]	1–0[a]	0–1	1–3	2–1		0–2	3–3	5–1	5–3	1–4	1–3
Millonarios	3–1	5–1	3–1	2–1	4–1	5–3		1–1	5–0	0–1	1–1	4–2
Atlético Nacional	1–1	5–1	1–5	5–2	3–0	5–2	2–2		1–3	3–3	3–2	7–2
Deportivo Pereira	1–5	3–1	1–3	4–5	2–1	4–2	0–2	4–7		3–5	1–2	3–3
Quindío	1–3	2–1	1–1	3–2	6–2	5–2	1–1	4–1	7–2		1–0[c]	8–3
Santa Fe	5–0	1–0[a]	0–0	4–1	3–3	7–0	1–1	4–1	5–4	3–4		6–0
Sporting	2–4	1–0[a]	2–4	4–5	3–3	0–2	0–1	3–1	2–3	1–1	0–4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. Atlético Bucaramanga withdrew from the tournament, so the remaining games left in walkover
2. Played again. The original score was 3–1.
3. Santa Fe did not submit the required documents, so Atlético Quindío won the match as walkover

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Club	Goals
1	Mario Garelli	Atlético Quindío	20
2	Rubén Padín	Santa Fe	19
3	Felipe Marino	Sporting	17
4	Abraham González	Cúcuta Deportivo	16
	Rubí Cerioni	Deportivo Cali	16
6	Francisco Solano Patiño	Boca Juniors	14
	Juan Carlos Toja	Cúcuta Deportivo	14
	Elger Alarcón	Atlético Quindío	14
9	Rubén Deibe	Santa Fe	13
10	Raúl Dimarco	Junior	12

Source: RSSSF.com Colombia 1953

1953 Campeonato Profesional champion
Millonarios Fourth title