Leones Negros UdeG

Club Deportivo Leones Negros de la Universidad de Guadalajara, abbreviated and simply known as Leones Negros UdeG, is a Mexican professional football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, that currently plays in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football. The club was founded in 1970 as Venados UdeG, two years later it changed to its current name.

Leones Negros UdeG

Full name	Club Deportivo Leones Negros de la Universidad de Guadalajara
Nickname(s)	Leones Negros (Black Lions)
Short name	UDG
Founded	January 1, 1970; 55 years ago (January 1, 1970), as Venados UdeG
Ground	Estadio Jalisco Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Capacity	56,713
Owner	UdeG
Chairman	José Alberto Castellanos Gutiérrez
Manager	Alfonso Sosa
League	Liga de Expansión MX
Clausura 2025	Regular phase: 1st Final phase: Champions
Website	www.leonesnegrosudg.mx
Home colours Away colours Third colours

History

The Universidad de Guadalajara football club, nicknamed Leones Negros (Black Lions) started in the Tercera División de México, where they played for two seasons after which they gained promotion to Segunda División de México.

They reached the top division by acquiring the Primera División's franchise of Torreón, Coahuila (Club Torreón) and moving it to Guadalajara, Jalisco after the 1973-1974 season and renaming it Club Deportivo Leones Negros de la Universidad de Guadalajara.

During their first years in the Primera División de México they had several skilled Brazilian players, reason for which noted sports broadcaster Ángel Fernández started to call them "Leones Negros" (the Black Lions), a nickname that stuck and remains part of the folklore of Mexican football.

In the 1975–76, 1976–77 and 1989–90 seasons, the team achieved the runners-up in the Primera División.^[1] In addition, in 1978 the club won the CONCACAF Champions' Cup together with the clubs Comunicaciones F.C. from Guatemala and Defence Force F.C. from Trinidad and Tobago.^[2]

Disappearance of los Leones Negros de la UdeG

After 20 years in top flight football the team was in decline, alleged questionable financial dealings, a very poor squad and hardly any local fans (who are loyal to more popular teams like Guadalajara, better known as "Chivas" and to a lesser extent, Atlas) Leones Negros were acquired by the FMF, to make way for the reduction in the number of teams in the Primera División. Their last game was on May 27, 1994 against Atlas, in which they lost 2–1.

New Era

After the disappearance of the team by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol, the franchise maintained the third division reserve squad, that become the main team, the club obtained a title in the verano 1997 tournament, gaining promotion to the Primera División 'A' de México where they stayed until the franchise was sold and moved to Orizaba, Veracruz in 2002. During this time the franchise was named Atlético Bachilleres,^[3] name it had since the 1970s when the reserve team was established.

Between 2002 and 2009 the team played as Cachorros UdeG in te Segunda División de México in the Norte region and a few seasons back was close to gaining promotion to the Primera División 'A' de México, first losing the final against, Académicos and then losing to Chivas La Piedad. For the Apertura 2007 season they changed stadium to Estadio Municipal Santa Rosa in Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, but have stated that some of their home games will still played at their traditional home in twice worldcup host Estadio Jalisco. In 2009, Cachorros UdeG became the reserve team of the club, a situation that remained until 2014, when it became Leones Negros UdeG Premier.^[4]

Return to the Primera División A

For some time businessmen, among them Jorge Vergara, tried to return the team of Club Universidad de Guadalajara to the top divisions of football in Mexico, this was achieved through the purchase of the franchise of the Primera División 'A''s C.D. Tapatío for $800,000 USD from Guadalajara of which C.D. Tapatío was a subsidiary.

On May 21, 2009 it was confirmed that team Club Universidad de Guadalajara entered the Primera División 'A' de México instead of C.D. Tapatío, which disappeared completely.

Apertura 2013 Champions and promotion to Liga MX

In the Apertura 2013 tournament, Leones Negros finished 5th and entered the Liguilla, where they reached the final and ended as Champions beating Necaxa 2–1, earning the right to compete in the Final de Ascenso and the possibility to be promoted to the 2014–15 Liga MX.

After a hard Clausura 2014 tournament, Leones Negros ended in 4th place, but lost in the quarterfinals against Oaxaca. However, as Apertura 2013 champions, they played the Final de Ascenso against Estudiantes Tecos, who were the Clausura 2014 Champions.

After two very disputed games, both of them ended in a tie, the Promotion was defined in a penalty shoot-out, in which goalkeeper Humberto "Gansito" Hernández scored the final and decisive penalty, giving the Leones Negros the promotion and the right to play in the 2014–15 Liga MX season.

Club Universidad de Guadalajara was officially relegated after only one season in the Mexican top flight on May 9, 2015. Despite winning the match against Cruz Azul 2–0, relegation rivals Puebla managed to obtain a 2–2 tie, thus giving them more percentage in the relegation table. As a result, UdeG returned to Ascenso MX. In the Clausura 2018 tournament the team was close to returning to Liga MX, however, in the final of the championship the team was defeated by Cafetaleros de Tapachula.

In June 2020, UdeG became a member of the Liga de Expansión MX when it replaced Ascenso MX.^[5]

Honours

National

Leones Negros UdeG honours

Type	Competition	Titles	Winning editions	Runners-up
Top division	Primera División	0	–	1975–76, 1976–77, 1989–90
	Copa México	1	1990–91	1974–75, 1988–89
Promotion divisions	Liga de Expansión MX	1	Clausura 2025	Clausura 2024
	Campeón de Campeones de la Liga de Expansión MX	0	–	2025
	Ascenso MX	1	Apertura 2013	Clausura 2018
	Campeón de Ascenso	1	2014	–
	Segunda División	0	–	1973–74

International

Type	Competition	Titles	Winning editions	Runners-up
Continental CONCACAF	CONCACAF Champions Cup	1	1978	–

Friendly

• Copa de Guadalajara con Pelé: 1975
• Copa Pacífica: 2024

Personnel

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Alfonso Sosa
Assistant managers	Juan Carlos Chávez
	Julio Herrera
Goalkeeper coach	Roberto Hernández
Fitness coach	Sergio Hernández
Physiotherapist	Alan Fuentes
Team doctor	Eduardo Ortega

Players

First-team squad

As of 3 August 2025^[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  MEX Jonathan Sánchez 3 DF  MEX Luis Flores 4 DF  MEX Arturo Ledesma 5 DF  MEX Ulises Torres 7 FW  MEX Édson Rivera 8 FW  MEX Carlos Fierro 9 FW  MEX Raúl Camacho 10 MF  MEX Jesús Brígido 11 MF  MEX Joel Pérez

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 DF  MEX René López 14 MF  MEX Adrián Villalobos 15 MF  MEX Alejandro Carreón 18 FW  MEX Denilson Muñoz 20 DF  MEX Bryan Flores 24 DF  MEX Juan Aguayo 25 GK  MEX Oziel Cantú 28 DF  MEX Alejandro Bravo 30 GK  MEX Felipe López

For recent transfers, see List of Mexican football transfers winter 2024–25.

Reserve teams

Leones Negros UdeG Premier

Reserve team that plays in the Liga Premier, the third level of the Mexican league system.

Leones Negros UdeG (Liga TDP)

Reserve team that plays in the Liga TDP, the fourth level of the Mexican league system.

Managers

• Ignacio Jáuregui (1976–1978)
• Gustavo Peña (1978–1979)
• Árpád Fekete (1979–1981)
• Ignacio Trelles (1986–1989)
• Alberto Guerra (1989–1992)
• Sergio Díaz (2009)
• Belarmino de Almeida (2009–2010)
•  Héctor Medrano (2010–2011)
• Alfonso Sosa (2011–2015), (2021–)
• Daniel Guzmán (2015–2016)
• Joel Sánchez Ramos (2016–2017)
• Jorge Dávalos (2017–2019), (2019–2021)
• Ricardo Rayas (2019)