Real Santander

Not to be confused with Racing de Santander.

Real Santander is a professional Colombian football team based in Bucaramanga, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. They play their home games at the Estadio Villa Concha in Piedecuesta, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Bucaramanga.

Real Santander

Full name	Club Deportivo Real Santander
Nickname(s)	Albicelestes
Founded	17 January 2006; 19 years ago (2006-01-17)
Ground	Estadio Villa Concha Piedecuesta, Colombia
Capacity	5,500
Chairman	Gustavo Núñez
Manager	Óscar Álvarez
League	Categoría Primera B
2024	Primera B, 16th of 16
Home colours Away colours Third colours

History

The club was founded on 17 January 2006 in Floridablanca, Santander Department after the demise of Real Floridablanca eight years earlier. In late 2006 they acquired the license (ficha) of Pumas de Casanare and became affiliated to DIMAYOR, entering Categoría Primera B, Colombia's second tier in 2007. The club's best achievement in Primera B was a runner-up finish in the first tournament of the 2017 Categoría Primera B season, losing the double-legged final to Boyacá Chicó.^[1]

Relocation to San Andrés Island

Financial difficulties at their hometown forced the club to relocate the men's team to the Caribbean island of San Andrés in late 2018, being renamed as Real San Andrés and playing their home matches at Erwin O'Neil Stadium, becoming the first professional team from the islands, while their youth and women's teams remained behind in Floridablanca.^[2][3] In their first tournament after the relocation, the 2019 Apertura, they ended in 14th place.

Return to Santander

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the multiple logistical drawbacks stemming from it ranging from lack of transportation to the islands to games behind closed doors and potentially scarce financial support from the local government, the agreement with the San Andrés and Providencia authorities was not renewed at the end of the 2020 season, and the men's team returned to the Santander Department for the 2021 Primera B season.^[4] Having been refused the use of Estadio Alfonso López in Bucaramanga by its main tenant Atlético Bucaramanga, they played their first games of the season at Estadio Daniel Villa Zapata in Barrancabermeja until the completion of the adaptation works of Estadio Villa Concha in Piedecuesta.^[5]

Current squad

As of 15 February 2024^[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 1 GK  COL Kevin Chacón 3 DF  COL Camilo Durán 4 DF  COL Santiago Garcés 5 DF  COL Jheison Solarte 6 MF  COL Jafé Pérez 7 FW  COL Jhon Darwin Flor 8 MF  COL Joan Gómez 9 FW  COL Alex Segura 10 MF  COL Faiber Mendoza 11 FW  COL Jorlan Liñán 15 DF  COL Juan José Quintero (captain) 18 DF  COL Samuel Orejuela

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  COL Diego Torres 20 MF  COL Allan Rodríguez 21 DF  COL José Miguel Duque 22 GK  COL Juan Lázaro 23 FW  COL Gustavo Reyes 28 FW  COL Samuel Acuña 29 DF  COL Pedro Rodríguez 31 MF  COL Juan Guillén 32 FW  COL Juan Ararat 33 MF  COL Alejandro Torres 34 DF  COL Santiago Jiménez

Managers

• Martín Peluffo (2008)^[7]
• Johan Meza (January 2009 – December 2011)^[8]
• Miguel González (January 2012 – January 2013)^[9]
• Víctor González (January 2013 – January 2018)^[10]
• Nicolás Herazo (February 2018 – December 2018)^[11]
• José García (January 2019 – December 2023)
• Óscar Álvarez (January 2024 – present)

Source: ^[12]