Independiente del Valle

The Club Deportivo Independiente del Valle, better known as Independiente del Valle, is an Ecuadorian sports club from the city of Sangolquí, founded on 1 March 1958 under the name Club Deportivo Independiente by José Terán; however, after the death of its founder in 1978, the club changed its name to Independiente José Terán, a name it kept until 2009, when it took its current name. Its main discipline is football; its men's squad plays in the Serie A of Ecuador, while its women's squad competes in the Superliga Femenina of Ecuador.

The team is nicknamed "El Negriazul" ("The Black-and-Blue") because of its characteristic black and blue striped kit, which is also why its players are called "Los rayados del valle" ("The Striped Ones of the Valley"), a nickname that also alludes to the Los Chillos valley, where the club comes from. Internationally it has earned the nickname "El Matagigantes" ("The Giant Killer") because in its history it has managed to defeat several of the biggest and most traditional clubs in South America. It is also recognised in Ecuadorian football as an academy club that works on the development of young players, which is the main source of players for the first team and the national team.

The club made its debut in the Ecuadorian Serie A in 2010, a tournament in which it won its first championship in 2021. Its national honours also include the 2022 Copa Ecuador and the 2023 Supercopa de Ecuador. Internationally, it has two Copa Sudamericana titles, won in 2019 and 2022, and one Recopa Sudamericana, won in the 2023 edition; it was also runner-up in the 2016 Copa Libertadores and the 2020 Recopa Sudamericana. It also has several youth-division titles.

It is one of the few Ecuadorian clubs with its own stadium; since 2021 it has played its home matches at the Estadio Banco Guayaquil. The stadium, located in the parish of Amaguaña (Metropolitan District of Quito), has a capacity of 12,575 people. Its sports headquarters, the Centro de Alto Rendimiento Independiente del Valle, is located next to the stadium.