Santiago Wanderers

El Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers is a social and sports institution of Chile, founded in the city of Valparaíso on 15 August 1892, and currently plays in the Primera B. It is the oldest existing sports club born for football in the country, which is why it is known as the “Decano” (“Dean”) of Chilean football. In addition, on 11 January 2007, it was named “Patrimonio Intangible de Valparaíso” (“Intangible Heritage of Valparaíso”), as a way of officially confirming the cultural bond it has with the port city.

Despite its place of origin, the founders decided to put the name “Santiago” first in order to distinguish the club from another team that existed in the city at the time, Valparaíso Wanderers. On several occasions initiatives have arisen that aim to replace “Santiago” with “Valparaíso” as a way of confirming the bond with the city. However, the idea has provoked strong opposition among part of the fan base and the leadership.

It formally began its football activity in 1897, as part of the National Football Association, from which it withdrew in 1899 to join the official competition of the Football Association of Chile (Liga de Valparaíso from 1926). It was one of the founding members of the Asociación Porteña de Fútbol Profesional, in which it remained between 1940 and 1943, playing its first professional championships. In that period it won 2 championships, in 1941 and 1942.

In 1944, after a first experience in 1937, it definitively joined the tournaments of the Asociación Central de Fútbol (Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional from 1987), where it is, together with Huachipato, the third team with the most Primera División titles outside the city of Santiago with three conquests, surpassed only by Everton with 4 titles and Cobreloa with 8.

Its honors include 3 national titles, 3 Copa Chile titles and 3 Primera B tournaments. Other professional titles include 2 titles of the Asociación Porteña de Fútbol Profesional, recognized in 2022.

In 2008 the professional football section split from the Corporación Santiago Wanderers, and came to be managed as a sociedad anónima deportiva under the name Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers S.A.D.P. The club plays its home matches at the Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, which has a capacity of 25,568 spectators. Its traditional rival was La Cruz Football Club until its entry into the Asociación Central de Fútbol, after which over the years it developed a rivalry with Everton de Viña del Mar, against whom it plays the “Clásico Porteño”.