El Dorado – Origin Story of Colombian Football: Part 2

Peter J Watson

17th August 2018 | 11:35 PM

Colombian football - El Dorado
Illustration by Onkar Shirsekar
From 1949-1953, Colombia may have had the strongest football league in the world. But was the so-called ‘El Dorado’ league such a glorious time for Colombian football?

All that glitters is not gold – Colombia’s El Dorado league.

It is hard to think that for a short period, from 1949-1953, Colombia may have had the best football league in the world. It’s less hard to imagine that in some ways, the so called ‘El Dorado’ professional football league in Colombia of this period was associated with illegality, or at least the ‘footballing piracy’ of signing players directly rather than going through their clubs. For the brief time it lasted, Colombia suddenly became relevant in sporting terms (not just in football) as some of the greatest Latin American stars of the post-war generation eagerly signed up with Colombian league clubs who were offering far more in signing on fees and wages than their previous clubs could offer. But it wasn’t just Latin Americans who were attracted to the league. European footballers too, from the UK, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Lithuania and Romania amongst others, somewhat like the Spanish conquistadores of the late 15th and early 16th centuries were lured across the Atlantic by the promise of riches. But, as is often the case in football, all that glitters is not gold.

Colombia’s first national professional league was founded on the backdrop of national conflict and was employed to some extent by the government of the time to mask a period of such ferocious barbarity and bloodletting in Colombia, that it is now simply known as La Violencia, The Violence.

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