Prior to that championship, they had reached the finals of the Colombian football league in 1997, losing to América de Cali.

In 1948, the directors of "Pielroja" (the most recent local champions) invited city businessman Rafael Chaberman to assist in setting up a professional team.

Following Haberman's advice, the directors enlisted local businessmen, newspapers, and radio stations to promote a team.

A board was assembled with Dr. Elias Solano as president, assisted by managing directors Rafael Chaberman, Vicente Díaz, Miguel González, Juan B. Silva (Treasurer), Manuel José Puyana, Eduardo Villa, Jorge Reyes Puyana, José Vicente Niño, Gustavo Mantilla, Rafael Pérez, Enrique Orduz, and Luis Fernando Sanmiguel.

The result was that the club quickly assembled a team composed of players from Bucaramanga, Barrancabermeja and Barranquilla, most of whom had some experience playing at a high level.

The three Guerrero brothers (center half Francisco, left wing Juan, and inside right Jorge) were an example of this sort of local talent.

In 1949, the club applied for membership in the Colombian league and was accepted after winning a playoff match with Once Deportivo from Manizales.

On 1 May 1949, Atlético Bucaramanga played its first game in the Colombian football tournament, losing to Deportivo Cali 5–1 at the Estadio Alfonso López.

[4] Like many other Colombian clubs, Atlético Bucaramanga took advantage of the El Dorado period to sign a host of foreign players.

They were Antonio "Toto" Bernasconi (half-back), Norberto Juan Peluffo (center-half), Aristóbulo Deambrosi (right winger) and José Cayetano Fraccione (goalkeeper), nicknamed "the Flying Fish".

This was just the beginning of the club's aggressive pursuit of foreign players, including the signing of Costa Rican forward José Joaquín "El Quincho" Quiroz.

The manager responsible for that rebuild, Felipe "Judio" Stemberg, was Argentine, and he brought a number of his countrymen into the side.

However, the match was a disaster; Santa Fe romped to a 5–1 win, humiliating a Bucaramanga club that looked completely outmatched.

They even had to sit out the 1971 season due to economic problems, selling their place to a team from Cartagena in order to pay off their debts.

However, in 1993 Ortiz was dismissed in favor of Norberto Peluffo, who promised a more open and attacking style of play but delivered a leaky defense in return.

Colombian football league was scheduled to switch to the European calendar in mid-1995 and as a result, a 4-month championship was organized prior to the change in format.

Key to their success was keeper Guillermo Rodolfo Guarnieri, who set a Colombian record by playing 1122 minutes (13 matches and part of a 14th) without giving up a single goal.

His roster had no stars, and in fact was mostly composed of the same players who had led the club to the Primera B title two years prior.

Although América won both legs of the final, the runner-up finish in the tournament allowed Bucaramanga to qualify for the 1998 Copa Libertadores.

Bucaramanga's second-place finish (including a win in penalties over arch-rivals Cúcuta Deportivo) was good enough to keep the team in the top tier despite being unable to score a single goal in both matches of the playoff.

Back in Primera B for 2009, Atlético Bucaramanga reached the season finals but were upset over two legs by Cortuluá and lost the promotion play-off to Deportivo Pereira.

The team struggled in the semi-finals, only winning one of their first five games (against Millonarios in Bogotá) and losing two against Deportivo Pereira and Junior, both away from home.

[9] In the final series, Bucaramanga faced Independiente Santa Fe, winning the first leg played at Estadio Alfonso López 1–0.

[14] They occupy the south grandstand of the Estadio Américo Montanini and have participated in peaceful protests in order to request government support to solve the difficult situation of the Club,[15][16] but have also taken part in a number of acts of violence.

[17] The next year, on 10 March 2012 some of them fought against other hooligans in the Estadio Arturo Cumplido Sierra in Sincelejo in the middle of the game between Sucre FC and Bucaramanga.