Club Blooming

On 1 May 1946, a group of young men led by Humberto Vaca Pereyra Montaño, agreed to establish a new football club after the rupture of a previous team they had put together called "Blue Sky".

In their quest to find a name, they looked for inspiration in the city of Santa Cruz's flourishing youth; therefore, they decided to name the team officially as "Club Blooming".

From that moment, the team earned the right to be a member of the Asociación Cruceña de Fútbol (ACF), a regional association which happened to be the highest football entity in the Santa Cruz department during that time.

At the time the club appointed a new chairman, his name was Roberto "Tito" Paz, a well-known and respected businessman from Santa Cruz who would transform the team into a true powerhouse in the following years.

Under his directions he had a group of talented players including Silvio Rojas, Juan Carlos Sánchez, Milton Melgar, Roly Paniagua, Rolando Coimbra and Miguel Ángel Noro among others.

They all became great contributors in helping the club make history by finishing as runners-up in 1982 and 1983, and winning the first national championship in 1984; thanks to that glorious long range shot by Milton Melgar in injury time against Bolívar in Cochabamba.

During a home game against Deportivo Italia from Venezuela, which Blooming won by a crushing 8–0, he scored six goals alone, and set a personal record unlikely to be broken.

However, the dream of winning the most desired trophy in the continent vanished after finishing last in a group series against Argentine clubs Independiente and Argentinos Juniors, the latter claiming the title that year.

A new generation of players including Jaime Moreno, Juan Manuel Peña, and Berthy Suárez placed the club back among the elite in Bolivian football.

In both seasons, 1990 and 1991, the team came close from winning the national championship by reaching semi-finals with Ramiro Blacut as the manager; nonetheless, the academia cruceña lost to Bolívar and San José respectively.

[2][3] After such a colossal victory, Blooming stayed motivated throughout the season obtaining good results and making the play-offs, but ultimately they finished in third place behind La Paz's clubs The Strongest and Bolívar, and missed another opportunity to take part in an international tournament.

The evident lack of motivation was soon reflected on the field, as the team didn't qualify to any of the two championship play-offs, and to make things worse, it compromised its permanence in first division football due to poor performances throughout the season.

Despite the tremendous effort exhibited by these youngsters, the team finished second-bottom of the league having to play a relegation series with the Copa Simón Bolívar's runners-up.

The club was also strengthened with great off-season acquisitions like young talented midfielder Limberg Gutiérrez, experienced striker Víctor Hugo Antelo, Tahuichi right-back Renny Ribera and other important players, which got on well with rest of the squad; forming a solid and consistent team that won the promotion in 1996 by defeating Club Universidad from Santa Cruz in the Copa Simón Bolívar finals.

In 1997, la academia made a successful comeback; in the Apertura the club finished first in its group; nevertheless it fell short from winning the title by getting knocked-out in semi-finals by Bolívar.

In the Clausura Blooming qualified as second best in its group, but in the "Hexagonal Final" the team ended up third behind Bolívar and Oriente; therefore, being left out of another Copa Libertadores berth.

With the basis of that group of players, along with the arrival of other key figures such as Bolivian internationals Rubén Tufiño and José Carlos Fernández, Blooming consolidated a squad that led the tournament from the beginning and culminated with the 1998 Clausura title.

Finally in the 2005 Apertura, Blooming gave its fans a new reason to celebrate when they won the tournament with a young and rejuvenated team under the guidance of Gustavo Quinteros.

Each team prevailed in their respective home games without a goal differential rule established, so in order to crown a new champion a third and decisive match was scheduled in Sucre.

The celestes managed to eliminate its opponent after a 0–0 draw in their visit to the Estadio Victor Agustín Ugarte in Potosí (4,000 m above sea level) and a crucial 1–0 victory at home.

In the second-leg match played in La Paz the team felt the pressure exerted by the locals on and off the field; however, Blooming gave the first thrust thanks to a brilliant goal netted by Roger Suárez.

Picture of the derby vs Oriente Petrolero .