Club Deportes Tolima was founded by Manuel Rubio Chávez on 18 December 1954, when he gave Juan Barbieri (an Argentinian living in Ibagué, Colombia) a sum of $5,000 Colombian pesos in order to hire football players from his native country.

Barbieri came back to Colombia with a mix of Argentine and Colombian players such as Jorge Gandulfo, José Jamardo and Enrique Laino.

Tolima participated for the first time in an international tournament in the 1982 Copa Libertadores, where the club reached the semi-finals after topping their group consisting of Atlético Nacional, Estudiantes de Mérida, and Deportivo Táchira.

[1] Tolima played for one year in the second division but won the title, which allowed them to make an immediate return to the top tier for the 1995 season.

These players included Ricardo Ciciliano, Henry Zambrano, Yulián Anchico, Oscar Briceño, Jhon Charría, Jorge Artigas, Nelson Rivas, and Diego Gómez among others.

The team was second on the overall table (points added up over the Apertura and Finalización tournaments), scored the most goals in the year (over 80), and were runners up in the league for 2006–II.

Tolima ended first in the first stage of the league, and played the semi-finals against Atlético Nacional, Deportivo Pasto, and Boyacá Chicó.

For the 2007 season Deportes Tolima signed important players like defenders Nicolás Ayr and Javier Arizala, strikers Gustavo Savoia and Jorge Perlaza, and midfielder Jésus Sinisterra.

Shortly after, Jaime de la Pava left his post, citing the failure to qualify to the Libertadores knockout stages and missing out on the playoffs as his reasoning.

In the 2008 Apertura, Tolima had a terrible campaign, finishing last in the table, which included heavy losses to Boyaca Chico (7–2) and Independiente Medellin (4–1).

In the playoffs, Deportes Tolima struggled in their group, getting seven points in their first four matches, and reaching the fifth game with the need to beat La Equidad in order to retain a chance to advance to the finals.

In the overall table of the season Tolima finished second, but only qualified for the Copa Sudamericana since the Finalización champions were Independiente Medellín, who had placed third and took the last Libertadores spot by winning the league title.

However, Once Caldas won the second leg 3–1 and claimed the title with a 4–3 aggregate score, leaving Tolima and their fans in disappointment after having such an excellent campaign but missing out on the championship.

Independiente went on to win the competition, which gave the sensation that Tolima had a great campaign since they were close to eliminate the eventual champions.

[8] The Colombian club progressed to the group stage with high expectations after the win against Corinthians, but finished third and was eliminated, including a humiliating 6–1 defeat to Cruzeiro.

[9] In 2014, Tolima won the Copa Colombia for the first time in the club's history, beating Independiente Santa Fe in the finals 3–2 on aggregate.

The second leg in Bogotá saw Millonarios take the lead with a goal by Daniel Ruiz in the 23rd minute, only for the Pijao side to stage a comeback in the second half with a brace by Juan Fernando Caicedo, winning the series 3–2 on aggregate.

[12] Deportes Tolima also reached the final series of the 2021 Finalización, having the chance to win a league double, but were defeated by Deportivo Cali 3–2 on aggregate.

[13] The 2021 Apertura title qualified Deportes Tolima for the 2022 Superliga Colombiana, in which they once again faced the 2021 Finalización champions, Deportivo Cali.