[1] Universitario Popayán was founded in May 2011, after Centauros Villavicencio moved from Villavicencio to Popayán considering Centauros's huge debts, the refusal of financial support from successive local authorities that deemed it a feeder club for Deportes Quindío, and the support expressed from the Cauca Department Governorate for a football club in the department's capital city.

[2] Despite the fact that the move was made before the start of the Finalización tournament, the club played for the rest of the year under its former name "Centauros" due to legal issues.

[3] Starting from that season the club began working in Popayán, as well as forming players in its youth ranks who would go on to play in the Colombian U-19 championships.

The club's history was marked by the continuous exchange of players with Deportes Quindío (which came from the Centauros era), given that the club's owner, Hernando Ángel, was also Deportes Quindío's controlling shareholder and chairman.

[4] Universitario played its last Primera B match under that name on 4 May 2019, losing to Deportivo Pereira in Palmira by a 4–1 score,[5] and its last official game was a 2–1 defeat against América de Cali in the sixth and last matchday of the group stage of the 2019 Copa Colombia on 8 May.