Chapecoense
Associação Chapecoense de Futebol, commonly known as Chapecoense and whose acronym is ACF, is a Brazilian
football club, based in the city of Chapecó in the state of Santa Catarina.
Besides football the club also has
activities in futsal, in which it has been state champion twice. The club was
founded in 1973 with the goal of restoring football in the city of Chapecó, and won
their first state title in 1977. In all, the club has won four state
championships to date, the last in 2011. A relatively small club, they entered
Brazil's top division, Série A, for the first time in 2014. The club's home
matches are played at Arena Condá.
On November 28, 2016, a charter flight carrying the first team crashed as it approached Medellín's international
airport in Colombia, where the
team was scheduled to play the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final against Atlético
Nacional, a match that was seen as the biggest in the history of the
club.[1] All but six of the 81
passengers died; three Chapecoense players survived. Following the crash,
Atlético Nacional have requested to the governing body of the competition that
Chapecoense be awarded the trophy.[2]
Chapecoense's
supporters
The club was founded as Associação
Chapecoense de Futebol on May 10, 1973, after the merger of Atlético
Chapecoense and Independente.[3]
In 1977, Chapecoense won its first
title, which was the Santa Catarina State Championship, beating Avaí 1–0 in the final.[4]
In 1978, the club competed for the first
time in the Brazilian Championship First Level, finishing in the
51st position,[5] and in following year,
finished in the 93rd position.[6]
In 2002, due to a partnership,
Chapecoense was renamed to Associação Chapecoense Kindermann/Mastervet.[3] In 2006, the club was
renamed back to its original name, Associação Chapecoense de Futebol,[7] and also won the Copa
Santa Catarina.[8]
In 2007, the club won for the third time
the state championship,[9] and also competed in
the Brazilian Championship Third Level, but was
eliminated in the first stage of the competition.[10] They won the Campeonato Catarinense again in 2011.
Chapecoense competed in the Série A for the first time
since 1979 in 2014, as the club was promoted after they and Bragantino drew 1–1, in Chapecó,
for the 2013 Série B.[11][12] Winning important
points during its first season in the top flight, Chape cemented a place in
the 2015 Série A, its second
season in a row in the first division. [13]
In 2016, Chapecoense made history when
they reached the finals of the Copa Sudamericana 2016 after defeating San Lorenzo de Almagro using the away goals rule.
Plane crash[edit]
In the evening of November 28, 2016, LaMia Airlines Flight 2933 carrying players from
the club crashed as it approached Medellín, Colombia.
Due to this, the 2016 Copa Sudamericana Finals in which the team were
due to play was suspended indefinitely. Three members of the team survived.[1]
