Bolivian football is going Strong and it’s Always Ready
Iadmit that I’m a bit of a footballaholic, so much so that I was playing with a footy scores app on my phone on Christmas Day. Obviously, there weren’t many games being played, but one in particular caught my eye in the LFPB, the Bolivian top flight. The Strongest beat Always Ready 3-2, and I would love to know how they came to have these names. – S. The game was a capital derby, played at The Strongest’s 42,000-capacity Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz, and the win kept them in third place in the 14-team league.
The Strongest formed in 1908 as The Strong Football Club, but they became known as The Strongest.
While deciding on team colours, the founders were sent a shirt from Germany that was dark green with horizontal, yellow stripes. One of the founders commented on how a local bird, the chaynita, had similar colours. The club adopted the idea and since 1908, the main outfit has been vertically striped yellow and black stripes.
It is the only team in the world to have a battle named after it. In the Chaco War of 1932-35 players, staff and members of the club enlisted in the army. A division largely composed of these “Stronguistas” played a vital part in an important victory. As a result, the battle is named “Batalla de Cañada Strongest”.
Always Ready was formed in 1933 around a monument to Christopher Columbus by a group of young boys.
Committing themselves to be the future champions of La Paz football, they chose the Always Ready name to reflect their enthusiasm for the game.