Llaneros

Alan Jara, then governor of Meta, and Villavicencio mayor Juan Guillermo Zuluaga did not start from nothing: with backing from Pacific Rubiales Energy, they bought the playing licence of a defunct Bogotá club, Academia F.C., and on 20 April 2012 reissued it as Llaneros.

When Pacific Rubiales fell into crisis in 2015 and 2016, Llaneros came close to selling its licence and moving city. Independiente Santa Fe stepped in, covering wages and lending its coaching staff and young players to keep the side alive.

Survival did not buy the club a clean record. In December 2021, Llaneros were found to have thrown a match against Unión Magdalena, waving the opposition through to promotion and costing their own players a place in the top flight; four of them were later suspended and fined.

What Llaneros have never done is win anything. Three times they have reached a Primera B final and three times lost it — to Itagüí Leones in 2017, then twice in 2024, first to Patriotas and then, on aggregate, to Unión Magdalena again. That last defeat came with a twist: results across the whole 2024 season still left Llaneros top of the combined table, enough on its own to send them up to Categoría Primera A for 2025.

They play at the Estadio Bello Horizonte – Rey Pelé, known locally as the Macal, in front of a capacity of 15,000.