Rugby team

Estudiantes de Merida FC

Club · Venezuela · Primera División

«Los Académicos»

229 Matches

79 wins

54 draws

96 losses

303–328 Goals

−25 Difference

1.3 Scored per game

Form L W D W D L

Two league titles sit in the Mérida trophy room, both from a decade when the club was young enough. The first came in 1980, the second in 1985. Before either of them, in the season the club drew its first breath, it had already taken the Copa Venezuela — the 1971 trophy arrived the same year as the founding, and a second followed in 1975.

The founder was an engineer, Guillermo Soto Rosa, and the date was 4 April 1971. His name stayed on the ground the club used until 2005, when it moved to the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano de Mérida and its 42,200 seats.

José Chiazzaro scored the first goal in the club's history in 1971 and never really stopped: 183 in all. He is the reason the early years read as more than a founding date.

Not everything held. The club dropped into the Segunda in 2006 and came straight back up the following year, keeping its name through it — no refounding, no merger. Twice it reached a final and lost both to Caracas FC, in 2009 and again in 2019, the second after winning the Apertura and falling at the last step for the absolute title. Under Richard Páez it went further in continental football than at any other point, out in the quarter-finals of the 1999 Copa Libertadores.

The fixture that mattered most in the city was against ULA FC, the university side from the same streets — the Clásico Merideño, or the SuperClásico de La Montaña, depending on who was talking. Two clubs from one small Andean city, one named for its students and the other for its university. ULA were dissolved in 2023.

Latest results

All matches

7 Sep	Primera División	Carabobo FC A	0:1	L
3 Sep	Primera División	UCV H	1:1	D
2 Sep	Primera División	Carabobo FC A
31 Aug	Primera División	Real Esppor Club A	2:1	W
30 Aug	Primera División	UCV H
22 Aug	Primera División	Puerto Cabello H	1:1	D

Standing

Primera División

Group stage · Primera Division: Apertura

#	Team	M	W	D	L	Goals	Pts
4	UCV	13	7	2	4	24:20	23
5	Portuguesa FC	13	5	5	3	20:12	20
6	Estudiantes de Merida FC	13	6	2	5	21:18	20
7	Carabobo FC	13	4	7	2	23:14	19
8	Puerto Cabello	13	4	5	4	16:14	17

Full table

Team statistics

matches counted: 229

229 Matches

79 wins

54 draws

96 losses

303–328 Goals

−25 Difference

1.3 Scored per game

Season results matches counted: 229

79 54 96

wins draws losses

Scored and conceded last matches

scored — above the line conceded — below the line

Metric	Total	Home	Away
Matches	229	115	114
Scored	303	174	129
Conceded	328	140	188
Scored per game	1.3	1.5	1.1
Conceded per game	1.4	1.2	1.6
Difference	−25	+34	−59

Key players

by appearances over the last year

M. Maldonado Defender 2 Matches

Geovan Jarit Montes Melo Defender 2 Matches

Andrés Eduardo Montero Cadenas Midfielder 2 Matches

E. Roberts Goalkeeper 2 Matches

Wilken Ramírez Midfielder 2 Matches

Darwin Matheus Forward 2 Matches

Hector Acosta Defender 2 Matches

J. Lobo Midfielder 2 Matches

Squad of Estudiantes de Merida FC

by appearances over the last year

Number	Player	Position	Age	Matches
13	M. Maldonado	Defender	25	2
31	Geovan Jarit Montes Melo	Defender	30	2
11	Andrés Eduardo Montero Cadenas	Midfielder	32	2
12	E. Roberts	Goalkeeper		2
5	Wilken Ramírez	Midfielder		2
99	Darwin Matheus	Forward		2
25	Hector Acosta	Defender		2
16	J. Lobo	Midfielder		2
4	Christopher Jesús Rodríguez González	Defender		2
15	Cristhian Yonaiker Rivas Vielma	Midfielder		2
9	Jesús Isaac Hernández Córdova	Forward		2
14	Romeesh Nathaniel Ivey Belgrave	Midfielder		2
2	H. Gutierrez	Defender		2
20	H. A. Montilla Maldonado	Midfielder		2
1	Tito Daniel Rojas Rojas	Goalkeeper		2
23	Y. Lacruz	Midfielder		2
24	J. Moreno	Midfielder		2
10	Angelo Pena	Midfielder		2
36	N. Sambrano			1
36	Ronaldo Daniel Chacón Zambrano	Forward	28	1
44	Luis Alberto Caicedo Medina	Defender		1
30	F. Molina			1
7	E. Albarran	Midfielder		1