C.D.F.A. Arturo Fernández Vial

Arturo Fernandez Vial

Full name	Club Deportivo Ferroviario Almirante Arturo Fernandez Vial
Nickname(s)	La maquina aurinegra, vialinos, aurinegros
Founded	June 3, 1906
Ground	Estadio Municipal de San Pedro de La Paz San Pedro de La Paz, Chile (Capacity: 3,000)
Chairman	Audito Retamal
Manager	Jorge Rodríguez
League	Tercera División A
2011	2nd
Home colours Away colours

Club Deportivo Ferroviario Almirante Arturo Fernández Vial is a football club in Chile, from the Concepción area, in the Bio-Bio Region. The team was founded on June 3, 1903, and it currently plays in the third tier of the Chilean professional leagues.

Arturo Fernandez Vial identifies itself since its beginning with the national corporation of railroad workers, and it is a popular team in the region . Its traditional rival is Deportes Concepcion. Also, the team's "hinchada" (die-hard supporters) are known as La Furia Guerrera.

History

In the year 1897, the football club Internacional de Concepción was founded. This predecessor institution reunited the local residents that worked for the State Railway at the time.

In May 1903, a strike was declared by the harbor workers in the city of Valparaíso which unchained violent scenes in the city, even bringing it to a state of street curfew. In the midst of the deliberations, admiral Arturo Fernandez Vial, ex director of Territorio Marítimo (Maritime Territory) and survivor of the Battle of Iquique, decided to intervene before court, trying to settle the problem, and achieving such goal.

Such an act generated admiration, and because of his work, the football club Internacional decided on June 15 of 1903, change its name to Club Deportivo Ferroviario Almirante Arturo Fernandez Vial.

The team Vial stood out since its beginning by its high degree of organization. It had its own field right next to the Bio-Bio riverbank, in the area known as Chepe. Its statutes accepted members from all nationalities, but Chileans were preferred. The membership fee was of two Chilean pesos at the time and a monthly fee of one peso. As for its clothing, it had yellow soccer cleats, black short socks, special shin guards, white pants, a sealing wax belt, a striped black and white jersey, and a cap of the same color. In the beginning, Internacional was like a miniature Colo-Colo, a great diffuser of football between the years 1897 and 1903, promoting this sport mainly in the towns near Concepción,.

The first great victory for the máquina aurinegra (yellow and black machine) came in 1910, in a historical match that took place in the 120 stop of the old trams that went from Concepción through Talcahuano, the vialinos ended the regional dominance of until then undefeated Concepcion United. That afternoon, the loud whistles from the coal engines deafened the city's downtown.

In the year 1981, Vial decides to play in the newly created Tercera División (Third Division) becoming champions and obtaining promotion to Chile's Segunda Division (Second Division). With almost the same squad, Vial repeats the deed the following season and becomes champion of the Second Division in 1982 with 56 points; this milestone helps make the southern dreams come true. After 80 years, Club Ferroviario Almirante Arturo Fernandez Vial (the most popular institution in the southern side of Chile) makes their debut on the Chilean First Division and it's the first team in the history of the national football league to go from Third Division to First Division in two years. Up to now, no other professional football club has done such accomplishment.

Nowadays, Vial is going through hard economical issues that are affecting the team's performance. Nevertheless, with the team playing in Chile's Second Division for the last 13 years and without achieving important goals, the passion from its die-hard fans hasn't perished. The club possesses a mystic and clutch that differentiates it from the rest of the teams on the zone, and its fans sustain the club, not without difficulties. The team's biggest support throughout these years of uncertainty has come from the hinchada (supporters) Furia Guerrera.

Uniform

• Home Uniform: Yellow Jersey with vertical black stripes, black shorts, black socks.
• Away Uniform: Black Jersey, black shorts, black socks.

Stadium

Estadio Municipal de San Pedro de La Paz located in San Pedro de La Paz, a commune part of the Greater Concepción conurbation.

Notable players

• Rubén Dundo
• Javier Grandoli
• Mario Alberto Kempes
• Renan Miranda
• Luc Bessala
• Luis Chavarría
• Eduardo Fournier
• Francisco Prieto
• Arturo Sanhueza
• Ronald Valladares
• Fernando Vergara
• Manuel Villalobos
• Richard Zambrano
• Edgardo Abdala
• Nelson Acosta
• Gustavo Biscayzacu
• Gustavo Perla

Current Squad 2011

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Esteban Valdivia 2 DF Gerson Malo 3 DF Pascual Astorga 5 DF Humberto Bustamante 6 DF John Burgos 7 MF Fernando Mendoza 9 FW Francisco Román 10 MF Robinson Díaz 11 FW Marcelo Pacheco 14 MF Raul Silva 15 FW Dennis Saavedra 19 DF Maximiliano Recabal 16 DF José Miguel Catalán

No. Position Player 21 MF Robert Méndez 22 MF Patricio Lagos 25 GK Marcelo Retamal -- DF Victor López -- MF Daniel San Juan -- DF Pablo Díaz Alarcón -- MF Oliver Huenul -- MF Carlos Mardones -- FW Cristóbal López -- DF Marco Muñóz -- FW René Lucero -- DF Javier Rodríguez -- MF Bryan Bobadilla

National Honours

Torneo Nacional

• Second Division: 1

1982

• Third Division: 1

1981

External links

• Official website (Spanish)
• Unofficial website (Spanish)
• Unofficial website (Spanish)