Alianza Petrolera F.C.

Alianza Petrolera was founded on 24 October 1990, entering the second-tier competition Categoría Primera B where they played from 1992 to 2012. They enjoyed a significant run of success between 1998 and 2004, finishing as runners-up in 2002. However, their fortunes changed after that and by 2009 the club was on the verge of folding.

In the 2009 Apertura, they performed dismally, earning just five points and not winning a single game. The club was short on sponsors, coaches, and players, and their participation in the Finalizacion seemed doubtful. They managed to compete, but finished dead last. In early 2011, Alianza Petrolera signed a partnership deal with Atlético Nacional that would net them players and coaching staff on loan, with much of the wages covered by the latter team.^[5]

This new arrangement revitalized the club, which qualified for the finals of the "Torneo Finalización" in 2012. This earned them a berth in the final against Deportivo Rionegro. Alianza prevailed, winning the first leg 1–0 and the second leg 3–1. That earned them a spot in the season final against América de Cali, with promotion on the line. The first leg ended 2–1 in favor of Alianza, but the second leg ended 1–0 in favor of América de Cali. The series went to penalty kicks, where Alianza Petrolera prevailed and earned promotion to the top flight for the very first time.

Alianza has not been relegated back since. Their best campaign in the top flight was in the 2015 Finalización tournament. During the first stage, the club enjoyed a consistent performance, leading the table for some rounds of the tournament and ending in sixth place with 33 points, which allowed them to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time, losing to Independiente Medellín in the quarterfinals.

After finishing in eighth place in the aggregate table of the 2023 Categoría Primera A season, Alianza Petrolera qualified for their first international competition, the 2024 Copa Sudamericana. However, on 16 January 2024 the club announced their departure from Barrancabermeja due to the lack of financial support from local authorities, accepting a proposal from the city of Valledupar to move there. With the move to Valledupar, the club was also rebranded to Alianza F.C., dropping its colors and the word Petrolera from their name, and adopting as new colors those representative of their new hometown.^[6] Consequently, its successor club Alianza F.C. inherited the Copa Sudamericana berth earned by Alianza Petrolera.

• Categoría Primera B
  • Winners (1): 2012

• José de Jesús Vega (1998)
• José Suárez (1999)
• Fernando Valderrama (2000–2001)
• Adolfo León Holguín (2002)
• Alexis Mendoza (2003)
• Juan Carlos Bedoya (2004)
• Adolfo León Holguín (2005)
• Felipe Merino (2006)
• Adolfo León Holguín (2006)
• Jorge Ramoa (2007)
• Didier Luna (2008)
• Oscar Upegui (2008)
• Carlos Estrada (2009)
• Henry Barón (2010)
• Héctor Estrada (2011–2013)
• Guillermo "El Teacher" Berrío (2013)
• Adolfo León Holguín (2014)
• Oscar Upegui (2015–2016)
• Edgar Moreno (2016)
• Jorge Luis Bernal (2016–2017)
• Juan Cruz Real (2017–2018)
• César Torres (2018–2020)
• Wilson Gutiérrez (2021)
• Hubert Bodhert (2021–2023)
• César Torres (2023)

Source: Worldfootball.net