C.D. Jorge Wilstermann

On November 24, 1949,^[2] a group of employees of Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano met to form a football club that would be identified with the company and become the pride of its workers. After two hours of debate, they founded the club with the name "San Jose de la Banda" in tribute to the area and the airport in Cochabamba. They proceeded to the election of the board, and appointed Justo Mancilla as club president. After some debate, blue and white were chosen as the team colors.

After the death of the company's first commercial pilot in Bolivia, Jorge Wilstermann, the name of the club was changed. In 1953, Captain Walter Lemma, manager of the company and partner of the deceased, suggested that both the airport and the team bear the name of the pilot, who had been very dear to the institution.

After the club's foundation, the leaders entered it in Cochabamba's Football Association (AFC) to compete in the second division. Wilstermann had no clear rival for first place and its good campaign forced it to seek to move into the AFC championship, which was played in La Paz and Oruro between teams from those cities.

When Dr. Jorge Rojas was appointed Wilstermann's chairman, he changed its colors to red and blue. "I chose those colors because they mean force, ferocity, and total dedication in the field", he stated. It was also the only team in the country which used those colors.

Wilstermann's first national title came in 1958. This was the first in the club's "golden age", highlighted by star players such as Walter Zamorano, Mario Zabalaga, José Carlos Trigo, César Sánchez, Máximo Alcócer, Ausberto García, Renán López, Alfredo Soria, Rómulo Cortez, Wilfredo Villarroel, José Trujillo, and José Rocabado. At that time, Wilstermann was the only team in Bolivia that played with five forwards, which shattered defenses.

In 1959, Wilstermann repeated as national champions, earning the honor to be the representative Bolivian side in the first edition of the Copa Libertadores de América in 1960. Their initial match pitted them against Peñarol of Uruguay. The Uruguayans defeated Wilstermann 7–1 in Montevideo, although the Bolivians drew their home game 1–1. In 1960, Wilstermann won its third consecutive national title, an achievement that has not been equalled by any other Bolivian club.

In the 1961 Copa competition, Wilster played to a tie against Santa Fe, Colombia, winning 3–2 in Cochabamba and losing 1–0 in Colombia. The governing body decided to draw lots to determine which team would advance to the next round. "The draw was a fraud. After many years we learned that the full intention of the South American Football Confederation, which at that time was based in Bogota, was to eliminate Wilstermann and promote Santa Fe to the semi-finals," claimed then Wilster club chairman, the late Jorge Rojas. The unsubstantiated story was that both of the pieces of paper that were put in the hat had Wilstermann's name. The team that was drawn was eliminated. "The Confederation official of that process confessed that he had been forced to proceed in this manner," recalled Rojas.

Wilstermann enjoyed a second "golden era" in the 1970s under the chairmanship of Alfredo Salazar. The Wilstermann team again won the national championships in 1972 and 1973. "They were spectacular years. Wilstermann had that mystique of a winning team: they did not like to lose ever, even less to a visiting side. Besides they were always on the attack and even achieved a historic 2–2 tie with River Plate in Buenos Aires," recalls Antonio Yanez, organization leader since 1975.

The Wilstermann sides of this era were highlighted by players such as Rene Bilbao, Hugo Pérez, Jaime Olivera, Juan José Ponce, Limbert Cabrera Rivero, Freddy Vargas, Juan Carlos Sánchez, Hugo Franco, Carlos Canelas, Alberto Navarro, Brazilian Milton Teodoro Joana, Chilean's Juan Abel Ganga and Víctor Hugo Bravo.

Following a period of club organizational turmoil and the founding of the professional football league of Bolivia, the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano, Wilstermann enjoyed its third "golden age", winning national titles in 1980 and 1981.

During this period, the team looked to achieve something sought unsuccessfully by many Bolivian football clubs before: qualifying for the second phase of the Copa Libertadores de America. In opening Copa round play, Wilster beat good teams Técnico Universitario, Ambato and Barcelona SC. To seal their qualification for the second round, Wilstermann beat The Strongest 4–1 in the match tiebreaker in a memorable match at the stadium Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.^{[citation needed]}

In the second phase, Wilstermann faced the formidable rosters of Deportivo Cali of Colombia and Flamengo of Brazil. They first tied the Colombian side 1–1 in Cochabamba, but fell 1–0 in Cali. The team from Rio de Janeiro defeated Wilster 2–1 at home, as well as in Maracanã, 4–1. While these results were disappointing, Wilstermann had accomplished what no Bolivian team had before. The Wilstermann sides of this era were highlighted by players such as Roger Pérez, Carlos Trigo, Víctor Villalón, Carlos Arias, Eduardo Navarro, Jhonny Villarroel, Freddy Vargas, César Enriquez, Jairzinho, Gastón Taborga and Freddy Salguero.

• Bolivian Primera División
  • Winners (15): 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1967, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1981, 2000, 2006-ST, 2010-A, 2016-C, 2018-A, 2019-C

• Primera "A" (AFC)
  • Winners (16): 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 2011, 2011-12

• Copa Libertadores: 15 appearances

Best – Semi-finals in 1981

• Copa Sudamericana: 2 appearances

2007 – First round

2014 – First round

• Recopa Sudamericana: 0 appearances
• Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearance

1998 – Quarter-finals

As of 29 July, 2024. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   BOL Bruno Poveda U23 3 MF   BOL Alejandro Chumacero 4 DF   BOL Francisco Rodríguez 6 DF   ARG Martin Chiatti 7 MF   BOL Josué Mamani 8 FW   PAR Héctor Bobadilla (loan from Cerro Porteño) 9 FW   BRA Jefferson 10 FW   URU Rodrigo Amaral 11 MF   PAR Alex Cáceres 12 GK   BOL Lucas Salinas U23 13 GK   PAR Arnaldo Giménez (captain) 14 DF   BOL Edwin Pardo 15 MF   BOL Cristhian Machado (vice-captain) 17 DF   BOL Marvin Bejarano 18 DF   BOL Carlitos Rodriguez U20 19 DF   BOL Widen Saucedo

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 FW   BOL Adrián Peña U23 22 DF   ARG Santiago Echeverría 23 FW   BOL Makerlo Tellez U23 25 DF   BOL Robson Dos Santos 26 DF   BOL Clemilson Da Silva U20 27 DF   BOL Rafael Corrales 28 MF   CAN Adrian Pacheco U20 29 MF   BOL Sergio Adrián 30 MF   BOL Rudy Cardozo 36 DF   BOL Luis Rodríguez U20 37 FW   ARG Ariel Nahuelpán 39 FW   BOL Alejandro Barron 71 MF   MEX Leonel López (loan from The Strongest) 88 MF   BOL Luis Vargas

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   BOL Daniel Sandy (loan to GV San José) — DF   URU Gonzalo Castillo (on loan to Progreso)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   BOL Santiago Delgadillo — GK   BOL Mateo Olivera 31 DF   BOL Matias Delgadillo U20 — DF   BOL Edgar Olivares 27 DF   BOL Rafael Corrales U20 — DF   BOL Claudio Ancieta 14 DF   BOL Edwin Tumiri U20 — MF   BOL Joel López

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 MF   BOL Fabricio Mariaca U23 — MF   BOL Isaac Claros 20 MF   BOL Andrés Guillermo U20 — MF   BOL Luis Parra — FW   BOL José Herrera — FW   BOL Rodrigo Soto U20 — FW   BOL Sergio Cárdenas — FW   BOL Eduardo Velásquez

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