Tepatitlán Fútbol Club, simplified as Tepatitlán FC, and also known as Alteños de Tepatitlán, is a Mexican professional football club based in Tepatitlán, Jalisco. The club competes in Liga de Expansión MX, the second division of Mexican football,[3] and plays its home matches at Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez. Founded in 1944 as Club Deportivo Tepatitlán, the club changed to its current name in 2020.
 | |||
| Full name | Tepatitlán Fútbol Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Alteños Tepa | ||
| Short name | TEP | ||
| Founded | 1944 (as Club Deportivo Tepatitlán) | ||
| Ground | Estadio Gregorio "Tepa" Gómez Tepatitlán, Jalisco | ||
| Capacity | 8,085[1] | ||
| Owner | Gustavo García[2] | ||
| Chairman | Bruno Marioni | ||
| Manager | Vacant | ||
| League | Liga de Expansión MX | ||
| Clausura 2026 | Regular phase: 1st Final phase: Champions | ||
| Website | https://www.tepatitlanfc.com/ | ||
|
| |||
History
editThe people's team
editIts beginnings were after a selection for Regional Tournament with the aim of reaching if they were victorious to the state championship. The Mission was appointed to Fausto Prieto, this team was called The People's Team.
Some names of players that appear in the years of 1944–1946 are: Luis Veles, Miguel Escoto "El Mugres", Andrés González "The different", Max Prieto, Goyo Franco, Gregorio Gómez, Enrique Estrada, Roberto Estrada "El Rocha", Elio Vázquez, Eleuterio Silva, "Tello Silva the face of a cock", Arnulfo de la Torre "El Casarín" and Rafael Martínez "El Piwe".
Championship Promotion Final 2017–18
edit
On 19 May 2018, Tepatitlán was proclaimed champion of the 2017–18 season of Serie A de México after defeating Loros UdeC by penalty shootout in the promotion final. However, they were not promoted to Ascenso MX and were forced to remain in Serie A after the Mexican Football Federation ruled the club did not meet the necessary requirements.[4]
- "We were 20 seconds away from being sad ... but we touched the back of the medal. And now only plan well what will be the next tournament and work as we have been doing with great enthusiasm to do something important and hopefully gave us a next championship to have the direct promotion," said Enrique López Zarza, a Reporter of the Premier League.
| PROMOTION 2018 SQUAD | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Pos. | Nac. | Judador | ||||||||
| 12 | GK |  |
Jesús Montoya | ||||||||
| 3 | DF | |
Josué Soria | ||||||||
| 4 | DF | |
Daniel Aguiñaga | ||||||||
| 5 | DF | |
Javier Medina | ||||||||
| 23 | DF | |
Jesús Ruiz | ||||||||
| 6 | MF | |
Román Reynoso | ||||||||
| 7 | MF | |
Moisés Ramos | ||||||||
| 8 | MF | |
Antonio Torres | ||||||||
| 10 | MF | |
Luis Rodríguez | ||||||||
| 14 | MF | |
Agustín Ojeda | ||||||||
| 9 | FW | |
Carlos López | ||||||||
| 25 | GK | |
Cristian Orozco | ||||||||
| 2 | DF | |
Abraham Chávez | ||||||||
| 13 | DF | |
Eduardo Castello | ||||||||
| 77 | DF | |
Oscar De La Mora | ||||||||
| 11 | MF | |
Fabrizio Diaz | ||||||||
| 20 | MF | |
Carlos Ponce | ||||||||
| 17 | FW | |
Oscar Saavedra | ||||||||
| 1 | GJ | |
Christian López | ||||||||
| 16 | MF | |
Fernando Cedillo | ||||||||
| 60 | MF | |
Mauricio Estrada | ||||||||
| 33 | FW | |
Andrés Ríos | ||||||||
| 69 | FW | |
Diego Medina | ||||||||
| DT | |
Enrique López Zarza | |||||||||
New era
editOn 15 June 2020, the team was renamed as Tepatitlán F.C. and adopted the nickname Alteños, with the aim of representing the entire region, Los Altos de Jalisco.[5] in addition to a possible integration in the Liga de Expansión MX.[6] On July 17, Tepatitlán F.C. was accepted at Liga de Expansión as an expansion team.[7]
On 19 August 2020 the team debuted in the new category, Tepatitlán drew with Atlético Morelia 2–2. Mauricio López scored the club's first goal in the Liga de Expansión.[8]
2021 Guardians Clausura Tournament Champion
edit
For the Clausura 2021 tournament, the Alteña squad performed a regular tournament in which they finished in 6th. place of the general, already for the league he faced Dorados de Sinaloa, Cimarrones de Sonora and Mineros de Zacatecas.
On May 15, 2021, the team was proclaimed champion of the Liga de Expansión MX. Los Alteños won the title after drawing 2-2 as visitors against Atlético Morelia, the club claimed their 1–0 victory in the first leg and thus won the championship.[9]
Champion of Champions 2020–21
editA week later, on May 22, the team won its second title by winning the 2020–21 Champion of Champions of the Liga de Expansión MX after defeating Tampico Madero in a series of penalties. The Alteños tied at two goals on aggregate after winning 2–0 at home and leveling the series, finally, in the series from eleven steps, the club won 5–3.[10]
Instability and owners change
editDuring 2023 and 2024, the club's board began to question the continuity of Tepatitlán F.C. due to financial problems derived from off-field situations and the constant changes in the team's roster as a result of the age limitations of the Liga de Expansión players.[11] In May 2024, the Tepatitlán board received an offer to purchase the franchise from the owners of C.D.S. Tampico Madero and moving to Tampico, Tamaulipas, a team that was active in the Segunda División de México and sought to ensure its return to the second tier in any way, a purchase agreement was not reached, so the team was not ready to change its name or location.[12]
On July 12, 2024, Tampico Madero was promoted to Liga de Expansión by invitation, however, the Tepatitlán franchise was purchased by the owners of Racing de Veracruz, a team that plays in the Liga Premier – Serie A. With the purchase, the new owners of Tepatitlán planned to move the team to the city of Veracruz, Veracruz for the 2025–26 season.[13] However, in February 2025, the board announced that the team would remain in Tepatitlán due to the limited chances of receiving the Liga de Expansión approval for the team's relocation to Veracruz.[14]
On the other hand, due to the operational instability of Tepatitlán F.C. and with the aim of ensuring the continuity of professional football in the city, a group of local businessmen bought the club Acatlán F.C. from Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, a team that plays in the Liga Premier – Serie A.[15] The owners of Acatlán attempted to move the team to Tepatitlán, however, the management of Tepatitlán F.C. did not grant permission to do so.[16] Finally, in October 2024 Acatlán was established in Arandas, Jalisco, after receiving support from the city council, so the project to create an alternative team for Tepatitlán was abandoned.[17]
In June 2025, Racing Sports Holding sold the team to businessman Gustavo García, owner of a motorsports company, thereby ending the existing alliance between Tepatitlán F.C. and Racing de Veracruz, in addition to ending the option of relocating the team to that city.[2]
In May 2026 Tepatitlán won two titles in one month: the Clausura 2026 tournament and the Campeón de Campeones 2025–26.[18]
Players
editCurrent squad
edit- As of 3 August 2025[19]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Personnel
edit| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman |  Bruno Marioni |
| Director of football | Brando Garrido |
Source: Liga MX
Coaching staff
edit| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager | Vacant |
| Assistant managers | Vacant |
| Fitness coach | Juan Osorio |
| Goalkeeper coach | César Cadavieco |
| Physiotherapist | Arturo González |
| Team doctors | Led Melo Eric Hernández |
Reserve teams
editTepatitlán F.C. "B" (Liga TDP)
editReserve team that plays in the Liga TDP, the fourth level of the Mexican league system.
| Season | Division | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2016/2017 | Ligue TDP | 5o. Group X (Thirty-two) |
| 2017/2018 | Ligue TDP | 6o. Group X (Thirty-two) |
| 2018/2019 | Ligue TDP | 14o. Group X |
| 2019/2020 | Ligue TDP | 10o. Group X |
| 2020/2021 | Ligue TDP | 8o. Group X |
| 2021/2022 | Ligue TDP | 4o. Group X (Thirty-two) |
The Classic Alteño
editThe club has a local rivalry C.D. Aves Blancas, another team from Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco. Matches between Tepatitlán and the Aves Blancas are known as the "Clásico Alteño", and are regarded as a notable football rivalry within the city.
The sporting rivalry of both clubs is manifested through the numerous confrontations that throughout history, both in corresponding official matches of the Third Division; for several years it was the highest category for the city, hence a rivalry against the town's team was generated; in addition to state tournaments and local league.
Alteños Acatic F.C.
editReserve team that plays in the Liga TDP, the fourth level of the Mexican league system.
| Temporada | División | Posición |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/2021 | 5.Tercera División | 10o. Group XI (round of 16) |
| 2021/2022 | Ligue TDP | 11o. Group X |
Honours
editDomestic
edit| Type | Competition | Titles | Winning years | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion divisions | Liga de Expansión MX | 2 | Guardianes 2021, Clausura 2026 | — |
| Campeón de Campeones de la Liga de Expansión MX | 2 | 2021, 2026 | — | |
| Liga Premier | 1 | Apertura 2017 | — | |
| Campeón de Campeones de la Liga Premier | 1 | 2018 | — |
References
edit- ↑ "Estadio Tepa Gomez" (in Spanish). Liga BBVA. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- 1 2 "Cambia de dueño el equipo de Tepatitlán F.C. – Informa FM". informafm.com (in Spanish). 5 June 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
- ↑ "Equipo - C.D. Tepatitlán de Morelos". Segunda División de México. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- ↑ "Tepatitlán de Morelos, otro campeón sin 'ascenso'" (in Spanish). estadiodeportes.mx. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
- ↑ "Liga de Expansión: "Paco" Ramírez renueva contrato como técnico del Club Tepa FC". Soy Fútbol (in Spanish). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ↑ "Confirmados 17 equipos para la Liga de Desarrollo". ESTO (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ↑ "Comunicado de la LIGA MX sobre la LIGA de Expansión". Liga BBVA MX (in Spanish). 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
- ↑ "Liga de Expansión MX Tepatitlán y el Atlético Morelia debutan en la Liga de Expansión MX con vibrante empate". Marca Claro (in Spanish). 19 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
- ↑ "El Tepatitlán vence a Morelia y se corona en la Liga de Expansión". Azteca Deportes. May 15, 2021.
- ↑ "Tepatitlán es Campeón de Campeones tras derrotar a Tampico Madero en penales". ESPN.com.mx. May 23, 2021.
- ↑ "Tepa estaría viviendo sus últimas horas como equipo de Expansión MX". La Afición (in Spanish). 5 June 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ↑ "¿Regresan? Tampico-Madero cerca de volver a la Liga de Expansión". RÉCORD (in Spanish). 26 May 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ↑ "Veracruz jugará en la Liga de Expansión en 2025". Imagen de Veracruz (in Spanish). 12 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ↑ "Alteños se queda en Tepa; descartan mudanza a Veracruz". Kiosko Informativo (in Spanish). 19 February 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- ↑ "Tepatitlán en la Liga Premier FMF". Semanario Siete Días (in Spanish). 28 June 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ↑ "ACATLÁN CONFIRMA QUE JUGARÁ EN ZAPOTLANEJO". Liga Premier Magazine (in Spanish). 20 August 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ↑ "COMUNICADO EJECUTIVO". Liga Premier FMF (in Spanish). 5 October 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ↑ "¡Doblemente con nivel de primera! Tepatitlán se proclama Campeón de Campeones en Expansión". El Sol de México (in Spanish). 30 May 2026. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Tepatitlán FC". Liga de Expansión MX. Retrieved 22 August 2020.