Tepatitlán F.C.

Tepatitlán Fútbol Club, also known as Alteños de Tepatitlán, is a Mexican professional football club based in Tepatitlán, Jalisco. It plays in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football.^[3] The club was founded in 1944 as Club Deportivo Tepatitlán, then changed to its current name in 2020.

Its 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".

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]

1. 1. "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.

On 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]

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]

A 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]

During 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]

As of 4 June 2025^[18]

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

Reserve team that plays in the Liga TDP, the fourth level of the Mexican league system.

In this division there is a great rivalry with the rival of the city the Club and the C.D. Aves Blancas, so it has become a classic; "The Classic Alteño" is the name given to the football matches that face each other, the two most representative teams from the city of Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco, the Tepatitlán and the Aves Blancas.

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.

Reserve team that plays in the Liga TDP, the fourth level of the Mexican league system.