Coras Fc · History

On 6 December 2014, at the Arena Cora in Tepic, Coras Fútbol Club played the second leg of the Ascenso MX Apertura 2014 final against Necaxa. The match ended 4-4. The first leg at Estadio Victoria in Aguascalientes had finished 0-0, so the tie was level at four goals each and went to penalties, which Necaxa won 5-4. It was the first tournament for a club from the state of Nayarit that had been founded earlier that year. Also known as Coras de Tepic and nicknamed “La Tribu Cora”, the club played six tournaments in the second tier of Mexican football between 2014 and 2017.

Founding and ownership

The club was founded on 24 March 2014. Its entry into the Liga de Ascenso was announced on 30 May that year at the league’s owners’ meeting, with Nayarit governor Roberto Sandoval as spokesman. The franchise came from a partnership between businessmen José Luis Higuera and Víctor Arana. From the start it had a sporting agreement with Club Deportivo Guadalajara and served as Chivas’ affiliate in the second division. Juan Carlos Ortega was sporting director. The name came from Deportivo Coras Tepic, which had played in the first edition of the Primera División A, in 1994-95.

Arena Cora

The team played its home games at the Arena Cora, in the Las Canteras area of Tepic. The stadium opened on 25 June 2011 and holds 12,945 spectators. It hosted the second legs of the 2014 semi-final and final, as well as Copa MX games against top-flight sides such as Atlas, Tijuana, América and Santos Laguna. The club’s colours were mustard yellow and maroon, which appeared on both the crest and the kit.

Apertura 2014: first place and runners-up

With Joel “el Tiburón” Sánchez as coach, Coras finished the Apertura 2014 regular season in first place on 27 points. They won eight, drew three and lost two of their thirteen games, scoring 19 and conceding 11. Topping the table took them straight to the semi-finals, where they beat Altamira. They won 2-1 in Tamaulipas on 16 November 2014 and drew 1-1 in Tepic on 22 November to go through 3-2 on aggregate. The first leg of the final, in Aguascalientes on 29 November, ended goalless. The second leg in Tepic finished 4-4, and Necaxa took the title on penalties. It was the club’s only playoff appearance in the Ascenso MX.

From Clausura 2015 to Clausura 2017

Coras did not reach the playoffs again in the next five tournaments, and the club changed coaches several times. In 2015 the job went to Mauro Camoranesi, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, in his first coaching role. José Luis “China” González, Hernán Cristante and Ramón Morales followed him. The last coach was Marcelo Michel Leaño. The agreement with Guadalajara stayed in place for the whole of the club’s time in Tepic.

Copa MX

Their best Copa MX came in Clausura 2016. Coras won Group 2 with 16 points, ahead of Tijuana, Atlas and Murciélagos. They beat Atlas 2-1 on aggregate, Tijuana 4-3 and Murciélagos 5-2. In the quarter-finals they hosted Atlético San Luis at the Arena Cora on 16 March 2016. The game ended 2-2, with Coronado scoring for Coras and Uriel Álvarez putting through his own net, and San Luis reached the semi-finals by winning the shootout 4-3. In Clausura 2017 Coras were drawn with Santos Laguna and América. They won 2-1 in Torreón on 24 January 2017 and beat América 3-2 in Tepic on 1 February. They then lost 1-0 at the Estadio Azteca and 5-0 at home to Santos. All three teams finished on six points, and Coras went out on goal difference.

Move to Zacatepec

On 31 May 2017, Liga MX president Enrique Bonilla told a press conference that the club was leaving Tepic and changing its name and home. It was moving to Zacatepec, in the state of Morelos. That ended its time in Nayarit, three years and six tournaments after it was founded. The franchise was renamed Club Atlético Zacatepec and played at the Estadio Agustín “Coruco” Díaz from the Apertura 2017 onwards.