Histortia De Los Pumas

Decade of the 30's to the 50's

The idea that the National Autonomous University of Mexico had an amateur football team representing the league in the Federal District, began to take shape in the early 30s. The rector Luis Chico Goerne was the first to take the initiative to do this, but its proposal was not accepted.

In 1940 the rector Gustavo Baz tasked with preparing the football team of the UNAM, the Costa Rican club player Spain, Rodolfo Muñoz, who assembled a squad composed of elements arising from different faculties and schools of the University.

Two years later, on the initiative of football coach Roberto Mendez was decided to adopt the nickname "Cougars" to represent the University Club. The choice was based on that it is an animal that represented the characteristics that should have every player on the team, strength, agility, speed, courage and aggressiveness.

University City in 1952 and was the center of learning, science and culture of the country, and there, in the middle of campus, stood the Estadio Olimpico Universitario: the future home of the Pumas.

In 1954 the representative of UNAM was imposed in the National Student Games and many of his players were already professionals, so in August of that year the team finally entered professional in Major League (second division), thanks to the rector management, Nabor Carrillo Flores, with financial support by the Engineer Guillermo Aguilar Alvarez, at that time Director of Public Works Department of the Federal District, a football lover and UNAM, who had been President of Atlante.