 | |||
| Full name | Montevideo City Torque | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Torque Celeste La T | ||
| Founded | 26 December 2007; 18 years ago (2007-12-26) (asClub Atlético Torque) | ||
| Ground | Estadio Centenario | ||
| Capacity | 60,235 | ||
| Owner | City Football Group | ||
| President | Raúl Aquino | ||
| Manager | Marcelo Méndez | ||
| League | Liga AUF Uruguaya | ||
| 2025 | Liga AUF Uruguaya, 8th of 16 | ||
| Website | montevideocitytorque | ||
 Current season | |||
| 2008 |  Manchester City* |
|---|---|
| 2009–2012 | |
| 2013 |  New York City FC§ |
| 2014 |  Melbourne City* |
 Yokohama F. Marinos*§ | |
| 2015–2016 | |
| 2017 |  Montevideo City* |
 Girona*§ | |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 |  Shenzhen Peng City*§ |
| 2020 |  Lommel* |
 Troyes* | |
| 2021 | |
| 2022 |  Palermo*§ |
| 2023 |  Bahia*§ |
TheMontevideo City Torque is an Uruguayanfootball club based inMontevideo. The Torque currently play in theUruguayan Primera División, having achieved promotion to the first tier the previous season.
Founded in 2007 asClub Atlético Torque, the club has been owned since April 2017 by theCity Football Group, a subsidiary ofAbu Dhabi United Group. Montevideo City Torque shares ties with teams such asManchester City,New York City andMelbourne City, as clubs that are also owned by CFG.
Club Atlético Torque were founded on 26 December 2007 byCancún-based Uruguayan businessman Raúl Aquino Reynoso, building on a vision of achieving glory from scratch.[1] To help him build his dream, Aquino contacted Marcelo Yaurreche, anelectromechanic by trade, who had blogged on the concept of sporting ventures. Yaurreche's line of work ultimately went on to inspire the name of the team through the mechanical principle oftorque as an indication of strength. The nascent club's first season of competition was played in the local Liga de Punta Carretas.[1]
Starting from the 2008–09, Torque entered theUruguayan football league system in the third (and lowest) tier, theSegunda División Amateur. Their first season was very positive, going unbeaten for the 11 games of theClausura tournament before losing the play-off for the overall league title againstOriental.[2] Oriental opted to turn down their promotion to theSegunda División, prompting Torque to submit an application to take it up in their place, but their application was rejected.
In the following seasons the club continued to place highly, never finishing lower than fifth in either the Apertura or Clausura tournaments. In May 2011 Torque merged withHuracán of the Segunda División to form a new club calledHuracán Torque, but by August of the same year the merger was dissolved with the new side having played no games. Torque resumed its place in the Segunda División Amateur and at the fourth time of asking finally finished top of the overall table, winning promotion to the Segunda División for the2012–13 season.[3]
Torque's first season in professional football again finished positively with a fifth-place finish, including denying high-flyersTacuarembó automatic promotion to the Uruguayan top tier and potentially even the league title itself with a 4–0 victory in the final game of the season. Torque themselves qualified for the promotion play-offs, where they again defeated Tacuarembó, but they ultimately lost the play-off final on penalties.[4]
The following season was the club's first season of underachievement with Torque finishing in last place and eight points adrift of their nearest competitor.[5] They were, however, spared the ignominy of relegation as the division expanded to 15 clubs, causing the league's organisers to opt against relegating any clubs. The following seasons offered little improvement, with the club finishing some distance from the promotion places each time.
On 20 March 2017, Uruguayan online sports news site Ovacion reported that theCity Football Group, a subsidiary ofAbu Dhabi United Group that also owns teams such asManchester City andNew York City FC, were close to completing negotiations for the purchase of Torque with the aim of using the club to assist in the signing ofSouth American players.[6] Also reported was that CFG had been working with the club for some time in anticipation of the purchase to build it a new sports complex as well as to refurbish theEstadio Juan Antonio Lavalleja inMinas with a view to relocating the side to the city in order to help establish an identity for the club as well as to give it a larger potential fanbase.[6]
Following a series of further rumours of the imminence of the deal, it was publicly announced on 5 April 2017 that the takeover had been completed and ratified by theUruguayan Football Association.[7]
In 2017, led byPaulo Pezzolano, Torque formed a very strong team for the category and achieved the title with ease. Football players of the stature ofDiego Martiñones,Ernesto Goñi,Hernán Figueredo,Martín Bonjour,Jonathan Cubero,Julián Lalinde andLeonardo Pais, among others; added to quality foreign reinforcements such as the VenezuelanNahuel Ferraresi, the ColombianJavier Calle and the ArgentineValentín Castellanos. As soon as the promotion was confirmed, Pezzolano announced that he would not continue in the next season.Pablo Marini, another Argentine, was brought in to replace him.
In the debut in thePrimera División, the team will be directed by the ArgentinePablo Marini.[8]
Qualification for the play-off of the Torneo Intermedio, which Torque lost 3–2 toNacional, was tempered by a poor run of results in both the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura, and Torque were relegated in 14th place based on average points per game at the end of the 2018 season. The 2019 season saw Torque take the Segunda División title for a second time as they beatMaldonado by three points to win the title on the final day of the season.[9]
On 22 January 2020 it was announced that Club Atletico Torque had changed their club name to Montevideo City Torque, with an accompanying change in team badge.[10] The name and badge were chosen to be reflective of their links toManchester City and the other clubs of theCity Football Group.[10] At the same time it was announced that the club would begin work on the construction of a newacademy and administrative complex, intended to be one of the most advanced academy centres in South America.[11] The first phase of the complex was inaugurated in March 2021.[12]
All Torque title shirts have been light blue, but from 2016 on, the shirt has included a big blue "T" on the chest on a light blue background. The alternative shirts are generally white, although it was gray in 2013. It is currently white with a big blue "T".
       2008-13 |  2013 | Alternative 2008-2013 | Alternative 2013 |  2016 |  2016 |  2017 |    2018 |     Alternative 2018 |      2019 |    Alternative 2019 |
| Period | Manufacturers |
|---|---|
| 2008-2013 | MGR |
| 2012-2013 | Mategeor |
| 2013-2016 | Fit |
| 2017-2019 | Luanvi |
| 2019- |  Puma |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Updated data for the 2018 season
| Season | Division | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 |  2ªB | 7º | 38 |
| 2009–10 | 2ªB | 3º | 43 |
| 2010–11 | 2ªB | 4º | 50 |
| 2011–12 | 2ªB | 1º | 64 |
| 2012–13 |  2ª | 5º | 44 |
| 2013–14 | 2ª | 14º | 15 |
| 2014–15 | 2ª | 10º | 35 |
| 2015–16 | 2ª | 7º | 27 |
| 2016 | 2ª | 6ª | 15 |
| 2017 | 2ª | 1° | 53 |
| 2018 |  1ª | 14° | 41 |
| 2019 | 2ª | 1° | 43 |
| 2020 | 1ª | 4° | 61 |
| 2021 | 1ª | 3° | 50 |
| 2022 | 1ª | 13° | 36 |
| 2023 | 1ª | 10° | 45 |
| 2024 | 2ª | 3° | 54 |
| 2025 | 1ª | 3° | 7 |
