The
Universidad de Guadalajara football club, nicknamed "Leones" (Lions) was founded the 19th of August, 1970 and started in the
tercera división (third division) in the Mexican professional league, where they played for two seasons after which they gained promotion to
Segunda División Profesional.
They reached the top division by acquiring the Primera Division's franchise of Club Torreón.
During their first years in the top flight they had several skilled Brazilian players, some of them black, reason for which noted sports broadcaster
Angel Fernandez started to call them "Leones Negros" (the Black Lions), a nickname that stuck and remains part of the folklore of Mexican football.