Ciclista Lima and their incredible 1931 tour

 

Ciclista Lima and their incredible 1931 tour

Source: Diario La Crónica Viva Lima, Perú

Ciclista Lima once embarked on the most unusual tour in football. Disqualified on the high seas, they ended up playing on sloping fields, mortgaging their championship rings, and being rescued by a Venezuelan dictator. This is the chronicle of their epic and forgotten 1931 journey.

 

The adventure tour wasn't just a trip but a 365-day expedition, the longest and most incredible any club had ever undertaken. A journey that began with champagne and ended in a financial miracle.

 

The Broken Flight

 

On April 21, 1931, the team boarded the ship "Santa Inés" headed north with official permission from the Peruvian Football Federation, ready to conquer Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. The atmosphere was pure optimism. They did exercises on deck while dreaming of goals and box office success. What they didn't know was that fate, and the bureaucrats, would have a trap for them.

 

As soon as they reached port in Guayaquil, the welcome turned into a nightmare. The Peruvian Federation had changed its management during their voyage, and overnight, they ignored the granted permit. An urgent cable traveled across the continent prohibiting the team from playing. The players were, literally, disqualified before they had even kicked a single ball.

 

Debtors

Thus began the ordeal, an odyssey that slowly consumed them. Unable to play official matches (local officials feared FIFA), they continued to stay and eat in a hotel. Their money vanished in days. They had to arrange urgent advances from Colombia just to pay the bill, while they watched as opportunities to play fell through one after another for fear of reprisals.

 

In Colombia, the situation worsened. They managed to schedule matches on the condition that they would take 60% of the box office receipts, but a climatic curse followed them. After weeks of sunshine, hours before kickoff, torrential rain fell mercilessly, destroying the takings. They were on the verge of total bankruptcy.

 

Subsistence

Faced with poverty, they made a heroic decision: the Poor Circus Tour. They abandoned the big cities and set out for the most remote villages in the region. Their elegant, high-level football was presented in improvised plazas where the novelty was simple: you had to pay to see them. The team fenced the fields with empty sacks and sticks to charge admission.

 

The worst field of the tour was in Perlera. It was a sloping hill with the goals on opposite sides. The defenders couldn't see their forwards. The solution? The midfielders would stand at the top (the center of the field) and shout warnings to the backs when the opposing attack was approaching. Survival football, literally uphill.

 

The economic situation reached its critical point in Barranquilla, where they owed $400 USD to the owner of the boarding house. In order to leave and travel to Santa Marta, they had to leave all their valuables as collateral: watches, rings, and cufflinks. Ciclista Lima had become a team of "poor gentlemen."

 

Juan Honores: The Legend of a Peruvian Goalkeeper

 

Unexpected Rescue

In Santa Marta, they were offered a draw against the local champions to secure a second million-dollar box office. Despite having mortgaged their jewels, the Peruvians flatly refused: gentlemen, above all. They won the match and managed to recover their clothes at the end of the day. Their integrity was worth more than money.

 

The light at the end of the tunnel arrived in Venezuela. In Maracaibo, the team had to parade through the city, dressed in shorts and preceded by a band, just for publicity. The masterstroke was to invite the then president, General Juan Vicente Gómez, to watch a match. The military man, impressed by the level of play and moved by their hardships, covered all their expenses in the country and gave them 30,000 bolívares.

 

The Return of the Punished Hero

 

With the fresh money, the adventure continued through the Caribbean: Curaçao, Trinidad. In Trinidad, a stadium employee asked them what the Peruvian flag was, an insult to their pride, which they responded with a crushing 7-0 victory. After 63 matches (55 wins), they decided to return. They were injured, and the trip on an unstable ship through the Caribbean almost cost them their lives.

 

The eternal Carlos "Chueco" Tovar

 

They arrived in Callao on the deck of an oil tanker, almost a year after they had departed. Despite having brought honors to Peru, the Federation upheld the punishment. It was only during a derby match between Alianza and Chalaco that the crowd, upon seeing the Ciclista players appear on the cinder field, gave them such a tremendous ovation that the Federation had no choice but to recognize their achievement and lift the sanction.

 

This 1931 tour not only forged legends; it defined the spirit of Peruvian determination. In the era of multi-million-dollar football in 2025, Ciclista Lima's story is a powerful reminder of when sport was about the jersey, dignity, and necessity, proving that talent and integrity can overcome any bureaucratic betrayal or climatic adversity.

With affection,

Ruben